The TRIMIS team contibuted to a new EC Joint Research Centre (JRC) report on the future or road transport. Current trends suggest that future road transport will be significantly different. It is likely that we won’t need to get any more to the gas station every week or so. Our cities won’t smell any longer. We will be able to see the blue sky more frequently. It is also possible that we can make a different use of our garage, because we won’t need to own a vehicle. When we need to get somewhere, we can rent a car or book a transport service. Or use a combination of different modes.
One of the available modes could be a new car concept:
- Allowing one or two passengers
- Able to drive alone and
- Able to communicate with the other vehicles and the road to prevent accidents.
But, the car would be only one of the available options. A car can be used only in limited circumstances. Otherwise there will probably be so many cars around that we will waste more time than today in traffic jams. It is true that while waiting we can read something, do shopping, work or interact with others, but maybe better to do these things at home or outside. In the end we could have cooler, smarter and more comfortable vehicles, but the overall system would be pretty much the same, just with more problems.
Click here to view the report.
Source: European Commission
