Interdependencies of Potential Changes in the Traffic System and Future Powertrain Configurations

The invention and introduction of mass transportation at the beginning of the last century have significantly changed the mobility of people. The development of railway transportation was a tremendous advance in comfort, time and speed, and another boost in convenient transportation was provided by the automobile and later by the airplane. Historically, these three major transportation systems developed independently from each other, in terms of both time and logistics. Apart from changes within the transportation systems and the traffic system, future achievements with respect to lower energy consumption and emissions, as well as the related economic losses, can only be reached if the interaction of transportation systems and the traffic system is developed and emphasized. For example, a significant fraction of today’s fuel consumption and emissions is caused by engines running when vehicles are at standstill. This effect could be reduced by navigation systems which improve the traffic flow on the roads. In addition, a public transportation system that is more attractive in terms of the convenience of switching over from car to bus and offering shorter travel time at the same cost, could contribute to less traffic, especially in urban areas. These two examples show the scope of interdependencies between transportation systems and the traffic system. Those interdependencies may lead to alternate powertrain configurations for vehicles in the future.