Technology is quickly transforming how people live today. The transport industry is among the leading contributors to the world economy. The competition keeps on growing, and investors in the transport industry are working hard to remain competitive through technological innovations. The growing trends aim at improving the quality of transport services.
To succeed in the transport sector requires you to provide fast, safe, cost-effective, efficient, and flexible means of transport. Transportation over the centuries has been the bridge connecting cultures, building prosperous societies, and sharing knowledge. It’s believed that ancient Rome leveraged building roads and bridges to expand its empire. The same idea is now in use by governments of the present world to grow their economies. In addition, transport is used to enhance trade.
In this article, you’ll learn 12 technological trends that are changing the transport sector for good.
1. Smart Bicycles
It’s now more than two centuries since the invention of the bicycle, which was believed to have been invented in 1817. The bicycle’s basic design hasn’t changed, except engineers keep on improving the design and the materials used and incorporating high-tech electronic controls.
The latest development that you might be aware of is the autonomous bicycle which can recognize and respond to voice instructions through a neuromorphic chip. The neuromorphic chip is fitted with hundreds of sensors that help your bike to perceive voice commands, maintain balance, and avoid obstacles.
Some bicycles have a different platform at the back to carry materials and transport other objects to improve cargo carriage.
2. Skateboards
Skateboard manufacturers are always trying to improve your skating experience with composite materials and new deck designs. Many brands are advancing their technology to improve pop and durability. Designs like Helium Tech fits your skateboard with five internal air-frame chambers for reducing weight and increase stiffness.
You can join the latest technology of skating and level up your skating skills by using a onewheel electric skateboard. Though it requires more skills than normal skateboards, it uses less energy since it’s electric.
3. Intelligent Trucks
The new technology in trucks comes in the form of the upcoming self-driving trucks. However, this is still being perfected. The idea behind this is to overcome barriers such as having to depend on drivers by introducing driverless software. This will help you in transportation on urban roads that have heavy traffic.
If you’re in the freight movement business, you may start thinking about equipping your trucks with an intelligent management system for self-navigation, which can mimic real drivers. Advanced artificial intelligence (AI) together with a myriad of sensors will enable an AI-enabled truck to precisely look at road conditions and, using real truck drivers’ behavior, know what to do under unusual circumstances.
Using a vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication system, trucks can communicate with one another, share information, and make each vehicle smarter. It’s expected that the advent of 5G technology will spur the quick adoption of self-driving vehicles. With time and more advancement, they may even become better than human operators.
Tesla has already developed a semitruck with autopilot features that can do much of the driving process. It’s said that these semitrucks have been ordered by companies such as Walmart, Pepsi, Loblaw, and Asko for use in their commercial needs.
4. Maglev (Magnetic Levitation) Trains
This kind of train, whose origin is China, is believed to be able to move at a speed of 370 mph, which is 150 mph faster than the current world’s fastest passenger train. This train is owned by the China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation and will use electromagnets to travel some inches above the rail track and give forward propulsion. The advantage of this kind of train is that it removes the friction of metal wheels and reduces wear and tear and other maintenance costs.
Another characteristic of maglev trains is that they produce less noise and vibration, removing all noise for those living near railway lines, passengers, and crew.
5. Address Delivery
E-commerce is taking over in the marketplace, with many people shopping at the comfort of their homes or offices. This is necessitating the need for address deliveries. If you’ll retain and attract more customers, you’ll have to stay competitive. If you deal in the heavy trucking business, probably it’s now high time that you think about having a fleet of vehicles to meet the needs of the growing market with deliveries. This trend is expected to rise as it helps save time and have what you need brought where you are steadily.
6. Hypersonic Air Travel
Historians say that the Concorde Supersonic airliner could fly at a speed higher than sound (Mach 1 or roughly 770 mph). This is expected to go even higher with the new generation of flights which will be able to fly you at a very high speed of Mach 5 (3,800 mph) or more. Aviation experts say that it’ll be able to fly from New York City to London in a record of two hours.
So far, an engine cooling system that can work on Mach 3.3 has already been tested, and the aim is to arrive at Mach 5. The fitted pre-cooler lowers the temperature by use of super-hot air.
7. Drone Delivery
Delivery now is the next frontier in customer service, and several companies have already begun taking packages to their customers using drones. Amazon did this when they delivered an order using a drone in 2016. After the success of Amazon, many other companies joined the drone delivery option, which is deemed cost-effective by several companies.
New drone technology emphasizes lightweight and durable materials, battery power, payload capabilities, georeferencing tools, quieter operation, and more sophisticated, easy-to-use software with the ability to monitor flights in real-time and analyze flight data. Added to that is a no-contact feature, which has become a popular mode of delivery in the past few years.
The future of drones seems bright as drones with two-way communication and lifesaving capabilities can be used to respond to emergencies such as sarin poisoning, asthma, acute anaphylaxis, cardiac arrest, and opiate overdose.
8. Anti-Theft GPS And Visibility
Car technology has come a long way from the early iterations of satellite navigation and now to seemingly independent vehicles. However, with technological advancements that make driving easier to the drivers come a few more in this day and age.
Trackability and visibility are key concerns in logistics, retail, and e-commerce companies as technologies are now adopted that enhance traceability of such vehicles. For example, anti-theft GPS helps you receive real-time locations of your entire fleet and individual items in transit. Such security measures may help your business avoid losses that are a result of theft.
9. Multidirectional Elevators
Thyssen Krupp, a German elevator manufacturer, is designing the first sideways moving elevators that are rope-less. These elevators won’t be moving in the traditional up and down cabins in vertical shafts but multiple cabins moving on an electromagnetic track.
These cabins will employ the magnetic levitation principle to move one shaft up, move horizontally, and move another shaft down, creating a continuous loop. This new technology makes use of smaller and fewer shafts, unlike the normal cable-operated elevators, and helps increase the percentage of usable area of a building by 25%.
10. Blockchain In Logistics
Blockchain is one of the best technologies to have happened in the transportation industry. It’s heavily used in the trucking sector to maintain the accuracy of historical records. For example, if you need to purchase a secondhand track, you may want to know how the truck was used. The information stored using blockchain is transparent and immutable, which means the information you get about the track is trustworthy.
Blockchain is also used in capacity monitoring. For example, transportation cost is determined by the volume occupied. Digital sensors are used to determine the amount of space to tell the cost. This data is then stored in a blockchain-based system undersigned with a digital contract to allow self-initiated payments equivalent to the occupied freight space.
11. Autonomous Navigation Cars
Technological advancement is now facilitating the manufacture of autonomous cars. These cars are regarded as safer, as they can monitor and navigate the environment independently, even when having a human driver.
Moreover, self-navigating cars may now be driverless, to some degree. As a result, they can communicate with one another and create more safety on the roads. They can give alerts to one another concerning road obstacles and make way for one another when changing lanes. It’s believed that this can increase traffic flow by 45%.
12. Frictionless Integrated Travel
Mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) is among the requirements to have hassle-free and smooth transportation. The idea behind MaaS is to combine the new trends to achieve minimal and seamless checkpoints and stoppages. There’s still more to come with this technology, however.
Final Thoughts
The future of the transport industry is promising to be able to offer efficient, reliable, and cost-effective services. So whichever area of transport you’re involved in, brace yourself to embrace new and more sophisticated technology in the future. Technology is bound to change how things work, which is for the better whether you’re in air, road, railway, or water transport.
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Abdul Wahab 
Sarah Durrani 
