Welcome to The Future of Transportation

Getting from here to there in the United States today can feel a lot closer to an episode of The Flintstones than The Jetsons. Every day we deal with problems that should be relics of the past: congested highways full of single-occupancy cars, mass transit systems continually under threat of service cuts, and aged infrastructure on the verge of obsolescence if not total collapse. For all humanity's advances, our daily haul can still be a nightmarish experience that reduces productivity, increases stress, endangers public safety, and hastens global climate change.

Fortunately the future is not all bleak. The flipside of these challenges is a bounty of ideas for how to improve travel in and around America’s cities. We're recognizing the limits of our current highway systems, finding ways to increase transit efficiency and expand its development, and preparing for the not-so-distant day when our cars will drive themselves (and our "smart" streets will guide them). For every commuting obstacle we face there's a brighter dream of better mobility.