GLOBAL TRANSPORTATION IN THE YEAR 2025

Future Of Global Transportation In The Year 2025



Future Of Global Transportation In The Year 2025

Introduction

Transportation technology is progressing at a much slower pace than some of the other sciences such as information technology, biotech, and nanotechnology. As an example, the world's human speed record was set in 1969, a full 37 years ago, when Thomas Stafford, John Young, and Gene Cernan flew in Apollo 10 at 24,790 mph. While there is much talk about flying at a speed that approaches the speed of light, very little effort is actually being expended in this area. However, transportation technology is about to move ahead more rapidly in the coming years with the advent of two radically new technologies - frictionless vehicles and binary power.

Throughout history we have learned that the two principle driving forces of humanity are freedom and control. While current automotive technology gives us the freedom to drive as fast or slow as our vehicle will take us, and control over our timing and direction, we are still restricted to driving on the ground and we have a hornet's nest of laws to contend with regarding speed, flow, and operation (Brian, 2005).

Understanding the “freedom and control” drivers is key to understanding the future of transportation. Any new forms of transportation that do not measurably improve our sense of freedom or give us added control of our lives will likely fail in the marketplace.

In the near future, automotive companies will focus on fully automated vehicles where people can “punch in” or “speak” the place they want to go to and the vehicle will automatically take them there. This “control feature” will open up huge additional markets for automotive companies to sell to the elderly, families with kids too young to drive, and the visually, physically, and mentally impaired. The arrival of fully automated navigation systems for ground-based vehicles will set the stage for fully automated navigation systems for flying vehicles.

Here are a few other transportation landmarks that will help pave the way for the more significant innovations. By 2010 personal transportation devices will be all the rage and electric shoes with built-in roller-skates will be gaining much of the attention. After nine years of heavy media coverage, the Segway Human Transporter will begin to gain serious market share.

Discussion

It will become increasingly challenging to balance the need for greater mobility with the need to protect the environment. Projected growth in the population and the economy, along with the associated increases in travel and shipping, might easily offset the gains that might be achieved by greater choices in transportation, improved land use patterns, reformulated fuels, or greater capture of pollutants. Today, 39 percent of the U.S. population lives in a “nonattainment” area—not meeting National Ambient Air Quality Standards—for one or more of six criteria pollutants. Ground-level ozone, in particular, remains an important problem for most people in these areas.5 Tailpipe emissions of criteria pollutants from automobiles have already diminished substantially due to Clean Air Act standards, ...