This book (248 pages, ~ 100 pages of color photos, illustrations and renderings of future mobility concepts) presents a car (and mobility system) designer\u2019s solution for the \u201cTotal Transportation Puzzle\u201d – aiming to deliver the comprehensive benefits of intelligent multimodal mobility (walking, biking, micromobility, transit, and new mobility options) that automobile owners will widely embrace. It does this by integrating smaller \u201clocal cars\u201d into the future traffic mix \u2013 for our many near trips, along with attractive new mobility \u201cextensions\u201d for one to travel further across one\u2019s city or region on-demand when needed.<\/p>\n
To succeed at this, Dan Sturges has been on a 35-year mission to design our next mobility system holistically; designing new vehicles, new mobility planning, and new mobility services \u2013 all at the same time. This has required Dan to work in a highly cross-disciplinary manner; supporting diverse design disciplines, large and small vehicle vehicle manufacturers and mobility service providers, government and advocacy organizations, and employing important new co-creating methods \u2013 engaging both professionals as well as the public in reinventing our national mobility system. Dan\u2019s work began with becoming an entrepreneur and creating a new Neighborhood Electric Vehicle, called the \u201cGEM\u201d car; which became a new category of vehicle in the United States.<\/p>\n
30 years after the internet arrived, Americans no longer need to be automobile dependent, even though the country\u2019s transportation system remains automobile-centric, with almost everyone outside our central cities needing to own a car. With half of our trips 3 miles or less, and the average new automobile costing $48,000, most of the country\u2019s automobiles, SUVs, and light trucks are much larger than needed for many trips. Major automakers are racing to introduce 5,000 lb. electric automobiles \u2013 that are expensive, require a substantial amount of land to use and park, do nothing to enable more bicycling and micromobility use, nor reduce traffic congestion in our major cities. The country\u2019s multitude of oversized vehicles has now become a social justice issue.<\/p>\n
This book provides the history, insights, and more importantly, the concepts and designs needed for more sustainable transportation \u2013 creating choices that are better from an environmental, economic, and equity perspective.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"