Our transport modes and infrastructure will transform the way we work and do business in the next 20 to 30 years. From the office to the movement of goods, retail and advertising, we will see fundamental and fascinating changes.
Thomas Frey, senior futurist at the Da Vinci Institute in Colorado, says the haulage and shipping industry will see the biggest change. “Because we will consume more things we will need to move more freight, need more trucks and have to build extra lanes on our highways,” he says. “The trucks will be driverless or driven remotely from the office. They will be electrically powered and without those noisy diesel engines will radically change the sounds of our towns and cities. Rolls-Royce is currently working on a crewless ship, so we will see more of those. They will also be electrically powered. Because we will be using 3D printing manufacturing on location, we will be moving not finished goods across the globe but raw materials.”
In retail Frey envisages deliveries of goods either by drones or robot postmen and new advertising channels. “In a world of flying cars and driverless flying drones, you could wrap an entire drone in advertising or even make one shaped into a Jack Daniels bottle with free samples on board,” Frey predicts.
Self-driving workplaces could also be in the offing. Design firm IDEO suggests WOW pods – Work on Wheels – which consist of a desk and some chairs which can travel to your home, hotel or a building site.
How will the future of transport affect private and public travel?
Perhaps the greatest transformation will be in how we travel for leisure, either in our own vehicles or on public transport – whether it be by car, taxi, new forms of ‘tube’ transport or into the skies and space.
Driverless and flying cars will become the norm. We may even be able to drive our cars down to the shops just by sitting at home with a joystick.
We could also see flying dresses. Back in 2013 singer Lady Gaga modelled one called Volantis – essentially an electrically powered hover vehicle – which transported her into the air for a few seconds. Drones could also accompany people running or walking, lighting their path on a dark night or shouting words of encouragement to help them meet their daily steps quotas.
Flying drones could be used as taxis and heavy-lifting ambulance drones could take injured people to hospital. “All of these drones will need landing pods to be built, and our cities will be full of mini-airports,” says Thomas Frey.
PayPal entrepreneur Elon Musk’s Hyperloop, which uses magnets to propel passenger capsules through long pipes at a bone-rattling 760 miles per hour, is also gathering speed, while a more leisurely pace of around 15mph is envisaged for London Underground travellators, which are envisaged to eventually replace Tube trains.
PayPal entrepreneur Elon Musk’s Hyperloop, which uses magnets to propel passenger capsules through long pipes at a bone-rattling 760 miles per hour, is also gathering speed, while a more leisurely pace of around 15mph is envisaged for London Underground travellators, which are envisaged to eventually replace Tube trains.
In the skies, we may see artificial clouds acting as airships for very adventurous holidaymakers and personal space rockets for those who want a close-up look at the stars.
Thomas Frey of the DaVinci Institute envisages aircraft taking off with the pilots flying them from a hub on the ground, and an end to air-traffic controllers as drones and planes communicate safely with each other in the sky. Nervous flyers will almost certainly still exist though…
How will I do business in the new world of transportation?
Our transport modes and infrastructure will transform the way we work and do business in the next 20 to 30 years. From the office to the movement of goods, retail and advertising, we will see fundamental and fascinating changes.
Thomas Frey, senior futurist at the Da Vinci Institute in Colorado, says the haulage and shipping industry will see the biggest change. “Because we will consume more things we will need to move more freight, need more trucks and have to build extra lanes on our highways,” he says. “The trucks will be driverless or driven remotely from the office. They will be electrically powered and without those noisy diesel engines will radically change the sounds of our towns and cities. Rolls-Royce is currently working on a crewless ship, so we will see more of those. They will also be electrically powered. Because we will be using 3D printing manufacturing on location, we will be moving not finished goods across the globe but raw materials.”
In retail Frey envisages deliveries of goods either by drones or robot postmen and new advertising channels. “In a world of flying cars and driverless flying drones, you could wrap an entire drone in advertising or even make one shaped into a Jack Daniels bottle with free samples on board,” Frey predicts
In retail Frey envisages deliveries of goods either by drones or robot postmen and new advertising channels. “In a world of flying cars and driverless flying drones, you could wrap an entire drone in advertising or even make one shaped into a Jack Daniels bottle with free samples on board,” Frey predicts.
Self-driving workplaces could also be in the offing. Design firm IDEO suggests WOW pods – Work on Wheels – which consist of a desk and some chairs which can travel to your home, hotel or a building site.
