Transportation Systems

Transportation Systems

Map showing a pink route line from Lagos, Nigeria to Singapore, crossing Europe and Asia. Lagos and Singapore are labeled with bold text and marked with colored dots.
Can you travel by rail from Portugal all the way to Singapore? In theory, yes. In practice? Not so much.
Map displaying a rail route from Helsinki to Bruxelles, passing through cities like Tallinn, Riga, Warsaw, Berlin, and Hamburg. Northern and Central Europe countries are labeled.
A new railway will switch the Baltic region's train gauge from Soviet to standard European — a megaproject with political, economic, and military dimensions.
Three white autonomous cars drive down a city street lined with trees.
The best autonomous car may be one you don’t even need to own.
Electric vehicle in blue being charged with a white charging cable against a blue background.
The US needs 28 million EV chargers by 2030. Here’s how it can get there.
Aerial view of a car parking with proximity sensors activated, showing red and green signals indicating object detection around the vehicle.
Why the road to self-driving vehicles is paved with smarter “dumb” cars.
A map of europe with many orange dots.
London’s busiest airport seems to be rebounding well from the pandemic — but Istanbul has better prospects in the long run.
A picture of an electric vehicle charging station.
A new analysis suggests previous "total cost of ownership" studies overlooked key factors.
A man sitting in a chair in front of a tv.
BMW found it’s possible to remote-drive vehicles using available technology. All it takes is some software updates and a cellular network connection.
If you find yourself on one of these roads, it might be a while before you see another fellow traveler.
a stone wheel with a hole in it.
They had the technology. So why didn't they use it?
In 1903, a Vermont doctor bet $50 that he could cross America by car. It took him 63 days, $8,000, and 600 gallons of gas.
a red and yellow car driving down a street next to a crowd.
Steam cars hit the U.S. market in the 1890s but were largely extinct by the 1930s. Will technology bring them back?
Jetoptera's VTOL
One of Jetoptera's VTOLs is expected to reach speeds of around 614 mph, about as fast as a commercial jet airliner.
healthcare spending
If everyone just showed up to their appointments, $150 billion of waste could be averted.
In the future, driving an app across a bridge could let engineers know how safe it is.
e-bike
The Rubbee X requires almost no setup and is far cheaper than a brand new e-bike.
peljesac bridge
A new bridge joins a divided Croatia, but it cuts Bosnia out of Europe — literally and figuratively. A bridge meant to unite also divides.
airships
The airships have a range of 4,000 nautical miles, can fly for five days, and can cruise as high as 20,000 feet at 80 mph. They take to the skies over Spain in 2026.
roman roads
OmnesViae is a modern route planner based on the roads of the Roman Empire.
hyperloop
The Hyperloop is physically possible, but engineering challenges will make its construction very difficult. Also, accidents would be catastrophic.
Hyperloop
The hyperloop would be a great idea for a completely flat planet. With topography and infrastructure, it's a very different story.
Israel’s buoyant currency, coupled with increased costs for transport and groceries, saw Tel Aviv jump five places from last year.
steel tires
Steel tires may be better for the planet and could replace rubber.
flying cars
Battery-powered urban aircraft are well within the bounds of technological reality.