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Future of Private Transport Here in Johannesburg, South Africa, we consider our rush hour traffic to be a nightmare... but it's nothing compared to London, LA, Tokyo or Mexico City.
It's patently obvious that a system where a single motorist, travelling alone, in a big, carbon-monoxide-emitting gas guzzler, will soon have to change.
As with almost everything, it seems the experience of the very rich will become more luxurious, but the experience of the rest of us may be a little more pedestrian, if you'll pardon the pun.
And what about the rest of us? Has the petrol internal combustion engine become outdated? Will we be trundling along in electric vehicles with a top speed of 20 km/ h? It seems it's not an either/or scenario. Hybrid vehicles like the Toyota Prius are a reality.
"The methanol goes through a membrane system that splits the chemical into the component parts - hydrogen and oxygen - and in the process, the reaction produces electricity," explains Roger Houghton of Toyota South Africa. "A great benefit in terms of pollution is that the emission is water vapour - so with the Prius, there's absolutely no exhaust pollution. The challenge for the motor industry is to bring this technology to the market". Ballard Power Systems (www.ballard.com) is a company in Canada that specialises in providing emission-free fuel-cell engines to motor-manufacturers world-wide. While most of the big motor corporations are developing innovative new vehicles, vehicle parts companies are working on new components that may change the way we see our cars: how about a ceramic engine, or a carbon-fibre chassis? But if you live near a highway, none of this innovation addresses one of the major crises of the modern highway: noise pollution: "There are three major factors in car noise levels: the engine, the exhaust, and the friction of the tires on the road surface." says Dr Johan Schoeman of LI Risk Services. "And the latter is by far the major contributing factor: the friction of the tires on the surface. Tar surfaces create the lowest noise levels. Cement is louder, and cobble bricks are the worst you can get". However the possibility exists of a highway that makes your driving experience foolproof and fast. It would eliminate driver error, and alleviate 80% of traffic jams. In the near future, self-drive cars will slot into highway lanes that regulate themselves. Now you wouldn't need to own a chauffer-driven Maybach in order to use your driving time more productively... while your car slots into its speed-controlled place in the lane, you could get on with your work, make calls, send e-mail and read the newspaper. In the meantime, you and I are probably doomed to spend tomorrow morning in yet another traffic snarl. But perhaps, in the near future, we'll enjoy the reality of our own self-drive, levitating intelligent vehicle: a vehicle so safe and environmentally friendly, it will literally change the face of the world. Contacts
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And we all know about the pollution cars are pouring into our atmosphere, givign rise to global warming, raised levels of toxic emissions, respiratory problems, and of course the simple fact that any fossil fuel source must eventually be exhausted.
But how? How close are we to hovering through the city skies like the traffic scenes in the movie "The Fifth Element"? And if not, how will our experience of private transport change?
For the very, very wealthy among us, there's the Mercedes-Benz Maybach, a chauffeur driven office/hotel suite on wheels. It has a computer, fax, entertainment centre, bar and even electrostatic sunroof-glass.
The Prius engine switches automatically between a methanol-driven internal combustion power source and an electrical system.
