The decline of moving walkways isn't just about cost or inefficiency. Airports now function like malls, where the business model relies on passengers lingering and spending money, making rapid transit through corridors counterproductive.
The moving walkway’s popular debut at World's Fairs typecast it as an amusement ride, creating a "magnificently impractical" reputation that prevented government officials from taking it seriously for major urban infrastructure projects like the Brooklyn Bridge.
After failing as a city-wide transit solution, the moving walkway found its perfect product-market fit in airports, solving the specific pain point of long treks through ever-expanding terminals created by the jet age.
While often no faster than walking, iconic moving walkways like Chicago O'Hare's succeed by transforming a tedious journey into a "transportive and calming" experience. This demonstrates the high value of experiential design in otherwise utilitarian public infrastructure.
After failing to compete with trains, the moving walkway's first successful permanent installation was in a Jersey City train station. It proved its value not as a primary transit mode but as a micro-mobility tool to enhance an existing system by solving the 'last 100 yards' problem.
To overcome user apprehension about its new "Astroway" at LAX, American Airlines hired Lucille Ball for a targeted marketing campaign. The goal was to demonstrate its safety and ease of use, specifically for women who might be hesitant to ride while wearing high heels.
From Alfred Speer's 10 mph vision in 1871 to modern failures in Paris, the moving walkway has failed as mass transit because of the fundamental physics problem of safely onboarding people onto a platform already moving at high speed, leading to trips and falls.