Future transportation will increasingly depend on fuel that is healthier, fewer carbon-emitting automobiles, smarter energy sources, growing transportation infrastructure, automation, and technology for self-driving cars. The worldwide market for smart transportation has enormous potential and is expected to reach USD 121,220 million by 2026. Compact vehicles, drones, hyperloop transportation technology, flying taxis, autonomous automobiles, linked cars, augmented reality, and virtual reality in transportation are the top 8 future smart transportation technologies.
Population expansion, severe traffic congestion, and the use of fossil fuels, which release greenhouse gases and cause pollution, are to blame for the rising expense of transportation and the need for change.
The development of the wheel, which led to the development of the cart, steam engines, vehicles, railroads, and aircraft, transformed the transportation industry. We are moving closer to autonomous vehicles, electric bikes, and cars in the modern period. Future transportation is evolving quickly to satisfy consumer desires.
Autonomous Vehicles
Many components of autonomous travel have been reported “here and there” during the past few years, such as automated braking systems when a vehicle senses anything in its path and navigation systems that can guide drivers through traffic. Fully automatic travel from point A to point B is the final goal for autonomous cars, and businesses like Tesla are really advancing on the private side. In the end, these vehicles would need to connect with traffic signs and signals using V2I technology, or vehicle to infrastructure, which ironically is the present “stopping point.”
But a greatly larger number of people—more than 3,000—perish in traffic accidents every month without the use of technology. Although automation could successfully remove drunk driving from the picture, alcohol is still the leading cause of automobile accidents. Lower emissions, larger parking (which may boost local economy), and fewer emissions are further benefits. Additionally, creating autonomous cars presents a number of difficulties.
Smart Transportation Infrastructure and Connectivity
Before a few years ago, supporters of high-speed and ultra-high-speed rail thought that brief airplanes, autos, and buses were their main rivals. But since then, a fresh idea has surfaced: the hyperloop. Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, the project’s creator, has referred to the hyperloop as a “fifth mode” of transportation. Passengers would travel between cities at speeds of more than 970 km/h in capsules that float in partially vacuum tubes. When Mr. Musk released his vision for the hyperloop in August 2012, it was first met with a mixture of disbelief and doubt, maybe even more of the latter. Without including Mr. Musk’s own company, there are now three significant start-ups seeking to commercialize the technology, and more are undoubtedly on the way.
However, neither maglev nor hyperloop technology can benefit from existing infrastructure, unlike autonomous automobiles. By operating in side with current conventional lines, maglev lines can, at most, save some money, but the savings are negligible when compared to the whole cost. It will be necessary to construct hyperloops on brand-new, independent platforms.
This makes them both costly, at least at present and shown costs, and given that most authorities in both the developed and developing world are struggling under heavy debt loads that are only getting worse, it will be challenging to convince consumers that either mode is a wise investment, no matter how professional and appealing the idea.
High-speed transportation may not be too far in the future, but due to financial limitations, its arrival may be delayed, much to the sorrow of business owners and the rest of us.
Final Words
If economic and other limitations are lifted, how will transportation look in 2040? In a perfect world, every form of transportation, including the “fifth mode,” the hyperloop, would be quicker, more effective, and completely digitally connected. Additionally, it is anticipated to become more customized. By 2040, a resident of nearly any large city would, for example, be able to go outside their front door and discover the autonomous pod they had only moments before ordered from a neighboring multi-story charging station.
Of course, to do this, infrastructure for trains, airplanes, vehicles, roads, ICT, and energy must continue to improve. However, it will also require the growth and development of digital trends like the Internet of Things (IoT), big data, machine learning, and artificial intelligence (AI). Customers must also feel at ease giving enormous amounts of personal information. That is by no means guaranteed. There are variances across locations (such as views in the EU and North America) and generations (such as those between millenials and their parents), but several polls on the topic have shown that worries about data privacy are typically strong and growing.
