Transportation has become miraculously effective nowadays. We can go wherever we want in less than a couple of days. We can also obtain products from around the world at arguably affordable prices. Transportation enabled us to plan our activities using as a target a much broader, even global, geographical scope. This was mostly due to the invention and pipeline production of the combustion engine.
But this all came at a cost. Due to its effectiveness and convenience, motorized transportation permeated our cities in a widespread manner and brought with it air, sound and urban landscape pollution. In many places, pedestrians are not treated with the respect they deserve. Moreover, vehicles potential for harm is many a time neglected, causing many accidents which are currently one of the leading causes of human and non-human fatalities.
There must be some way to benefit from effective and efficient transportation without detriment to the urban environment and lifestyle. I have tried to come up with a solution for the problem that leverages from as much new technology as possible. After a while, however, I have realized that a less utopian, simpler solution would be the best. I have decided to post both of these ideas here and give my analysis in terms of their feasibility and benefits.
The Expensive Utopian Sci-Fi Solution
In this solution, vehicles would drive themselves. This would drastically reduce the amount of accidents that occur nowadays. Best of all, people could get drunk as much as they want and still go back home :). In addition to that, there would be no more honking on the street, highly accelerated engine noises, and screeching tire that are now part of urban cacophony. The vehicle users would indicate one or more destinations and the vehicle would optimally drive the users around taking into account traffic and road topology. The technology already exists, it is only a matter of investment and building up the required infrastructure.
Roads would go underground much like subways nowadays. Because drivers would not be driving the vehicles, no day light nor even headlights would be needed to drive around, unless in case of emergencies or faults. For longer distance dislocation, vehicles would get into train wagons and be carried along a high-speed underground rail network connecting major urban points in a state or nation. For that to be possible, vehicles would also have to be smaller, so that more of them can fit in less space. This would optimize flow in roads and optimize vehicle transportation.
Vehicles and trains would all be moved by electricity. While trains would be connected to the power grid all the time, the same would not be true for the vehicles. The latter would be connected to the grid when being carried on a train, but also when driving in metropolitan areas were the grid infrastructure would be more readily available and maintained or in higher speed roadways where the vehicle energy demands would increase due to higher speeds.
Most importantly, all transportation would be public. Vehicle stops would be homogeneously available in every city. Dispersion of vehicles would be determined by a computer-controlled system, which would optimize idle vehicles distribution based on their location.
Vehicles would be composed of 3 to 5 interconnected compartments, but with enough room for privacy and storage of belongings. They would look like a small subway wagon. A single vehicle could then carry multiple groups of people with similar destinations on only one trip.
A vehicle user would have a digital ID that would be scanned on a machine in the vehicle stop. He would input his destination and whether more than one seat would be required by adding other users IDs. Such information would then go to a central server to compute which vehicle the user should take.
If this transportation system was in use, the number of vehicles in the streets would be drastically reduced. Not only more than one group of people would be using the same vehicle at once, but a single vehicle could also be used multiple times during a single day. No more vehicles would be stopped all day long in a parking lot. Actually, parking lots would not exist, since vehicles would always be on the move or in stops ready to serve the population. The space of parking lots could then be used for other purposes. Parking lot structures could be used for schools, public gardens and markets or other structures that would enhance the quality of life of the community in that area.
This mix of autonomous electric vehicles and trains would reduce all kinds of urban pollution caused by our current transportation system. It would also remove the necessity for a Registry of Motor Vehicles to monitor the driving behaviour of citizens. Such an entity would then be solely responsible for maintaining the autonomous vehicle infrastructure.
Even if the power grid would still be dependent on coal, oil or other dirty sources to generate electric energy, the energy generation would be given in a small set of spots spread around along the grid. The integration of the energy demands of transportation to the electric grid would remove the costs involved in transporting gas and maintaining gas stations. It would also facilitate pollution monitoring and management. This would motivate collaboration between energy companies and governments in moving this project forward. However, the ideal would be to reduce dependence on carbon-related fuels over time.
