Petrol and diesel cars may still dominate (影响) our roads, but their days are numbered. A recent university study found that current electric cars could be used for 87 per cent of daily car journeys in the US. That figure could rise to 98 per cent by 2020.

One hurdle to the widespread adoption of electric cars has been “range anxiety”—drivers’ concerns about running out of juice on a journey. While petrol stations are conveniently located across national road systems, the necessary network of electric charging stations is still being developed. In fact, charging points are becoming increasingly common throughout the USA.

Attitudes towards electric vehicles have changed quite considerably over the last few years. Not that long ago, electric cars met with distrust, and their high price tags drove customers away. Thanks to improvements in battery capacity, recharging times, performance and price, the current generation of electric cars is starting to persuade critics. Plug-in cars will soon give internal combustion engine models a run for their money.

As well as advancements on the road, electric vehicles are taking to the sea and sky. Electric boats are among the oldest electric vehicles, having enjoyed several decades of popularity from the late 19th to the early 20th century before petrol-powered outboard motors took over. Now, the global drive for renewable energy sources is bringing electric boats back. Steps towards electric planes are also being made, with Airbus and NASA among the organizations developing and testing battery-powered planes. The experiments could soon make commercial electric flight a reality.

Electric vehicles do not produce any emissions. Were the US to act on the study’s findings and replace 87 percent of its cars with electric vehicles, it would reduce the national demand for petrol by 61 per cent. However, because of the production processes and the generation of electricity required to charge these vehicles, they cannot claim to be completely emission-free. Even so, as many countries continue to increase their use of renewable energy sources, electric vehicles will become even cleaner.

A recent study led by researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has found a clear link between the color of a taxi and its accident rate. An analysis of 36 months of detailed taxi, driver and accident data from two fleets of yellow and blue taxis in Singapore suggested that yellow taxis have fewer accidents than blue taxis. The higher visibility (能见度) of yellow makes it less difficult for drivers to avoid getting into   accidents with yellow taxis, leading to a lower accident rate.

The study was led by Prof Ho. To test whether there was a relationship between the color of a taxi and the number of accidents the taxi had, the research team analysed data collected by the largest taxi company in Singapore. The researchers found that yellow taxis have about 6. 1 fewer accidents per 1,000 taxis per month.

They also studied the economic effect of changing the color of the entire fleet of taxis to yellow. The Singapore taxi company involved in the study owns about 16,700 taxis in a ratio(比例) of one yellow to three blue taxis. If a commercial decision is made to switch from blue to yellow taxis, 76.6 fewer accidents will occur per month or 917 fewer accidents per year.

Assuming an average repair cost of $1,000 per car and a downtime of six days, the color of all taxis to yellow could produce an annual saving of $ 2 million.

“We are eager to continue to validate (证实) the findings of our study by looking at the use of yellow in other types of public transport, such as school buses. For example, we hope to compare the accident rates of yellow school buses against those of other colors to find out if yellow is indeed a safer color for school buses. Besides, we’re also interested to look at private-hire vehicles and do a comparison of the accident rates of vehicles that are of different colors.” Explained Prof Ho.

Reclaim Our Streets from Traffic

In the Dutch city of Tilburg, a pilot project aims to make its road network more pedestrian and cycle-friendly. A system under development in the project there senses when bikes are approaching a crossing and changes the lights sooner than it otherwise would, thus giving cyclists priority over motorists. Smart traffic lights can also have environmental benefits, for example, by giving lorries a clear run through urban areas and reducing the frequency with which they have to stop and start, they reduce emissions, noise pollution and damage to road surfaces. All of this seems a far cry from the majority of urban centres.

The application of the technology is virtually limitless and could form a major weapon in the battle to recapture city streets worldwide from motor vehicles and reduce pollution. To put this into context, in Barcelona, which is anything but large relative to many modern urban expansions, air pollution is estimated to cause around 3,500 premature deaths per year out of a population of 1.6 million. Additionally, it is responsible for severe effects on ecosystems and agriculture. Traffic, which is the major contributor to this problem, also causes noise pollution beyond levels considered healthy. Scaling this distressing picture up for larger metropolitan areas could be bad for your health!

The World Health Organisation recommends that every city should have a minimum of 9 ㎡ of green space per resident. While some places come out well relative to this figure (London scores an impressive 27, and Amsterdam an incredible 87.5), many do not. Tokyo currently has around 3 ㎡ per person, and is far from alone in providing insufficient ‘lungs’ for its population. Picture the effect on these figures of banning traffic from the majority of a city’s streets and allowing these roads to be converted into community areas, such as parks and pedestrian zones. Such a system, known as ‘superblocks’, is rapidly gaining support in many of the world’s urban centres.

The idea has at its heart the notion that streets belong to people and not cars. Roads are repurposed within an area known as a superblock, leaving only the streets around the area accessible to vehicles. Taking up less space than a neighbourhood, but larger than the blocks in many cities, their design ensures that no one would ever be more than 300 m from a road. This may mean sacrificing the parking spaces assigned to properties within them, but that’s a small price to pay. By increasing the frequency of bus stops on the surrounding streets and applying smart traffic management technology as used in Tilburg, it would be possible to make public transport more effective despite having significantly fewer vehicle-accessible roads. This could be paired with a new system of cycling lanes in the areas off-limits to traffic.

Given that the majority of the world’s population now lives in an urban environment, imagine the number of people who would benefit from this idea.