Human Mobility and the Advance of Civilization

Small vehicles are those vehicles that are small enough to be practically powered by human power.

Ideal vehicles, small vehicles, zero VMT vehicles, net-zero vehicles, low-emission vehicles, human-powered vehicles, hybrid human-electric vehicles, bicycles, tricycles, recumbent bicycles and tricycles, networked bicycles, bicycle and small vehicle systems, advanced bicycle and small vehicle systems; skates, scooters, skateboards; Segways(TM), GM P.U.M.A., Uno Cycle.

Large-scale transition to running cars with green electricity combined with ongoing light-weighting and streamlining along with significant improvements in conventional large-vehicle transit services may greatly reduce green house gas emissions.

But, the key issue is that a large-scale switch to global mobility based on small vehicles will cut emissions much more effectively to a dramatically complete long-term sustainable level, quite possibly to less than 1% of current emissions; and, especially with a global population projection of 8 to 10 billion people by 2050 -- with a minimal equivalent of two Chinas 40 years from now --  with extreme poverty and mass starvation effectively eliminated along with many other treatable and preventable diseases.

Part of this issue is to provide logical arguments on how this new mobility can be crafted to be much more practical, convenient, safe and cost effective (low cost); can provide better accessibility, performance, speed, range, etc. than current systems and is completely achievable in the extreme short term with existing technology.

Small vehicle transit -- such as currently embryonic public bicycle systems -- may be just starting to appear on the radar of advocacy groups addressing rapid action to mitigate and adapt to the climate change crisis and, hopefully, much more advanced small vehicle transit will soon become mainstream common wisdom as one of the critical solutions to the rapidly accelerating crisis.

Small vehicle transit's positive disruptive effect on human mobility

Small vehicle transit exists on large scale in the developing world right now.  There are over 430 million cyclists and 120 million electric bicyles in China alone and networked bicycle systems are rapidly emerging in the developed world including Paris, Germany, Montreal, with the world's largest containing 40,000 bikes in Hangzhou, China.  While existing public bicycle systems provide a certain amount of automation of access, parking, payment, etc. using credit card, global positioning system (GPS), and cell phone technology, more advanced systems will provide a certain amount of automated operation of the vehicles themselves with not only improved ease-of-use but, perfomance and safety -- on scale with high speed large vehicle transit in the form of trains (Japan's "Bullet Train" is reported as having not a single fatality in 40 years of operation)  -- such as the New Zealand Shweeb adventure park system (capable of human-power-only 56 mph)  (www.shweeb.com).  And, a diversity of advanced design of vehicles will extend accessibility to the broadest spectrum of the population including the disabled, women with children, the elderly, and the just plain lazy.

Larry Burns, a senior designer from GM reports that cars don't fit in the future http://www.earth.columbia.edu/videos/watch/116.  They are too big; use too much space -- not enough space on this planet when you consider India and China -- and resources; kill too many people.  So, ultimately, the migration to eCars is not much more than a glorified "Cash for Clunkers" program.  With the world's largest industries deeply entrenched in the automobile industry -- insurance, finance, electronics, automobile, advertising, media which mostly add nothing to improvements of global human mobility especially in comparison to the financial, environmental, and human costs -- the concept is that the automobile industry is "too big to fail" and all the "experts" do not seem to see a clear transition from this highly destructive and wasteful technology; Oh! the jobs that will be lost they cry!  A clear clean transition does exist and it is quite straight forward and easy and will produce a much better world.  And, there will be lots of extremely interesting and rewarding jobs!  This has been the trend throughout the advance of human civilization and there is good reason to believe that this trend will continue.