For many people of my generation, the future of transportation was to be the jet pack. This vision of ultimate freedom, zooming from place to place, without a single earth-bound care was incredibly compelling to those of us growing up in the 70s and 80s. Jet packs have yet to truly materialize (there are some, but it’s not what you’d call immediately viable technology). But the idea of a jet pack, a perennial favorite of America’s youth, grew out of a much stronger vibe of transportation futurism in the 1950s.

Of course, Disney – the masters of the imagination and presentation – offered their own perspective on what we should expect in the future. Take a couple of moments to watch this excerpt from a 1958 movie, and then read on.

Captured in those eight minutes is a pretty good overview of what has come to be (or is being worked on right now): electronic driver notification signage, radiant heat surfaces, radar to enhance visibility, in-dash telematics to provide safe speed warnings, proximity notices, and up-to-the minute traffic conditions, rear-view cameras, life-flight, and GPS. Add to this other prescient assertions, like the automobile would encourage urban decentralization, growing commuting distances, high speed lanes, and you’ve got an interesting view of the future.

Of course, Disney got a lot wrong, or, at least we’ve not caught up to the future they’re offering. For instance, instant roadway construction, massively pre-fabbed bridges, atomic tunneling, cantilevered skyways tacked onto mountains, automated driving, multi-modal vehicles, truck trains, cargo rockets, and more leisure time seem to have eluded us.

What’s interesting here is not what Disney got right or wrong, but rather the continuity in transportation concerns (and hopes) over half a century.

Humans are creatures of the moment, concerned with things that are here, now, and in front of us. But it’s useful to be reminded that despite the speed of change in so many aspects of our lives, we still share a common desire to make our lives better and easier. And to fly.