Urban Transport: Autonomous Cars & Electric Trains - Essay Sample

Introduction

Urban transportation is defined as a unified form of transport, within a city, and the immediate neighborhoods used to transport both people and goods. The definition also extends to the provision of planning services, and public services. Germany, for example, estimates that by 2040, the country could save at least euros 1.2 billion a year by cutting costs through the use of autonomous cars. China is closer to Europe with major investments in electric trains due to various political reasons such as environmental conservation policies (Rutherford, & Coutard, 2014). Urban Transport is a complex combination of various forms of transportation that transfers people and cargo within the territory of a city and the immediate suburban zones and that performs work related to planning and provision of public services and amenities. Urban transport is an important sector of municipal services (Mai& Francesch-Huidobro, 2015).Electric mobility is defined by the National Plan for Electric Mobility(NEP) as vehicles in the streets powered by electric power and can be recharged by external sources.

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Development of Autonomous Cars

Mobility is an important aspect of human life, affecting the economic and social lives of the people. With the constantly changing world with technological revolutions, there is a need for mobility to be upgraded. The revolution is always guided by the acronym ACES: Autonomous driving, connectivity, electrification of vehicles and shared mobility (Crabtree, 2019). The future of transportation and electrification can also consider mobility which can be powered by hydrogen, as it is friendly to the environment. The speed by which autonomous vehicles are being produced and tested is impressive (Leung, Burke, Perl, & Cui, 2018). It started with 2004, a drive-test in Californian desert, to 2008, when Google announced the launch of autonomous taxis. The taxis operating at Arizona suburbs is estimated to bring in more revenue than all the other vehicles being produced currently. The benefits of this innovative transformation are the convenience, because of its features that makes parking spaces irrelevant. The spaces could be used in other constructive businesses and commercial businesses (Benjamin,2019). It has a short commuting time due to its speed, and fewer fatalities increasing the productivity of the workers. It is estimated to remit at least USD 800 billion per year by 2030 (Burke & Bonham,2010)The development of the vehicles is a new experience to both the drivers and the passengers as they can customize any feature, according to their preferences. There will be the involvement of multimedia and the artificial intelligence opening new business opportunities to experts in these fields. There are no needs for increased prices of the vehicles because of the balance between demand and supply. The purchase of low emission electric vehicles has been reported to be highly preferred due to environmental policies. There are several ways of closing the gap in the prices of low emission vehicles (Baltic, Hensley, & Salazar, 2019). There are flexible options such as fixing smaller batteries and limiting expensive options such as entertainment systems. There is a competition between hydrogen and electric cars. Few hydrogen-powered vehicles are in Europe (Bulkeley, Broto, Hodson, & Marvin, Eds.2010). They have an advantage of quick refueling but are very expensive since hydrogen sources are hard to find. There are several electric cables on highways. Ridesharing is being practiced extensively, making families and other urban transport clients to op for cutting costs.

Analysis of Hong Kong and Berlin

Urban transport has been greatly affected by power autarky especially in cities known as the traditional electric cities. Berlin has had an advantage since the unification of the East and West Berlin, with pacts to conserve the environment(Brunner,2008). Berlin leads with multiple electric vehicles that have eased urban transport. An analysis of Hong Kong and berlin cities shows that despite The traditional power generation autarky is being undermined by the government's policy to have a cross-border electricity transfer (Moss, & Francesch-Huidobro, 2016). This is an attempt by the government to mitigate the climate changes, has led to Hong Kong becoming an electric town with many charging points for Tesla models of autonomous cars.

References

Leung, A., Burke, M., Perl, A., & Cui, J. (2018). The peak oil and oil vulnerability discourse in urban transport policy: A comparative discourse analysis of Hong Kong and Brisbane. Transport Policy, 65, 5-18. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0967070X17302202

Brunner, S. (2008). Understanding policy change: Multiple streams and emissions trading in Germany. Global Environmental Change, 18(3), 501-507. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378008000459

Burke, M. I., & Bonham, J. (2010). Rethinking oil depletion: what role can cycling play in dispersed cities?. Australian Planner, 47(4), 272-283. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07293682.2010.527291

Crabtree, G. (2019). The coming electric vehicle transformation. Science, 366(6464), 422-424. https://science.sciencemag.org/content/366/6464/422.summary

Benjamin, R. (2019). Race after technology: Abolitionist tools for the new Jim code. John Wiley & Sons.

Baltic, T., Hensley, R., & Salazar, J. (2019). The trends transforming mobility's future. The McKinsey Quarterly. http://search.proquest.com/openview/af199d4e06d20aead870a636911862f1/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=30375

Moss, T., & Francesch-Huidobro, M. (2016). Realigning the electric city. Legacies of energy autarky in Berlin and Hong Kong. Energy Research & Social Science, 11, 225-236. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214629615300645

Bulkeley, H., Broto, V. C., Hodson, M., & Marvin, S. (Eds.). (2010). Cities and low carbon transitions (Vol. 35). Routledge. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=YTNZBwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=%5B1%5D+H.+Bulkeley,+V.+Castan+Broto,+S.+Marvin,+M.+Hodson,+Cities+and+Low+Carbon+Transitions,+Routledge,+London,+UK,+2011&ots=Nf1_EA627N&sig=Zg1hslTaM9zD2asE9Mv6LKlpl8s

Rutherford, J., & Coutard, O. (2014). Urban energy transitions: places, processes, and politics of socio-technical change. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0042098013500090

Mai, Q., & Francesch-Huidobro, M. (2015). Climate change governance in Chinese cities Routledge. New York.