The mobility challenge

Mobility has always been the motor of evolution. Today, every nation and every economy depends on mobility. Thus the world needs flexible and performance-oriented transportation systems - for people and goods. These transportation systems have to comply with requirements, successfully merge with other means of transportation and appeal to the user.

To be mobile means to be on the move. Be it on land, on water, or in the air - mobility today is a basic requirement in the world of business and leisure. Many activities cannot be performed without the necessary mobility.



Approximately one fourth of the fossil fuels consumed worldwide is needed for transportation. And there is a weighty price tag attached to it: environmental pollution through carbon dioxide and particulate matter, cardio-vascular diseases, and a high number of traffic-related fatalities. According to statistics by the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 1.2 million people die in traffic-related accidents every year the world over. This trend is on the rise: in countries such as China and India, the traffic volume grows between seven to ten percent per year. In the European Union, which in only a few years will boast approximately 30 member states and a population of about 560 million, road traffic is growing considerably due to its new EU countries.

The dominance of the car remains unchallenged and the volume of traffic will increase even further because we have not adjusted our thinking to obvious facts. Short transportation and travel times are in demand more than ever. Life as such will become even more flexible in the future and leisure-related traffic will continue to increase. In sum, we will have more traffic jams, overcrowded airports, and delays.

However, transporting people and goods has to be safe, fast, and easy as well as flexible. Modern economies need "planned" performance-oriented transportation systems. In earlier times, cities grew first and then started to look for transportation possibilities. Today, a performance-oriented transportation system is the prerequisite for economic growth and the development of societies.

Attractive track-bound transportation is therefore a must for the metropolitan areas of our world.

(Source: ts live, July/August 05 issue)