The views of three visionaries on how to revolutionize the way we travel are discussed in an article of Marc Neller in "Die Welt".
The starting points of this discussion are traffic congestion, smog and housing shortages which are increasingly determining the situation in metropolitan areas. Town planners worldwide agree upon the fact that this has to change in the near future. A growing number of people are attracted by metropolitan areas. The inhabitants, meanwhile, suffer from this and economy, which is no longer able to handle the volume, succumbs to it.
According to mobility expert Andreas Knie, a German mentor of the traffic revolution from Berlin, vehicles with combustion engines will be banned from large cities within the next few years. The new concept of mobility will be defined as a chain of eco-friendly, commonly used means of moving from one place to another. The journey to work, to the cinema or to the gym will be covered by rental bike, car sharing and other public means of transportation. And these means are cross-linked in a way that the trip can be planned, booked and paid for with one single App.
The Berlin architect Jürgen Mayer emphasizes that Smart Homes, which are also to be realized in the near future, are tightly coupled with transport. The day when we can sit back and enjoy autonomous cars is very near. Such vehicles find the best way through the city. This causes a better flow of traffic and the need for less streets. Their use commonly leads to less vehicle parking requirements, less ownership and less traffic.
The very concept of Mobility is being put to the test in a new urban district in the town of Somerville near Boston, which is completely controlled by digital means. Sophie Stigliano from Urban Standards in Munich is involved in this experiment. Also Audi is part of the project with an intelligent help system for parking. The parking pilot can solve three problems: People do not waste time any more with searching for parking places, no traffic jams are caused and the cars waste less city space.
In Germany, to accept systems like this is tantamount to say goodbye to one's own status symbol. Since the Fifties the own car was been the expression of the own personality. "You are what you drive". But the cars are not driven on the street in 95% of the time, they are mostly just standing idle. Wouldn't the foregoing approach be a good step?
The article in full length (German): Verkehrsinfarkt - Schluss damit