Blog

The future of urban transportation

BY : Mr. Harj Dhaliwal, Managing Director, Middle East and India, Hyperloop One
May, 2018

Fundamentally, the principles behind thriving cities don’t really change – these encompass focus on a vibrant economic environment encompassing jobs, prosperity, etc. But what really makes for a great city is the ability to connect the dots, to move across cities much more effectively and efficiently.

Specific to India, its uniqueness is the sheer density of cities. With the predicted growth in India, environmentally sustainable transportation solutions are a given. The way forward also encompasses systems that build on smart cities; systems that can react to demand. Also, energy usage efficiency is optimised, with savings on resources in off-peak times.

The way cities have been planned in the past is that individuals have dedicated an amount of time to travel – over the last hundred years, this has stabilised to about an hour. This time governs the spatial planning of a city, towards ensuring that people don’t have to travel more than that. In our case, one hour of hyperloop opens a vast plethora of opportunities. We are looking at mega-regions that can be connected. What does this do at an individual level? It opens up a wider pool of opportunities. At the same time, it allows for more efficient utilisation of natural resources – rather than having to draw in/transport resources to people. It’s all about eliminating time and distance.