Just as we feel better after going outside a stifling, suffocating, boring environment to get a breath of fresh air, so it is refreshing when technology enters into the transportation industry. With the help of modern technologies, the efficiency of existing transportation methods is getting improved. It is an undeniable fact that transportation technology is in the midst of a revolution.
Nowadays, the desire of human beings has gone to the next level. Yes! A self-driving car. Now people can nap while driving. We usually think this is what a self-driving car is all about. However, the main purpose of introducing an autonomous car concept is not laziness or desire but is to increase the safety measures of a car. Driver’s fault is believed to cause 94% and 75% of all traffic clashes in the USA and the UK, respectively. But self-driving cars can reduce these types of accidents because they come with sensors attached to the calls all around it. The sensors can track the objects and its distance around it, the speed of car movement, the steering direction and many more. This way the accidents can be prevented. There is no doubt that self-driving cars can provide a high range of potential benefits. In the future, our roads will be full of self-driving cars without any traffic jam and air pollution. Currently, there exist some technological challenges and existential uncertainties; but once we get over these barriers, self-driving cars will certainly make our lives safer and smarter. What was once a dream has now become a reality.
The rise of Uber and Lyft has dramatically and drastically changed the way people in large cities. With an app, passengers can call a vehicle to their location, any time they want. The growth of these services has reached to an extent where conventional taxi services are not able to effectively compete and are losing market share. Some research studies report that on-demand services can increase the productivity of vehicles between 30 and 50% as compared with conventional taxi services.
A handful of studies have shown that reducing the weight of the vehicle by as little as 10% can improve fuel economy by 6% or more. The federal government reports that if only 25% of vehicles were using lightweight materials, by 2030 the nation would use 5 billion fewer gallons of gas each year. The purpose of lightweight vehicle research is to move away from cast iron and steel. In the near future, cast iron and steel will be replaced by magnesium aluminum alloys and carbon fiber construction. Although there are questions still exist about whether the materials can hold up under the forces of highway accidents and whether manufacturers will be able to produce lightweight materials at a low cost for automakers, yet the process of bringing lightweight vehicles into the market is still on the move.
Nothing big is required. Just minor changes to the existing methods of transportation could have considerable impact in the near future. Always new technologies can cause a fundamental shift in the way people see transportation.
