The Future of the Commuter Economy

As we move far beyond the 20th century, our world will be faced with daunting questions: How will we save our environment? Can we end oil dependancy? Can we stop using fossil fuels altogether?

Despite the incredible artistic value of the above model, these are my predictions for the future of the commuter economy, the first leap to environmental solvency, in three easy steps.


1
President Bush's hydrogen fuel-cell miracle has been touted as the savior of the global environment and the US economy, but the promise seems to always be ten years away, year after year. Hydrogen cars may well be just a pipe dream, and they still don't do much to decrease our emissions or energy independance, since processing hydrogen gas requires fossil fuels. Using hydrogen would be ideal, because it would mean the current commuter economy would stay in tact, but in case we never see the technology, electric "Smart Cars" manufactured by Daimler-Chrysler may be the way to go.

The so-called "Smart Cars" have taken hold in Europe recently, due to their cheap price (A two-seater goes for about $8,000), stylish looks, compact design for better parking, and of course the fact that you can plug them into the wall overnight and then drive them for 2 days with no trips to a gas station. To make this work, cities would have to require that only smart-cars be used on their roads, a step that's not too far off, with some European cities banning traffic from the city-center altogether. If everyone owned Smart Cars instead of gas cars, safety wouldn't be an issue, and we would see drastic decreases in oil consumption, though it wouldn't be full independance because oil is still used to generate electricity, just a whole lot less than running a traditional gasoline car. These cars are much better than the traditional vision of an all-purpose electric car with its sustainability problems, because the smart car is meant only for city driving. The one problem is that these smart cars have a maximum speed of about 45mph, and using them at high-speeds for long periods of time uses more battery, which means if we make the switch, we're going to need a new system for mass-transit across and between cities. This leads us to number 2.


2
Amtrak's badly-engeneered line of high-speed electric trains dubbed "Acela" were recently de-comissioned temporarily, and can hardly be considered a success. But, they should be considered a glimpse into the future. In this example, these electric high-speeders would be used to cary people in their smart cars (See above) in place of highways, which cannot be used by the lower-speed smarts. Even though people wouldn't have full control of where they get off and on, these commuter trains could average 70-80 mph, much faster than current highway travel. And, with no traffic to worry about, these trains would probably make up for having to drive an extra few miles from where a normal exit would be. The one problem is how to get smart cars to load onto a train like people onto a subway, with stops less than five minutes, but that's a minor hurdle.


3
After 9-11, when air travel was suspended for five days following the attacks, scientists finally had time to study what effect planes have on the atmosphere, and the results were staggering. Airplane vapor trail emissions are wreaking havoc on the atmosphere, it turns out, because the US has so many domestic flights per day, which dump emissions directly into the atmosphere, as opposed to emissions losing much of their potency on the way up from the streets.

Because the airline industry is failing anyways, I propose we cut off domestic travel altogether, and replace it with high-speed electric trains like the ones that line Europe's corridors. Amtrak is already experimenting with a train that goes from Boston to New York in less than 3 hours, but to really pull this off, the government must step in and say no to domestic flight. In fact, it may not be such a bad idea, as electric trains are often faster than air travel once you account for time spent in the car, waiting in the airport, taxiing, etc. Plus, the trains offer much more in terms of convenience, because they can stop for less time than a two-part air trip, at more places, while still maintaining a high average speed.

International flights, of course, would still be allowed, but the damage from those would be slight compared to what we have now.


If we follow the steps I've outlined today in the next 20 years, I believe we will be able to reverse some of the damage we've done to our country. With oil prices undermining the US and world economy, we've got to find another way, and to do that, we may have to overhaul the current system, a change that lawmakers are always going to be hesitant to make. It will cost trillions of dollars to overhaul the system, but it could end up saving Americans and the world a whole lot more.

I look forward to your comments on this article.