Personal Transportation Essay

The History Of Personal Transportation And It’s Evolution Into The Future

Introduction

Transportation has been one of mankind’s most basic needs since existence. It allowed him to survive, to prosper, to populate almost every habitable place on the planet. Man has been able to conquer every frontier- land, water, air and even space. Modes of transport have undergone a massive change in the past few centuries. From animals to simple machines like bicycles to jet engines that have propelled us to outer space, the technology involved has indeed come a long way.

The most obvious purpose of transportation was commute and carrying of heavy loads. Eventually these ‘vehicles’ also became part of sports and even warfare. The earliest known vehicles

It could carry only a few and was usually used by the important people. In wars and battles, the chariot became the identity of the warrior. The number of chariots in one’s army signified his military strength. The chariot was often buried with the owner signifying it’s importance as a personal belonging. Animal drawn carriages and carts remained the norm for millenniums to come until the dawn of the automobile.

The era of animal powered vehicles finally ended in around the eighteenth century when the first self-propelled road vehicle was invented by Nicolas Joseph Cugnot, a French engineer and mechanic, in 1769. In 1858, a new era in personal transportation was born when Belgian-born engineer Jean Lenoir invented the internal combustion engine. But it was not until 1908, when Henry Ford, the owner of Ford Motor Company introduces the Model T, the first affordable gasoline powered automobile that allowed the masses to own a personal automobile.

Over the next few decades, the number of automobiles grew exponentially. But in essence there has been no paradigm shift in personal transportation since Henry Ford’s model T. Today’s cars are better versions of what Ford had built almost a century ago. The future, however, looks more interesting. Rapid industrialization and unchecked growth in population has brought to the front a myriad of problems that were unheard of

In a 2010 WHO report on road accidents, the number of fatalities that occurred due to road accidents is 1.24 million worldwide. This means the current safety measures on vehicles are not enough. Much is being done in this area though. Computers are now being intensively being involved to counter any human error that causes accidents, apart from mechanical interventions in car designs. Utilizing radars and sensors, vehicles can now maintain safe distance from other vehicles (Adaptive cruise control). Antilock braking and air bags have been in use for quite some time. Driver Alertness Detection System (DADS) can sense driver’s alertness and prevent accidents due to sleepiness. Preventive systems that act upon the alcohol content in ones breath are also being tested. But probably the holy grail of preventive measures would be a self driving car. From pages of science fiction to reality, self driving cars are now being tested actively. Google has taken the lead I this technology and other major players like BMW, Mercedes, Audi etc. are also in the