The Future of Transportation Beyond Self-Driving Cars

There is no doubt that the future of public transportation is exciting: options like ridesharing and hyper-speed trains will offer more efficient ways to commute to work and travel across the country. While ridesharing is already a popular transportation option, once combined with self-driving cars, the option will become even more efficient. Hyper-speed trains, however, are farther in the future, thanks to their enormous cost, among other factors. Read on to find out more about what these transportation options will be like in the future.

Share a Ride
Ridesharing has become an increasingly common form of transportation over the years — and it looks like it’s the way of the future. Some benefits to ridesharing include shared costs (so that you pay less for transportation), the luxury of a commute via car versus public transit, and reducing our carbon footprint. Ridesharing can also help to reduce the number of cars on the road, which will hopefully lead to less traffic congestion. Uber has its own ridesharing service in the form of uberPOOL, and Tesla recently announced plans for a ridesharing program in 2017.

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By offering a more efficient transportation method and a reduced need for parking spaces, self-driving cars will be a huge asset to the ride sharing business and community. This option will be especially welcome in cities, where there is limited space. Limited space calls for fewer parking spaces, and thus more expensive parking options. Just think of all the money you’ll save once this future of ridesharing is realized.

More Efficient Trains
You may have heard of bullet trains, which offer high-speed transportation. Beyond that, there’s the Shanghai Maglev Train, which can go at a speed of 270 mph. But in the future there will be trains that can go into hyper-speed. Just ask Elon Musk about his idea for the Hyperloop train. His vision for the Hyperloop includes train travel that’s faster than a bullet train, and even faster than an airplane with speeds of more than 700 mph. A faster train means a more weather-resistant train, in addition to a quieter and smoother experience.

Airplanes and Flying Cars
Flying cars are in the works, too. Some of the best options currently include Skycar and AeroMobile, and they could be available for commercial use within the next five years. To take this further, Uber wants to eventually have a self-driving flying car rideshare service. As for the future of airplanes, they could become electric, according to Elon Musk. Otherwise, like future trains, these airplanes will be quieter, smoother, and greener — but not necessarily faster. According to NASA, they may also include folding wings and virtual reality windows.