As society advances, new transportation technologies such as autonomous cars, Mobility-as-a-Service apps and others continue to emerge.
Transportation leaders need to adopt a clear vision and align it with their business operations and workforce capabilities in order to succeed in today’s environment. Doing this successfully requires data fluency, agile problem-solving techniques and customer centricity – three characteristics needed for success in any endeavor.
Self-driving cars
Self-driving cars are at the core of today’s transportation technology revolution. Their adoption could boost productivity, housing affordability and urban space reclamation while simultaneously decreasing energy use and traffic congestion, with attendant benefits such as decreased road accidents and deaths.
Autonomous cars can communicate among themselves to create an accurate map of their surroundings and predict any obstacles they might come across, eliminating human error and increasing safety. They can also be programmed to maintain consistent speeds instead of frequently breaking or accelerating to save energy consumption.
However, self-driving cars will come at a cost: millions of drivers (bus drivers, taxi drivers and truckers) who work as professional drivers will lose their jobs as the technology replaces them with cars they can summon with an app instead of owning their own.
Hyperloop
The hyperloop is an innovative form of pneumatic transport that could revolutionize transportation worldwide. It would be safer, faster, more energy-efficient and cheaper than traditional air or rail travel; additionally it would reduce congestion on both roadways and in the air.
To accurately model potential impact, two freight hyperloop systems were modeled: one for lighter cargo and another for heavier freight. For each system, air and truck freight demand was multiplied by its respective energy intensities before being compared against total freight demands to identify any possible adverse consequences.
Before hyperloop becomes reality, many hurdles must first be cleared away. Most importantly, large scale testing must occur in order to ascertain that its viability.
Robotics
Robots are rapidly revolutionizing the transportation industry by performing jobs more quickly, reliably, and cost-effectively than human workers can. Furthermore, robots may reduce injury or death associated with hazardous tasks like heavy equipment operation and hot running machinery.
Not only can robotics create a safer work environment, they can also lower travel costs for businesses by eliminating the need for drivers and pilots – plus provide benefits like faster travel times, lower fuel consumption and more parking space!
In essence, this technology holds immense promise to enhance city living by reducing transport emissions and traffic congestion. For instance, cargo companies could use bicycle-powered carts or electric vertical takeoff and landing aircrafts instead of trucks for shipping packages.
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing transportation in many ways, from autonomous cars and drones to smart traffic management systems and traffic monitoring platforms. All these innovations help reduce energy consumption and environmental impacts while simultaneously improving efficiency and safety.
AI is revolutionizing work by making it easier for people to outsource tasks, as well as increasing efficiency in delivery services. AI-powered vehicles use cameras, radar, LiDAR and GPS technology to map their surroundings; then instant updates alert drivers of potential hazards or shifts in traffic patterns.
The United States is a leader in AI research and innovation, contributing to international research projects as well as encouraging commercialization of AI technology. To foster fair economic competition globally and protect intellectual property while guaranteeing data privacy, its government is setting fair rules to govern global economic competition as well as providing workshops on AI development.
Big data
Big data refers to any large amount of information which requires new tools and techniques in order to understand. It includes IoT devices, clickstreams, system logs and streaming systems data as well as consumer behavior data, financial markets information, weather and traffic conditions and geographic details.
AI can also help municipalities design roads and highways more efficiently by using AI to predict traffic patterns, matching retailers with transport teams that travel during low traffic times to save gas (money) and emissions; cargo companies are even experimenting with bicycle-powered cargo cart deliveries within cities to further cut emissions by up to 80%.
