This article was first published in the August 2015 issue of WIRED magazine. Be the first to read WIRED's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online
Sonja HeikkiläTransport engineer, adviser to Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation "Transportation will shift from owning to using. We will be able to take a bus, a taxi, use a minivan or book a limousine service through a touchscreen. There will be less need for individuals to own a car, as transportation will become demand-responsive and adapt to the individual needs of people. Instead, conveyance will become a tool to be accessed, provided by third parties. The intrinsic value of owning a vehicle will diminish. Shared and rentable vehicles, as well as the broader transport system, will be automated, which will enable maximum efficiency in operation."
Richard de CaniDirector of strategy and policy, Transport for London "London's population is set to grow from 8.6 million today to ten million by 2030. By then, we would expect construction to be well underway on schemes such as Crossrail 2, linking south-west and north-east London. Decking over existing roads or creating a replacement ring road, in the form of an inner orbital tunnel or two cross-city tunnels, could enable more efficient and reliable vehicle movement, reducing congestion in central London by up to 20 per cent."
Karen AndertonResearch fellow, Transport Studies Unit, University of Oxford "We'll think more about door-to-door trips using things we already consider public transport -- buses and trains -- and also shared cars and bikes. Real-time information about when services are running, where shared bikes and cars are available, and how much a total trip will cost will be collated on one system. We'll start to think about including ultra-low-emission driverless vehicles in the service too, and it will all be accessed using an Oyster-type card."
Anders EugenssonDirector of governmental affairs; safety strategist, Volvo "The development of vehicle automation will reach a level where individual mobility and public transportation will begin to merge. Public transportation will gradually phase into a network of meshes with different sizes of automated vehicles on offer, each dependent on the number of passengers and type of journey. Larger vehicles will be used for trips taken on main roads and highways, with smaller, passenger-sized ones suited to regular streets."
Daniela RusSingapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology "Public transportation will become a utility: available anywhere, anytime. A network of vehicles will provide transportation over long distances. There will also be fleets of pods for short hops and for the first- and last-mile part of long journeys. The transportation network will be connected to the IT infrastructure to provide mobility on demand, facilitated by self-driving vehicles. Taking a driverless car for a ride will be as easy as using a smartphone."
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
