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Ford Envisions Smarter Transportation and Parking of the Future

Given the fact that almost all the large automakers are mulling the switch to electric, the future of the auto industry looks set to include large reductions, or even the total elimination, of CO2 emissions. However, Ford Motor Company’s Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr. has an even bigger concern than pollution: the global gridlock created by a population set to grow to 9 billion people by 2044.

Ford made the announcement during a talk at the TED conference in Long Beach, CA on Wednesday, he added that he believes a total of number of vehicles in the world will rise from the 800 million today to somewhere between 2 and 3 billion by 2050.

This will generate severe congestion problems that will "stifle economic growth and our ability to deliver food and healthcare … [and] our quality of life will be significantly compromised,” according to a recent Yahoo News post.

He added that the average US driver spends one week every year behind the wheel of his car, while a Beijing resident spends 5 hours per day commuting.

The exec believes that the solution is not more infrastructure and bigger roads, but a complete rethink that involves a smart system that makes use of real-time data and connected cars.

If the situation is as bad as it sounds, than development of cars that “talk to each other” will not be something engineers can play with as a side-project, but a real necessity in the future. Ford envisions systems that would allow for a parking spot to already be there when you arrive at your destination, or ones that will automatically re-routed to avoid traffic based on data being sent in real-time by the cars in front of you.

Ford thinks such a future “will be ready for prime time really soon,” emphasizing that tests of such systems are already under way around the world.
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About the author: Mihnea Radu
Mihnea Radu profile photo

Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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