Futurists predict sky commuting by 2050

Two teams of researchers competing in the SpaceX Hyperloop competition have posited a transport future that's very different from what we know.

In fact, the next 30 years could bring transport infrastructure and technology changes that will prove as profound as the industrial revolution.

The two research teams, Hyperloop UPV and Éirloop, were asked by UK-based electrical-parts supplier RS Components to submit their thoughts on how transport would pan out in future.

For its part, the Hyperloop UPV team from Spain predicted that by 2025 the first commercial hyperloop cargo line would open. The team also forecast passenger-carrying hyperloop pods will enter operation by 2030. That same year, jet airliners will have entered service with large video screens in lieu of windows. According to Hyperloop UPV, video screens will reduce the weight of the aircraft's fuselage.

Back on the ground, all transport will derive power from renewable energy resources by 2030, says the Hyperloop UPV team, and artificial intelligence will take control of vehicles on the road and transport network infrastructure (eg: traffic lights).

Irish team Éirloop is thinking along similar lines, but on a different timescale. From 2025 the developed world will begin to adopt driverless taxis and society will move away from personal car ownership, the team suggests. With more consumers subscribing to car use, there'll be fewer cars on the road, reducing the need for larger traffic arteries, some of which can be reclaimed for environmental benefits.

Éirloop anticipates all road transport will be powered by sustainable energy and will be fully autonomous by 2040. According to the Irish team, pollution would reduce and productivity would improve.

A decade after that, air travel for commuting would become viable, Éirloop predicts, further reducing traffic congestion and maybe even doing away with the urban road network altogether.

According to RS Components, the Earth's population is set to exceed 9.8 billion by 2050. The population of Australia is anticipated to exceed 36 million by then. That sort of population growth will drive governments around the world to find new transport solutions just to keep up.

Personally, we're unsure about autonomous electric vehicles taking to the roads in huge numbers, but who wouldn't want a Melbourne-Sydney-Brisbane hyperloop?