The great urban mobility challenge

Autonomous, electric vehicles.

This is a serious proposal, being explored by leading institutions and thinkers including my friend Prof Alan Berger from MIT, and the Toyota Mobility Foundation. To quote from the Toyota Mobility Foundation: "Imagine how self-driving vehicles and derived mobility services might impact every aspect of life in the future. From how and when we move about and how we design cities, to how we enhance environmental sustainability with this technology. As we approach this new era in urban/suburban planning and transportation, can we develop models and guidance that will help us address issues such as congestion and affordable universal access?" The beauty of the work that people like Alan Berger are doing is that they realise real solutions involve a lot more than magic wands and glib sayings like "get people out of cars." They involve the redesign and retrofit of urban and suburban domains – from housing to work to physical and digital networks. If you're genuinely interested in exploring some advanced thinking (it's not a big club) start with a look athttps://www.alanmberger.com/next-generation-suburbs#7 and also https://toyotamobilityfoundation.org/en/research/suburban/

As for me, I think the maths is undeniable. Millions more people will mean millions more cars (for now) so it will get a lot worse before it gets better (if it does). Which is why you'll continue to find me on the one form of transport that's ready when I am and is able to sneak through traffic snarls while bringing a smile to your dial. And if it rains? A small price to pay.

Keep the rubber side down!