[extropy-chat] Communication vs transportation

[Kevin Freels]

One roadblock I see is the fact that people love their cars. Until something
comes along that people prefer over cars, I don't see much happening there.
As far as air transportation goes, I would like to know if there are any
statistics on the last 50 years for the maximum number of people that can be
flown from one destinatin to the next in  one day. Or the percentage of the
world's population that has ready access to worldwide travel.
It's just a hunch, but I bet we would see the improvements there.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "BillK" <bill at wkidston.freeserve.co.uk>
To: <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org>
Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2003 7:53 AM
Subject: Re: [extropy-chat] Communication vs transportation


> On Tue Dec 09, 2003 10:21 am Henrique Moraes Machado wrote:
> > The transports need a revolution. When we had only horses, the trains
> > were revolutionary. Then the automobiles and finally airplanes.
> > Nothing new since then. And there goes one hundred years.
> >
>
> Of course there has been much improvement in 100 years.
> Automobiles are much improved from the Model T Ford.
> Current research seems to be aiming towards driverless
> (automatic-controlled) cars.
>
> The 747 compares well with the Wright brothers craft and also flies on
> auto-pilot for most of the time.
>
> And existing technologies are finding more useful areas.
>
> We have escalators to climb staircases.
> We have travelators (moving pavements) at airports,
> The Paris Metro has the worlds fastest beltway at 9 km/hour.
> <http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3001182.stm>
>
> Skyscrapers have incredibly fast lifts nowadays.
>
> In UK and Europe, electric urban Light Rail systems are becoming popular
> in cities. They are cheaper to build than underground rail systems and
> can follow the existing road system. They have priority over road
> traffic, so are not delayed by traffic jams.
> <http://www.bathtram.org/tfb/tP20.htm>
>
> We have monorail suspended rail systems and maglev 'floating' rail
systems.
>
> Container ships and huge lorries have revolutionised freight transport.
>
> And the Segway, of course!
>
> For more ideas, see:
> <http://faculty.washington.edu/~jbs/itrans/>
>
>
> BillK
>
>
>
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