In the automotive industry, companies would have to compete for better quality models of vehicles and compete for chunks of the public "autonomous cab" market. This would be a transition hard to accomplish. These companies would then be funded by the government, and would be responsible for maintaining their own vehicles in the public infrastructure. The competition would ensure the quality of the service provided by these companies.
The Cheaper More Practical Solution
Much as I would like to have the above solution implemented, I think not even the richest of governments would have the guts to do it. A drastic change would have to take place not only in the transportation system, but also in the vehicle, energy and other interdependent industries.
But there is another way which is, if not less impacting or revolutionary, at least more cost-effective. The solution is simple: let's replace the above-described autonomous vehicles with bicycles.
Bicycles would still be public and spread all over the place for anyone to use them. It is true, they would not autonomously lead the way. But, looking at the bright side, transportation users will stop being lazy and actually learn more about the local road network and the city they live in and work.
In addition, they would also be constantly exercising. This in itself would be a huge advantage over autonomous vehicles. An exercised population would have reduced stress levels and less chance of heart attacks and other health problems. Ultimately, it would lead to a reduction in public health costs.
Bicycles are also pretty small compared to current cars. Even if parking lots would still be required for them, they would be able to contain far more bicycles. In addition, bicycles would always be reused and hence there would be less vehicles stopped overall. Again, similar transportation systems are already being implemented in some cities.
Special cyclist wagons could be added to the current subway and train system available for bikers who want to either use their own bicycles to work instead of leaving them in the nearby station and having to take a public bicycle when they get at their destination. This would also be more enticing for transitioning users who would not be willing to rely on public bicycles that could not be as energy efficient from a calories-per-cycle standpoint (not enough gears) or may not be available when needed during rush hours.
With a small investment in both the current train, subway and road infrastructure to make them more bicycle friendly and the help of the increasing gas costs, more people would gradually transition to bicycles. Similar benefits for cyclists could be provided as for those with electric cars, such as tax discounts or special easy to park spots, or even parking lots with no parking fees.
But even assuming everything would go well and all commuters would transition to the bicycle commuting system, this would not solve all problems. The current road infra-structure would still be required for transportation of goods and for special transportation situations such as for disabled people, elderly, or just for providing ride to the airport with one's personal luggage. However, using bicycles would be an interesting midway transition before the entire road system can actually be modified to the utopian transportation solution. The investments and changes in infrastructure and urban lifestyle would be more gradual.
And, after all, bicycles are very energy efficient and inexpensive. There is no more energy optimized system than our body. Instead of paying for gas, people would have to pay for a little bit more food. But eating a little bit more everyday to compensate for the calories spent in commuting can never be a bad thing to do.
Furthermore, using bicycles for transportation is a change that is not entirely in the hands of a government. It is in the hands of the population. As long as the population starts using bicycles, it will demand from the government to create more infrastructure for them, and the industry would then follow along. Hence, it is a type of change in the transportation system that is much less hindered by the lobbying power of big corporations. It is only a matter of the population desiring that change to happen.
The Final Question
Everyday we experience stress, pollution and other annoyances due to our current transportation system. We also hear about the impact the carbon emissions have on the environment and how this is leading to a change in our biosphere. Yet, most of us persist in blaming authorities for complying with the pressure from the dirty energy industries while doing nothing about it. We tend to forget that, at the end of the day, the final consumers of a good part of that energy are no one but ourselves.
When will we, as global citizens, take matters into our hands, get our butts out of our car seats and start doing something about the problem? Riding a bicycle only brings us benefits. No more paying for the gym, no more wasting time in the gym, no more paying tons of money to fill a tank with gas or paying to maintain your "oldsmobile". One can exercise while commuting and also enjoy the sight. And if the bike breaks, you can fix it, yourself! How cool is that?
Citizens of the world, take action to change this world into a better one. Start it by riding a bicycle.
