This is a highly recommended viewing material if you are a transportation professional  (or from any industry that touches up on transportation of people and goods). Why? Because it will help you understand what the future of transportation looks like and get you a glimpse of the challenges we will be tacking. Stimulating would be an understatement if you are a geek like me and this video gives you a lot to think about in terms of how to prepare yourself as a professional to operate/practice in this new paradigm.

Many of our decision-makers and old-school professional grunts, don’t have a clue of the seismic shift underway in the world of industry, dominated by the rapid advancement of automotive technology.  Advanced technology-driven concepts such as connected vehicles, automated vehicles, Internet of Things, etc, that are already appearing on the horizon, we are about to experience something special. and these industry experts, in a very adorable and casual fashion, discuss some of the emerging trends and pressing issues (i.e, cyber security, customer acceptance, etc) over a beer. You may have already witnessed glimpses of this future with Tesla pumping our over-the-air updates to the vehicles, much like the updates for your cellular phone, to improve their performance.    To summarize what’s ahead according to these guys,, the embedded software in a vehicle of tomorrow will be as much important as engine (or even more).   So, if you are a transportation professional better learn to think like a software developer (and get yourself exposed to some programming languages while you are at it).

The future of personal mobility looks more and more “connected” as the two economic forces, technology and automobiles, are colliding at a far greater velocity.  This paves way for a landscape that is expected to feature unprecedented levels of connectivity (i.e, tethered vehicles). Here is a neat infograph from Statista that shows the landscape of connected cars and what’s ahead.

That said, one big question that looms large in my mind is this – how are going to manage all that troves of data from these connected cars? How are we going to parse/analyze and make sense out the digital mess that is ready to flood our roads? Only time will tell (or the app developers?).

Image Courtesy: Statista via Forbes

Image: Command Center of the RMT (via technositaf.it)

Although the utopians have talked about intelligent transportation since the 1950s, in the real-world terms it’s still a very new concept. The EU began work on the intelligent transportation systems (ITS) framework in the early part of last decade, the U.S. Department of Transport hosted its first Connected Vehicle workshop earlier this year; and truly coordinated and integrated transportation systems exist only as computer simulations or localized pilot schemes. But the potential for the ITS is tremendous and it was fully recognized at this year’s Smart Mobility World exhibition held from 25th – 27th September in Turin, Italy.

The highlight of the exhibition was the Road Management Tool Project (RMT) – a collaboration between the Turin city council and Tecnositaf S.p.A. It’s a 16,000-mile long network of integrated road communications featuring an independent uniform data network. The network is able to capture and transmit precise geo-referenced data (video surveillance, audio and real-time measurements) across a single network and store it all in a single database.The data will be accessible to both the authorities and drivers enabling them to make better decisions and avoid congestion.

There have been attempts to build similar systems in Europe but they have always failed because they involved several departments arguing with each other and trying to make various alien data formats compatible with each other. The RMT boasts a modular design. New functionality can be added-on, and the network can be expanded as far as necessary.

Connected Vehicles joining the Network

Once the RMT system has been tested locally, it’s expected the same concept would spread around the whole country. It is likely that other countries will look to implement a similar system.

The beauty of RMT is that its basis is so simple – the architecture is built around the IP protocol – standard that is used on a wide variety of connected devices. It’s much cheaper to use because you’ll be able to log on using your existing PC or mobile device. Since the RMT is compatible with other technologies, it will make sense for the car manufacturers to comply with the network and build cars that can communicate with the RMT directly.

The organizers of Smart Mobility World have estimated that the global market value for the Connected Vehicle is currently around $17.5 billion but is expected to explode to $52.5 billion by 2018.

It may be a conservative estimate because currently the concept of Connected Vehicle is rather vague. It includes stuff that is not really connected – night vision system, lane departure warning and automatic parking system. Once you equip a car with WiFi or mobile broadband and plug these safety systems into the city’s “cloud,” you get something that is truly connected. Something that can communicate with other members of traffic and make clever decisions to cut emissions and improve safety!

Note: The overview of this year’s Smart Mobility World exhibition was prepared by Arvid Linde from Creditplus.co.uk car blog. Arvid is a transport engineer and author of several motoring books. Photo via tecnositaf.it.

Heard of talking cars? Teen drivers of today would probably think of an internet-connected car like Ford Focus offering interactive feedback via Sync. But the older (or teens of the 80s!?) folks would fondly remember the KITT, a real talking supercar that was a central feature in the TV Series, Knight Rider. This story of a lone crimefighter battling the forces of evil with the help of an indestructible and artificially intelligent supercar captured the minds and hearts of many gearheads back in the 80s.  As years grew, so have the fascination and sophistication of the cars used by Hollywood.  We have left the KITT behind and arrived in the era of the Batmobile.  Here is a visual walkthrough compiled by AutoInsurance.us that crisply captures the greatest cars in Hollywood history. Check it out.

Post Made Possible by AutoInsurance.US

(source: CBSnews)

Image Courtesy: CBSnews.com

(Source: Symphony Services via Mashable.com)

Image Courtesy: Mashable.com

(Source: Ford via Autoblog)

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Though I’m a bit alarmed by the cognitive distraction (for drivers) potential associated with this technology, it is awesome to see the collaboration between the vehicle manufacturers and the app developers to put together an “intelligent” vehicle.   For sure, Secretary LaHood and his staff at USDOT will be spending a lot of time thinking about how to accommodate these tech advancements in the vehicle environment while prioritizing the safety of drivers on the road. If you have not already seen this, the USDOT has recently proposed the first-ever federal guidelines to encourage automobile manufacturers to limit the distraction risk for these in-vehicle electronic devices.  The proposed guidelines are voluntary and would apply to communications, entertainment, information gathering, and navigation devices or functions that are built into the vehicle and are not required to safely operate the vehicles.  In any case, it is safe to say that the vehicles of today will look a LOT dumber compared to these SMART cars that will roll out of the assembly lines in Detroit a few years from now.