The cutting edge of public transportation

The 1800s saw a momentous change that laid a deep foundation for globalization - the public transportation system within a city. This particular story started in the 1820s in France and London. The Omnibus came into the picture, a horse-drawn vehicle that could simultaneously hold up to 10 individuals.

The changing economics of supply and demand of resources ensured the human need to travel. So the progression was quick streetcar to automobile to freeways. Mostly sponsored by the local authorities, it is now the Buses, Trains, Ferries, Cable cars and Underground Rail system that constitute our Public Transportation. In addition to the transient consumers, they have captive audiences based on income, gender, age, disabilities etc. With our ever-growing urban environment, it has been said that a developed country is not where the poor have cars; it is where the rich prefer public transport. In places like Singapore, the Land Transport Authority reduced annual allowable car growth to zero around five years ago. The land constraints are a major reason for the much more efficient public transport nearby Hong Kong. The legendary competence of public transport in Tokyo is far too well known to be explained here.

Hong Kong has the highest utilization at 80% of this mode due to heavy congestion, whereas the American public transportation system is yet to reach its optimum levels. American buses, subways, and light rail lines reliably have lower ridership levels, fewer service hours and longer waits between trains than in many similarly affluent European and Asian countries. One of the major reasons is the public attitude towards transit as a social welfare situation. Canada, in contrast, has a 2-5 times ridership per capita.

New inventions and technologies are continuously pushing the benchmark on commute styles. The development of IoT (Internet of Things) is seeing utility in flexibility, efficiency, accident prevention and route planning. Autonomous vehicles. Electric vehicles, on-demand services and smart city integrations will drive the future trends in this industry. Microtransit disrupts this space, catering to the new health and safety guidelines.

The most ambitious is SpaceX's Hyperloop, with projected travel speeds up to 750MPH. The idea has been floating around since 2013, but now we see Elon Musk's Boring company moving into the build stages. The virgin hyperloop speed is impeccable and can hit speeds up to 1080km/h. It is fully electric with zero dire emission and has the potential to move upwards of 50000 passengers per hour per direction. Hyperloop transports people and cargo in an autonomous pod in a vacuum environment. The first passenger tube is assessed to be completely functional by 2030.

Increasing demands for mobility and environmental sensitivity are the twin centres of 21st-century transport strategies. Transportation is now the second-largest source of global carbon emissions. Emissions from transport represent 24% of the world's total energy-related Greenhouse Gas emissions. Ambient air pollution alone kills around 3 million people every year. With the unrelenting pace of urbanization and motorization in developing countries, this could increase by 60% by 2050. Dependence on carbon-intensive transport harms the environment and people. The poorest countries and communities pay the highest cost.

Promoting low-carbon public transportation via incentivizing, Public-Private Partnerships (PPP), Ramp-up and governance on effectiveness are important factors in ensuring that Public Transportation systems become efficient for the public and the environment. It alludes to low to zero-emission and energy-efficient modes of transport, including electricity, fuel cells, clean batteries and solar energy. Hybrid architecture in electric buses includes both hydrogen fuel cells and batteries.

Ultimately meaningful public transportation is something economical, easily accessible, reliable and energy efficient. It should also work light on the environment. It is, in short, a microscopic representation of our civilization itself.