BRAVE URBAN FUTURES

So fast are transformations sweeping our world forward into the 21^st century that it is difficult to imagine where will be in five or ten years. What will life be like in 2025?  With global communication available everywhere, why do we crowd into big cities? Will scatter over hill and vale, around remote lakes and cliffs continue?

For sure, we can expect cars to be smarter and greener. The new question is -- should you own or share one?

Relics of the past?

So what should government and private enterprise invest in? Do we need more roads, smarter roads with zip lanes, or brand new podcar spaghetti? What is future urban mobility?

Killing Pedestrian Life

From 1950-2000, it seemed right to universally assume wheeled street traffic got us everywhere. Zoning guaranteed ample parking. Services and repairs can by vans and trucks. Ubiquitous traffic crowded out comfortable walking. This shaped the USA into the obese Interstate Nation we have become.

Cargo readily switched from rail to trucking, flooding highways and streets with monster trucks. Life centered around road trips. Getting milk required a car. Walking has been relegated to parks and trails or protected within malls and special districts  -- especially the isle of Manhattan.

Europe and the rest of the world are different. In many places, pedestrian flows are thick and vibrant. But in the USA?

Podcar Futures?

Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) is hot in transit circles these days. It means concentrating tall buildings around transit stations. Within TOD districts, much travel will be by walking, biking, transit and car-sharing.  Parking will be provided peripherally.  Taxis and carts will be easily available.

Such visions are bubbling up in the Metropolitan Planning Organizations across the USA.  MPO officials often include TOD elements in their programs.  A few of them see that podcars can extend the zone of influence of the transit station.

Elevated guideways didn't catch n in the 1970s and 1980s. Will podcars fare better?

The 9^th Podcar City conference this fall will explore how PRT and its derivatives can serve cities, towns and special districts. What are the economics? What implications for energy and climate? How are MPOs handling such complexities?

PCC9 will take place in heart of Silicon Valley, November 4-6. Will local interest be the buzz, or will it come from Greenville SC? Or will excitement be from a surprise project in Jeddah or Istanbul? Who will lead the shift to car-free living?

Register today. Visit www.podcarcity.org.