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Auto & Transport Expert Roundups Predictions

What’s The Future of Transportation?

For many years, the world has dreamed of cars that could drive themselves and every day we’re getting closer to that becoming reality. Autonomous vehicles offer the biggest change to transportation and logistics that these industries have seen since the introduction of the steam engine or internal combustion engine.

It’s looking inevitable that we’ll soon be living in a world without people driving… err.. anything. This will have massive implications on the economy, considering an estimated 4 million jobs are at risk of being displaced by autonomous vehicles. I mean let’s be real, what need is there for a UPS driver when Amazon can have a drone fly anywhere in town, pick up what you need, and fly it over to you in less than 30 minutes? By the way things are going, the only way we’ll have taxi drivers in the future is if those companies put up enough of a lobbying effort to protect their interests. Planes, trains, and automobiles, anything with a driver or a pilot is ripe to be disrupted in the coming 5-10 years.

It’s a whole thing in itself to try to figure out how those 4 million people without jobs will be retrained in a new profession. Not to mention the fact that those 4 million people are just the tip of the iceberg, robots and artificial intelligence are threatening a potentially even larger chunk of our jobs.

From self driving cars to entirely new means of transportation like the Hyper Loop or even the autonomous drone taxis that launched earlier this year in Dubai, transpiration as we know it is preparing to under go more changes than we can even imagine.

To get a more clear picture of what this future will look like, we spoke with transportation industry experts and asked them:

What’s the Future of Transportation?

Here’s what they shared with us…

 

Doug Kaufman, CEO of TransLoc

“The future of transportation is seamless mobility—where all modes of transportation are fully connected into a single, integrated network of transportation modes, with public transit at the center. This future is happening right now. We can already see it manifesting in the idea of shared mobility, where cars and bikes are borrowed instead of owned.

This paradigm shift away from ownership toward multimodality and interconnectedness capitalizes on the flexibility of shared modes and the productivity of mass transit to provide passengers with more choices than ever before on how they get around. Autonomous vehicles are also a part of the future and won’t displace mass transit.

Instead, they’ll become another option in this seamless mobility network, helping to overcome transit’s present limitations and frustrations. The transit system of the future is fluid and fuses common payment, seemingly endless permutations of mobility options, and inter-modal communication to the benefit of riders and the rider experience.”

 

Robert Clinton, VP of Rail, Ideagen PLC

“Information capture and the theme of ‘big data’ continues to shape the transportation sector, with more and more companies building competitive advantage by becoming data-driven. 

Many software products can now be used on mobile devices, tablets and desktop formats – increasing flexibility for those capturing critical information remotely.

Despite the fact that the legacy of the transport industry has typically seen a slow speed in taking a more digitised approach, companies in the rail industry are now recognising that cloud data has given the power to utilise this data wiser. Many top CEOs within the transportation industry recognise that operational data is there and ready to be used and this data can now have freedom to blossom and add value.

As business intelligence, analytical data, mobile software applications and smart devices continue to dominate everyday working life, this trend looks set to continue into the future.

 

 

Hannah Steffensen, Media Relations Manager at GPS Trackit

“Transportation is quickly being assimilated into the Internet of Things, with the mobile aspects of many industries (vehicles, drivers, etc.) becoming increasingly connected to the stationary world (dispatchers, yards, etc.). GPS vehicle tracking, in-cab tablet and smartphone usage, and mobile WiFi hotspots enable constant communication between those on the road and those who support and direct them. This has offered an unprecedented amount of visibility and transparency to those in the transportation industry, prompting both drivers and fleet-owning businesses to adjust their practices to focus more intensely on accountability and cooperation.”

 

 

Alex Moazed, CEO of Applico

“As autonomous vehicles enter the mainstream, the software in the car will become the most important factor driving consumer purchasing behavior & brand identity. Much as the iPhone became defined by apps created by third parties, transportation will find a similar transformation. Transportation will be dominated by one or two development platforms (like iOS and Android in phones) that connect motorists with third-party apps for entertainment, productivity, and most importantly, transportation. It’s a $5+ trillion industry and there will be many more transportation apps than just Uber and Lyft.”

 

 

Dr. Julian Stephens, Technical Development Manager at MJC² Limited

“Synchro-modality is the future of transportation i.e. seamless movement from one mode of transport to the other, dynamically updating and re-optimising the choice of modes and route taken in response to real-time events.

Synchro-modality is an ambitious concept: live big data streams processed by real-time optimisation algorithms, exploiting current and anticipated advances in machine intelligence. However it is already happening: the freight industry is sometimes seen as nervous of innovation but a major initiative known as SYNCHRO-NET is leading the way in logistics.

MJC² is working with DHL and other major logistics operators in SYNCHRO-NET to implement a pan-European synchromodal transport network which will massive reduce costs and environmental footprint in the freight industry.

Interestingly the synchro-modal concept transfers easily to passenger transport, enabling greener and cheaper options for almost anyone on the move.”

 

 

Keith Maurer, Owner of Transportation for Tomorrow

“I believe the key word of the future of transportation will be intermodal. Active transportation, such as bicycle and and walkable communities will become more popular as retirees and millennials reurbanize. Autonomous transit will take longer than many people think, as legacy vehicles will continue to limit traffic coordination or optimization. Various manufactures vehicles may run on different protocols.

There are also regulatory, legal, and insurance issues to consider. Owning a car will be less common, but ride sharing and fractional car ownership will take hold. Intercity bus and even rail may become popular. As for freight, we will see a revitalization of short haul rail roads as industry moves back to the US. Aviation will be about flat, with freight and local shipping growing with the needs of online retailers. There is also a huge opportunity for drone transport once regulatory issues are resolved.”

 

 

Paul Miser, CEO & Founder of Chinatown Bureau

“The future of transportation is a seamless orchestration of getting from Point A to B based on need. Regardless of the method of travel (road, water, rail, air, hyperloop), a user will have the option to select the most appropriate avenues to solve their transportation needs. These needs could be speed, cost, utility, leisure, or distance with added “in travel” options around entertainment, workspace, sleeping or lounging.

All vehicles will work within an autonomous grid allowing for precise scheduling between multi modes of transportation in a single journey allowing for the seamless orchestration. The transportation industry will be broken out into a hierarchy of services surrounding scheduling interfaces, operating systems and artificial intelligence, fleet / driver management and component (vehicle) design in a manner that closely serves the individual needs of users.”

 

About the author

Nick Hastreiter

I write about the future of business. I approach this by interviewing founders, CEO's, and other game changers to share their vision for the future of their industry.

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