The Roads Must Roll

The Roads Must Roll is a 1940 science fiction short story by American writer Robert A. Heinlein. It was selected for The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One, 1929–1964 anthology in 1970.

The story is set in the near future, when "roadtowns" (wide rapidly moving passenger platforms similar to moving sidewalks, but reaching speeds of 100 mph) have replaced highways and railways as the dominant transportation method in the United States.

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one of Robert Heinlein's best

This is a uniquely fascinating story. Robert Heinlein had a prolific imagination and this story is really one of his very best.

I have to throw a heavily negative critique onto the 'new' cover picture for this single story- it is unbelievably out of context ridiculous! The cover picture is a beautiful muscle car on Route 66. This fabulous Heinlein story is not about cars! The subject of this story are the 'Rolling Roads', NOT the roads that cars drive on. Whomever was in charge of choosing this cover has not read this book and is not a Heinlein enthusiast at all. it is so out of context.

I also must mention how disappointing it was that the narrator was English. This story is uniquely American and it seems out a place. However, one can get used to it after a while as the narrator does a fine job.

A fun reading of a classic.

The unapologetic use of English accents. It was fun and interesting. This is a good story highlighting Heinlein’s military background with mission driven and hierarchical leadership.

One of My Favorite Heinlein Stories

This is one of my favorite Robert A. Heinlein short stories. I enjoy it every time I read it. Part of the enjoyment is just the world he’s created—no automobiles in the future because the roads are all giant conveyer belts that can take people anywhere. The belts are set side by side, each one going five miles per hour faster than the one beside it. So these are effectively moving side walks that you can ride anywhere in the country. If you have to travel a long distance, you travel deeper onto the road. When you near your destination you move back to the other side until it’s time to step off.

The crisis of the story is a labor action in which engineers decide that since the country stops working if they don’t keep the roads rolling, they deserve more money. Heinlein is obviously not a fan of organized labor—he’s a libertarian at heart—but the effort to save the roads from the union bosses produces an exciting, highly enjoyable tale.

A key story of the “future history,” but what’s with that cover?

Story has no muscle cars and was set no where near Route 66.

Seriously, WTF?