They say Rome conquered the world by building roads. But it seems that roads won’t feature much in the distant future. Here are some of the ideas that were presented as the future of transport by a South African company called Tomorrowtoday, at a recent workshop in Johannesburg.
It would seem that futurists have forgiven the flaws of the Zeppelin, and are talking about airships filled with helium, rather than highly-flammable hydrogen which will primarily move cargo. Apparently NASA has been involved in the development, and 45 such lighter-than-air craft have been commissioned in Canada, each capable of moving up to 50 tonnes each with minimal running costs.
STRADDLING BUS
To help ease city congestion, inventors are talking about a straddling bus, which will carry passengers in an elevated structure raised enough for cars and trucks to pass underneath it.
It would need to be streamlined enough to pass underneath bridges. A bonus is that the concept wouldn’t need massive infrastructure development as the wheels would run along the width of a lane, or it could possibly run on rails - like a city tram does.
To combat traffic congestion further, mobile telecommunications company Vodafone is talking about “smart” cities where smartphones could streamline everything from planning your route across various transport modes to paying for your groceries.
CITY IN MOTION
Tomorrowtoday also presented an interesting case study, called City in Motion, which involved the mapping of better transport solutions using cellphone data. The company was able to ascertain, through mobile data patterns, where people live, where they work, and how they commute. This information was then converted into a more effective public transport solution.
Greener and emission-free cars are a major future focus, with technologies ranging between solar, electric and hydrogen power.
We can expect the smartphone to play a key role in managing our cars, with apps which will manage charge levels and even maintain our cars while we’re on holiday.
There’s talk of being able to emergency-charge your electric car via an app, and take care of any servicing needs yourself. Cars will become more like electric appliances, like a toaster, and maintaining them should become easier. Self-driving cars should be a reality in the medium term too.
CAR-TO-X
The cloud will start playing a key role in our motoring lives for traffic and congestion management. The idea is to connect cars directly to each other through the cloud, for immediate traffic control and accident reports. Mercedes-Benz calls this Car-to-X technology and aims to bring it to series production vehicles by the end of this year
This technology has raised the interest of insurance companies, who are investigating “insurance by the minute”, which means that through the cloud your real-time driving behaviour and location will be monitored and your premiums determined.
Tube transport is another possibility. The theory is to use gravity as the driving force to power trains running through an oxygen-free, frictionless tunnel. In theory, a tube through the centre of the earth would allow a gravity train to reach speeds of up to 29 000km/h - which means being able to go anywhere on the planet in less than an hour.
Obviously this latter example is more sci-fi than feasible right now, but frictionless tubes running at an angle above and below ground are a more near-term possibility.
And before you start chuckling at any of these ideas remember that not so long ago eighty percent of consumers said they’d never socialise on the internet - today it’s the norm. - Star Motoring
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