Posted February 2, 2023 in Weblog

What’s going to 2023 deliver for transportation suppliers? Professionals give their predictions

In case you may return in time and ask somebody from 1923 what they thought vehicles would appear like in 100 years, they’d seemingly have imagined one thing shiny, with a chrome physique and, after all, no wheels. Actually, all vehicles can be airborne by 2023, proper? Or perhaps we’d have moved on from vehicles altogether and be touring via tubes? Both manner, they’d be shocked to see how little transportation has modified within the final century – they usually definitely wouldn’t imagine that vehicles had been getting larger, heavier, and extra harmful. 

“Whereas we’ve had a decade of dreaming about driverless vehicles, extra individuals are dying on America’s streets,” famous Janette Sadik-Khan, Principal, Bloomberg Associates, Board Chair of NACTO, former NYC Transportation Director, and creator of “Avenue Struggle.” Specializing in new know-how has meant that current highway design has gotten even much less protected for pedestrians. 

“You continue to can’t cross the road safely in Orlando,” Sadik-Khan quipped. 

Equally, stated David Zipper, Journalist, and Visiting Fellow on the Harvard Kennedy Faculty’s Taubman Middle for State and Native Authorities, the push towards electrical hasn’t been all sunshine and roses, both. As a result of, whereas electrical vehicles are getting extra prolific, they’re additionally getting larger, heavier, and costlier. And so they’re deepening automobile tradition; as “truck bloat” continues to dominate the supply-demand cycle, vans with a 16-foot blind spot are being inspired, not discouraged. 

There are many optimistic spots within the forecast, although. Zipper and Sadik-Khan outlined quite a few “causes to be cheerful” in the newest America Walks webinar. 

Watch the Full Video Right here:

Listed below are just some:

Causes to be Cheerful about Transportation in 2023: 

Decrease pace limits. Each Sadik-Khan and Zipper famous that cities – or, extra particularly, the advocates who dwell there – have been demanding that their areas develop streets and neighborhoods primarily based on recognized information about security. That features reducing pace limits, a comparatively minor change that could be a confirmed methodology for reducing pedestrian deaths. 

Micromobility. E-bikes, scooters, and different strategies of shifting have proliferated throughout the US – despite the fact that the infrastructure isn’t constructed for them in any respect. Not solely do these sorts of instruments give folks of various skills the chance to get round sooner and with out driving, however in addition they encourage a shift of perspective. 

“I’m very bullish on golf carts,” Zipper famous, explaining that for suburban areas the place massive vans are usually widespread, golf carts can serve mainly the identical function with out placing kids, animals, pedestrians, and cyclists in danger. 

When pressed about the way to take care of the truth that many locations have e-bikes however no bike lanes, Zipper was clear: Do it anyway and your metropolis should, finally, construct for everybody. 

On the way to make streets work for a variety of car varieties in addition to pedestrians, the panelists agreed on the very best answer – road designs that require decrease speeds. That reduces the chance of crashes as customers can see and react to potential conflicts in time to forestall critical accidents.  In different phrases, what streets seemed extra like 115 years in the past earlier than pedestrians had been banished to the sidelines in favor of high-speed vehicles.

MUTCD: Sadik-Khan spoke a few of our all-time favourite phrases throughout this webinar: Adjustments to the MUTCD. Often known as crucial security doc you’ve by no means heard of, this guide of guidelines and laws has lengthy dictated road designs which might be unsafe. We’re anticipating a brand new MUTCD to be launched quickly.

Additionally hopeful, for the primary time USDOT is speaking in regards to the security of vehicles for these outdoors of the automobile – not simply these within the automobile.  It’s a protracted method to truly requiring safer automobiles, however the strain is mounting for change.  

In all, there are loads of thrilling issues on the horizon for transportation. Many advocates are working particularly to alter the dialog, fight truck bloat, and attempt to construct (and rebuild) our streets to make them safer and simpler for everybody. Although there have been loads of dangerous information in the previous couple of years, there are additionally causes to imagine that issues are wanting up.

RSVP for our subsequent webinar taking place on February 14th!

For slides from David Zipper, please contact him straight at david@dzstrategies.com.