SpringTX Posted August 20, 2005 Share Posted August 20, 2005 As we all know, the advent of the automobile drastically changed the layout of our cities, not to mention our economy. So now that the automobile has been around a while and technology continues to improve, let's look ahead. What is next? And how will it shape our cities and our economy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YakuzaIce Posted August 20, 2005 Share Posted August 20, 2005 As we all know, the advent of the automobile drastically changed the layout of our cities, not to mention our economy. So now that the automobile has been around a while and technology continues to improve, let's look ahead. What is next? And how will it shape our cities and our economy?<{POST_SNAPBACK}>Maybe some type of flying car, or more realisticlly some type of mag lev cars with magnetic freeways/roads. But I think rail will also be more prominent in all forms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InnerLoopOnly Posted August 20, 2005 Share Posted August 20, 2005 Personal trasportation is never going to go away. The form of energy that propels it may change, but the need to have a form of transportation that will take you from where you are at to where you want to go without any disruptions will always be important. In the past it was the horse drawn carriage. Today it is the automobile. Tomorrow it may be some type of flying vehicle. I think the advances you will see will come in propulsion and navigation. We started with animal propulsion and moved to internal combustion. Over time our use of that engine has improved. At some point we will probably develop an even more efficent engine. In navigation we will probably become more reliant on technology such as GPS instead of human sensory to get us where we want to go.However, mass transit is just as important to our future transit options as personal transportation. In some areas it is not feasable to have people use their own personal transports. Traffic concerns and parking concerns are very important when dealing with dense settlement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevfiv Posted August 20, 2005 Share Posted August 20, 2005 hy-wire h2carco Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editor Posted August 20, 2005 Share Posted August 20, 2005 Teleportation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Original Timmy Chan's Posted August 20, 2005 Share Posted August 20, 2005 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpringTX Posted August 21, 2005 Author Share Posted August 21, 2005 I was thinking:Helicopters - some of the richest in Houston already commute via helicopter. Tillman Fertitta is one, I believe. They land on rooftops of office buildings. I presume they have "helipads" on their estates. Could this happen for the average Joe or Jane? What if small helicopters (like the one called Little Nellie in that James Bond movie which apparently exists in real life as well) started at $30,000? Would your family buy one instead of your next car, assuming that you had a place to land it?Jetpacks - They used these in The Jetsons, right?What kind of air traffic control issues would we be looking at if, tomorrow, we suddenly had 200,000 commuters in the Houston area who wanted to fly from their driveways at home to the rooftops of their office buildings via their jetpacks?(Humorous section starts here...)I might just get a jump on y'all and start the wave of the future myself...with a hot air balloon! It can't cost more than my current Honda, could it? I could probably sail that puppy from the burbs to downtown in about 4 hours, especially if the winds were right. I'd float right over you gridlocked suckas stuck in traffic on I-45, cursing me from your land-based vehicles.(Humorous section concludes here) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevfiv Posted August 21, 2005 Share Posted August 21, 2005 hmm helicopters...minus the parking issue and the fact that you'd have to learn and be licensed to fly one, sounds fun! hehe scary thought - current houston drivers flying helicopters Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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