Advances in transportation efficiency and diversity will not only allow us to more easily visit more places, it might also allow us to connect with and become a part of new communities.

Although we are still waiting for our flying cars, the future of transportation is sure to yield some interesting developments. Saudi Arabia is attempting to overcome the automobile mindset fueled by cheap gas through the creation of a public transit system that looks more like the set of an epic science fiction movie than a public utility. South Korea is experimenting with in-the-road electric charging for some of its busses, allowing them to ditch the gas powered generator and charging stations that plague a truly all-electric transportation system. Virgin Galactic is planning for commercial space flight to start in 2018.

Returning our feet to the ground, transportation is not just simply a way to get around, rather it can reshape our surroundings and ourselves. New York has been making small yet impactful changes to its transportation system, recognizing the space it consumes as some of the most important real estate in the city. Painted parking lots, bus and bike shelters with consistent design language, and streets now closed to cars have increased many metrics, from tax revenue to pedestrian safety. The co-founder of Zip Car, Robin Chase, sees even further reaching benefits to transportation.

“When I talk to people who care about women’s issues or poverty, I want to impress upon them that transportation is the make or break on those issues,” Chase says. “Women in the United States are complete slaves to driving their children around because our transportation system is so car-centric.”

In my inaugural post on Design Globalism Versus Design Localism, I warned of failing to understand the needs of distant communities, particularly in the context of creating solutions for people we might never truly understand. But transportation innovations could allow us to become a part of communities hundreds or thousands of miles away. While questioning where home is, Pico Iyer recognizes that today we have an unprecedented opportunity for movement, which can result in much more than being a temporary, casual observer of a new place.


As we continue to step out of that age, what new age will we create? I hope it is one in which transportation is thought of as a driving force behind creating better communities through better connections.



Photo credit: CC BY-SA 2.0: Keifer5448

