By Casey Bruce
“There will never be flying cars,” jokes University of Georgia student, Patrick Adeleye, 22, a marketing and music business major from Atlanta, Ga.
“Futuristic transportation”—sounds like Doc and Marty McFly are back at it again, transporting through time at the speed of light. Awesome, right? Many University of Georgia students think so and yet many others do not believe that flux capacitors or Mr. Fusion will ever exist. The 1985 film, Back to the Future, remains famous for its use of design and advanced technology in gadgets and cars, but now it’s 2010 and those designs and gadgets are still merely science fiction.
Transportation over the next decade may or may not change into hover boards or flying cars like the one in Back to the Future, but one thing is for certain— UGA students are hoping it will be more advanced, optimizing alternative fossil fuels, and becoming more environmentally friendly.
In Athens, Ga. and on the University of Georgia campus, the use of alternative methods of transportation has become more standard. The Athens Clark County Transportation and Public Works Department has recently revised a master bicycle plan for Athens Clarke-County, according to the Transportation and Public Works office.
The UGA campus has also undergone an enormous rise in bicycle parking available, seen most significantly in the bicycle structure built for the New Hall located at East Campus, due to open in Fall of 2010.
Ashanta Douglas, 20, a psychology and child and family development major from Snellville, Ga. enjoys the vast opportunities for transit around campus.
“Traffic at UGA can be horrible at times,” Douglas said. “It’s more convenient to bike or ride a scooter. In the future, I hope more parking will become available for these alternative methods.”
The rise in scooters and motorcycles on campus is also an evident change in the way students and people travel on campus.
The advancement of technology over the past decade has also globally impacted the car industry, especially through the availability of hybrid and smart cars. The past decade witnessed a huge sustainability movement, often known as the “Going Green” movement and it has taken the forefront of many social issues, even becoming one of the major issues discussed during the 2008 Presidential Election and debates amongst the candidates.
With new sustainability efforts being made for cars and public transportation, the move towards walking, biking, carpooling and riding public transportation has increased over the past decade, according to the 2009 Athens Transit Development report.
Several students a UGA have expectations about what they hope future transportation will entail and how it will affect them in the future.
University of Georgia student, Tolu Ageni, 18, a marketing and music business major from Nigeria believes that the best method for future transportation lies in public transportation. “It’s healthier for the environment, cheaper [and more] accessible,” Ageni said.
“I live in the suburbs, so more public transportation would be nice.”
Several UGA students agreed with Ageni, including Kevin Cincinatus, 21 a sports management and business major from Augusta, Ga.
“Topless buses like tour buses in the cities will be more available,” Cincinatus said. “Mass transportation will be important to have. Especially for states like us [Georgia] because of its rural and city mix.”
However, some students are less concerned with change and more concerned about becoming more efficient and environmentally friendly.
UGA student Rodd Cargill, 21 a management major from Toronto, Canada expects a transition to electric cars in the next 10 years.
“Every car will be equipped to run on electricity,” says Cargill. I’m expecting all cars to have push start buttons, parallel park on their own and have electronic driver’s licenses.”
Adeleye believes that the biggest changes to come will be under the hood.
“The exterior [of the car] will look pretty much the same, but safety ratings, computer systems and car mileage will be better,” says Adeleye.
But other students see much more extreme developments in store, and there are even blogs designed to comment and create inventions for the advancement of future transportation.
Tuvie, Design for the Future, is a blog dedicated to the discussion of future transportation, technology and gadgets. Bloggers have even uploaded computer mock-ups of what they believe transportation will look like and how it will work.
“There will be hover boards like the one McFly has in ‘Back to the Future,’” says Rob Hayes, 21, a political science major and film studies minor from Atlanta, Ga. “All cars will be equipped with breathalyzers for sure."
Naomi Keitt, 19, broadcast news major from Kennesaw, Ga. agrees with Hayes, except she also hopes that future transportation will be primarily public transportation, using technology that we see in movies today.
“[An] air shuttle above ground, or even a train,” says Keitt. “Teleporting would be cool.”
Overall, it seems like most students agree that future transportation lies in the efforts to become more public, accessible and affordable. Car companies such as Toyota and Ford have pledged missions to the global effort of making cars environmentally friendly, most evidently seen in the new Toyota Hybrid and Ford Escape Hybrid, both of which use alternative fossil fuels in the car engines.
Sustainable transport or green transport is a governmental policy that promotes low-carbon fueled cars, hybrid vehicles, internal combustion, and an electric engine, according the World Energy Council. Places such as Athens, Ga. have used methods such as these to make public transportation more environmentally friendly, according to the Transportation and Public Works office mission statement.
Ryan Michalak, 20, a real estate major from Toronto, Canada, hopes that future transportation will become more efficient environmentally and that the technology used in cars will become more advanced.
“Hybrid cars, alternative fuels and mass transportation. There will not be a lot of changes in ten years, but there will be more efficiency,” says Michalak. “I hope so.”
Edited by Charles-Ryan Barber
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This story is a little more grounded in reality than the original. There's some good new information from local government reports, but an interview with an expert source is still missing. You could tighten this down a little with more paraphrasing and summarizing, picking just the best quotes to keep in the story.
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