Evacuated Tubes

It is an airless, frictionless, maglev-like form of transportation which is safer, cheaper and quieter than trains or airplanes, and it is perfect to connect the metropolitan areas all over the world. Six-persons capsule travel in the tubes and can reach a maximum speed of 6,500 km/h, and provide 50 times more transportation per kWh. A capsule can travel from NY to Los Angeles in 45 minutes, from NY to Beijing in two hours and make a round-the-world trip in just six hours. This way of transport is still a vision.

Find further information at et3.

Hybrid vehicles with renewable energy sources engine

In Australia new hybrid vehicles have been created especially for water transport (on ferries, yachts, tankers) which combine electric motors powered by solar, wind and marine energy, and normal combustion engines. The concept can be  adapted also for  inland vehicles like cars and buses.

Further information at Solarsailor.

Hover cars

Volkswagen has started to develop a project, the People’s Car, using the innovative maglev technologies for small private vehicles. Chengdu’s subsoil has many unique minerals; maglev or hover cars use cutting-edge technology and react with the minerals underground to float. The project could provide an alternative to cumbustion engine vehicles, ensuring also a higher level of efficiency, safety and freedom of movements.

More information in this video.

Shweeb monorail

Shweeb is monorail circuits, from which highly efficient pedal-powered pods are hanged. The users lie back in a recumbent position and move with pedals: the speed of 45 km/h is easily reachable with a little effort. The first pilot project is funded by Google, called now Agroventures Adventure Park, consists of 200 metre track in Rotorua City, New Zeland. A possible replication in an urban environment could guarantee a safe and sustainable new mode of transport.

Further information on the Shweeb website. 

Car free day

Many municipalities all over the world organize car free days in order to encourage the inhabitants to use public transport or bicycles, to reduce the emissions of pollution (even if this lasts only for one day), to widen up the open space for pedestrians and to increase the quality of a city. The case of Jakarta, where the quality of life is relatively low due to the amount of road congestion problems, shows how successful a car free day can be: since the day was launched in 2007, it has been repeated monthly.

Further information. 

Commuters opting for public transport

In 2010, a commuter experiment launched an information and promotional public campaign, whose aim it was to attract new users for the public transport system among the car commuting group in the Gothenburg region, Sweden. Car owners, who are interested in switching to public transport and match to the criteria of the campaign, received a free two-week ticket. After the ‘experiment’ was ended, the public transportation provider announced an increasment of 20% more applications for commuter ticket cards. 

Further information.

Cycling Highways 

In Copenhagen, one third of the inhabitants uses its bike for daily routes, but also for long-distance commuting. For this reason, a network of 26 new “cycling superhighways” is being built to link the surrounding suburbs with Copenhagen.

Those bicycle lanes are for fast and long rides. Footrests with bars to lean on at a stop on traffic lights are also implemented as well as bicycle pumps every mile in case of a flat, all to make bikes more attractive to Copenhagen’s citizens. 

Further information. 

Bicycle garage

The Netherlands are famous all over the world for being bicycle-friendly. The tower at the town center side of the main train station in Amsterdam is the oldest and most striking temporary facility. The tourist office has already adopted this building as a landmark for foreign visitors. It was opened in 2001 and officially houses 2,500 bicycles. However, mostly more than 4,000 bikes park in this garage.
 
Further information. 

Small carriers

Since congestion, caused by commuters and the distribution of goods, is one of the main problems of innercities, the EU research program of Freight Innovative Delivery of Goods in European Urban Space (FIDEUS) developed and produced, together with FIAT, micro-carrier e-vehicles  for  short distance, door-to-door or just-in-time deliveries. The project was launched in Berlin in 2010. The first-generation-vehicle is able to carry up to 300 kilos with a maximum operating speed is 5 km/h.

Further information.

Cargo cap

It is a safe and economical way to carry goods fast and on time in congested urban areas by underground transportation pipelines. This innovative concept is the outcome of the interdisciplinary collaboration in research and development at the Ruhr University of Bochum. Transportation is effected on the basis of intelligent vehicles - the caps. Each cap is designed for the transportation of two euro-pallets, which represent the majority of the general inner-European cargo means of transportation, and can thus be carried through pipelines with a diameter of 2.0 m.

Further information.

Less trucks in the city: Cargo tram

The project was launched in 2007 by CityCargo Amsterdam, Netherland with the objective of reducing the number of trucks in the innercity. Due to its success, it was allowed to use the passengers tram network to transport goods for the next 10 years. CityCargo has 50 cargo trams and around 400 e-cars that already operate since 2008 in order to supply shops, supermarkets and the catering industry in the center of Amsterdam with goods. The system is also very cost efficient: one cargo tram is able to transport the same amount of goods as four trucks. 

Further information.

Vision for the future: Shareway

Höweler and Yoon Architecture elaborated a model of infrastructural shared ways, which bundles high speed passenger and freight trains, commuter trains, personal cars and parking spaces, bicycles and pedestrian ways on a multi-level track. These mobility corridors will be the only transport axis within an urban environment. The shift of mobility functions into corridors implies that there will be more space for other living uses.  The concept is the winner of the Audi Urban Future 2030 Competition in 2012 and is a vision for the Boston/Washington metropolitan region.

Further information.