Transportation

The Transportation Control System
Most land transport and nearly all air transport is performed by machines rather than humans. UbiComp Zones employ smart vehicles, which act in concert with (and may be overridden by) cloud-based AI traffic control systems. These systems use massive sensor networks – both onboard and land-based – to facilitate the safe operation of smart vehicles under the control of a central AI. Together the network, sensors, vehicular systems and AI comprise a total transportation control system.

Nevertheless, many vehicles possess override systems allowing humans to take control, either manually or via DNI. In some jurisdictions these controls are strictly regulated by onboard automated governors, and the vehicle may only yield control when it (a) suffers a serious malfunction, (b) loses communication with the cloud, or (c) moves outside the effective range of a sensor network (such as when entering an area without road sensors or beyond gateway reach). In UbiComp Zones it may even be considered illegal for a human to override the driving system at all (though it is generally considered no more than a misdemeanor to take the wheel in the case of an emergency). This restriction, of course, has led to the development of an underground market of vehicular hackers who, for a fee, will deactivate your vehicle's override governor.

All agents in traffic (be they automated delivery drones or passenger vehicles, either on the ground or in the air), are legally required to constantly transmit their location to a recognized dispatcher or traffic information service provider. The datastreams transmitted by these entities are correlated with information from the sensor network and passed up the chain to the city's AI Transportation Module, effectively forming one gigantic dynamic system that spans nearly all of the city and monitors conditions in real-time. This massively-multidimensional system is used to detect traffic jams before they occur, and to respond to accidents, debris, and other unpredictable events. Transport company drivers and vehicles receive regular traffic notifications and occasional rerouting directives. These directives can only be overridden by hacking the vehicle, or by taking it into manual control mode (an option not even available on most vehicles and drones).

Driverless Aircraft
(not called drones, though technically they are)


 * UrboHovers (small, 1-2 person models)
 * SkyCars (sedans or cruisers)
 * Aerial Taxi Service

Driverless Cars
(not called land drones, though technically they are)

Automated cars and vans perform the majority of transport within city limits. Few people own their own vehicles, preferring instead to make use of RideCall, public transport or “Rent-a-driver” services.

Driverless cars use adaptive cruise control, and emergency braking systems rely on a combination of radars, ultrasonic sensors and stereo cameras to detect cars in front and read line markings in the road. In addition, vehicles on the road communicate with each other both directly and via the Transport Module of CitySystem, allowing for optimization of traffic patterns and road use. Traffic jams are rare.

The problem of transporting children is solved by “Kidport” companies who put a responsible adult in each driverless van (along with cameras). You call for the van and the driver meets you as you come out, welcoming your kid into the van.

Legacy Vehicles
Even the oldest vehicles typically have GPS and cheap onboard navigation systems. A small number of people maintain antique cars as a hobby, and an even smaller number collect them in private museums.

People-Powered Vehicles
Bikes, PPVs and Delivery Peds. Shared bikes in safe neighborhoods. Drone-Kites and Stealth Drone-Kites.

Tubeways
Tubeways are mostly-subterranean transit systems that carry fast-moving MagLev trains known as “VacTrains”. The glassteel tubes often sport AR projections on them, the most grandiose of which move with the viewer and play out whole commercial animations over miles of tubeway wall.

Straddle Buses (aka “S-Bus”)
Gigantic vehicles which straddle whole lanes or multiple lanes of traffic, allowing smaller vehicles and pedestrians to move beneath them.

Private Corp Transportation
Large companies have private tram/omnibus circuits linking their sites and facilities so ensure staff do not use opposition transport.

Brainstorming...

 * Ridesharing services being phased out by driverless services, but still exist
 * Subscription ride services for higher-quality cars and specialty vehicles (vans trucks etc)
 * Corporate-sponsored rides, ad-supported and POS-enabled (snacks, drinks, video, etc)
 * Nearly all cars have operational Weak AI; the fancier ones have chatty, conversational AI
 * Car ownership is relatively rare, though some prefer private cars and some gigwork as rent-a-drivers
 * Autonomous garbage trucks
 * District-specific taxis owned by partnered corporations, a “perk” of employment
 * Smart Parking and Route Planning Systems
 * Cars communicate with each other via the network, self-parking, self-charging
 * Between cities: Car Trains (auto-assembled convoys of individual cars); Within cities: Vehicles move in "flocks/herds"
 * Mini-cars, folding cars, soft designs, okay if they bump each other
 * Transparent Trucks/Drones (underside display mimics sky above: aerial camoflage)
 * Smart Roads providing recharge capability for vehicles traveling upon them
 * Solar Streets convert sunlight to generate power for transportation systems
 * Piezo-Roads convert passing vehicle vibrations to generate power
 * Ceramic Streets with greater density and weight capacity than normal roads (see CargoBots)