Mobility

Australia’s biggest public transport project is a AU$40 billion-plus investment in a new, high-frequency, driverless, fully accessible rail network that will transform how people move around the city of Sydney. The first phase opened in May 2019, and by 2024, Sydney Metro will span 31 railway stations and 66 kilometers (41 miles). And no more waiting: A metro train will travel in every direction every two minutes.

The driverless shuttle program in New South Wales, Australia announced its partnership with ride-sharing startup Via in July 2019. Trialed at a retirement village, the BusBot app allowed residents to hail the autonomous shuttle directly from their smartphone. The app then directed passengers to a nearby spot for pickup and drop-off, also directing the driverless vehicle in real time.

Part of Ottawa, Ontario’s O-Train light rail system, the first phase of the Confederation Line began operating in September 2019. With a budget of CA$2.1 billion, it ranked as the largest infrastructure project in the city’s history. And then along came the line’s CA$2.6 billion extension, which began construction last year and is expected to be complete by 2025.

About 60 percent of all trips into the city center of Utrecht, the Netherlands are made via bicycle. To better handle all those wheels, Ector Hoogstad Architecten designed the world’s largest bicycle garage to be built beneath a plaza next to the city’s central station. Opened in August 2019, it can hold over 12,500 bicycles, with plans underway to increase that capacity to 33,000 by the year-end.

Seeing more people walk and ride bikes during the pandemic, U.K. government leaders launched a £2 billion program in May to ensure the trend continues long after the coronavirus subsides. The government will build bike lanes, wider sidewalks and some bus-only corridors in England, aimed at achieving a double dividend of lower carbon emissions and lower risk of COVID-19 spread.

The 7,000-pound (3,175-kilogram) Nexus 4EX vehicle powered by electric propulsion brings the reality of flying cars just a little bit closer. Unveiled in 2020 by Bell—which typically focuses on helicopters—the Nexus air taxi is equipped with a 60-mile (97-kilometer) range. It can reach 150 miles (241 kilometers) per hour.

Indonesia’s first subway system began service in March in response to Jakarta’s notorious traffic congestion. Stretching from central Jakarta to the southern part of the city, the US$1.2 billion project aims to slash travel time between the two points by more than an hour.

This futuristic all-electric pickup truck from U.S. startup Rivian delivers 400 miles (644 kilometers) of driving range and super speedy acceleration times. Backed by US$2.8 billion in investments from industry stalwart Ford along with Cox Automotive and Amazon, the project is slated to be completed in 2021.

The 11-kilometer (7-mile) extension of Hyderabad’s Metro Rail at the beginning of 2020 made the metro network India’s second-largest, trailing only Delhi. The expansion connects two of the largest and busiest bus stations in the state of Telangana and slashed travel time from 45 minutes via car to 16 minutes.

Jaguar Land Rover is shifting gears to autonomous vehicles. In February, the British luxury carmaker unveiled a compact, multiuse electric vehicle that’s “autonomy ready” and packs its battery into the floor for maximum configuration flexibility. Project Vector is slated for a pilot release in 2021.