FYI from MCI™

Author sees Interstate going underground, motor coaches coming out on top

When Dan McNichol heard about the cross-country convoy celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Interstate, he knew he and his 1951 Hudson had to be there. After all, when it comes to highways, he wrote the book.

The author of the best-selling The Roads that Built America, recently released in paperback, as well as Paving the Way: Asphalt in America and three books on the Big Dig, McNichol is something of an American-roads scholar. He has been featured on several major television network shows and in USA Today; he has been consulted by National Geographic and the BBC, and his books have become required reading for highway engineers, transportation legislators, lobbyists, executive-branch staff and anyone else with an interest in the history and culture of what he considers one of the world's great wonders.

Between traveling from his hometown of Boston and joining the east-bound convoy at its San Francisco starting point, McNichol put some 9,000 miles on his Hudson. And he picked up some new friends along the way, including Dave Kane and Bud Gilley, drivers of the two MCI coaches that joined the convoy. "They were just great guys," says McNichol. "Whether I was doing an oil change at 11 p.m. or calling to ask, 'Where am I?' I depended on them for guidance." McNichol was especially happy to see Kane one day when, after skipping a meal break, he got ahead of the convoy and became unsure of the route. "Out of nowhere comes this gorgeous, brand-new MCI bus with Mount Rushmore on its side and the Interstate 50th anniversary logo. It almost blew me over, but it was a great sight to see."

The road ahead

While McNichol is happy to discuss highway history and bask in the retro glory of his vintage ride, he gives plenty of thought to the future of the Interstate as well. "I see it filled with tolls, trucks and tunnels," says McNichol, who is troubled at what he sees as a lack of vision and political will for the system. "There's not the leadership that Eisenhower gave us. The onus has been shifted to the states, and the states are ill-prepared to build the system. Ike knew a great road had to be built from the top down, like Rome built their roads." He sees the selling off of stretches of road, as Indiana has done with its Skyway, as a particularly troubling trend.

On the bright side, he sees a great future for surface transportation, including the coach industry. Says McNichol, "The cost of ownership of a vehicle is getting cost-prohibitive, and it's getting more intimidating to travel long and even mid-range distances by car. The economies of scale are pointing to more bus travel. It's got the same selling point that brought trucking, which was first seen as a strange bedfellow to local deliveries, into the world of service."

Better buses

During the convoy, he admits to being somewhat envious of those traveling on MCI's motor coach, where passengers could easily converse, nap, play cards and relax in air-conditioned splendor, and he sees upscale coaches and cost competition as key to expanding the industry.

"With today's upscale buses, you can be on your laptop or conducting cell phone conversations," says McNichol, noting that almost all of the major cellular providers have great coverage along the Interstate. "If you're on the [I] 5, it's great to be on a bus."

McNichol, who points out that the motor coach industry modernized itself along the Interstate, as did hotel chains and fast food, would like to see America modernize its roads.

"We have to do something about chokepoints. There are 14,000 interchanges. We need to rebuild those and come up with more creative systems." He suggests truck and bus lanes to allow faster movement for commerce. But he would also like to see something more.

"We need a visionary that can inspire us to rebuild the system. I think it should be beautiful and bold. Frank Lloyd Wright thought that roads were pieces of architecture. The more beautiful the road is, the more the public will be inspired. The road allows better, more efficient economies. In the case of hurricane or terrorist attack, it allows us to absorb the blows. The road is our savior in this country."

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