Transport

Mobility - Transport options will increase for all, especially for the ageing population and those living in rural areas, as public perceptions and attitudes towards personal travel change.

Measurement will provide logistical and environmental data to influence consumer transport choices.

Examples include: micromobility (small, lightweight, battery operated personal transport), personal air transport, integrated information systems.
 

Automation - Personal and goods transport systems will be automated as safety, efficiency, convenience and speed become more important.

Measurement will enable AI and machine learning algorithms to operate interconnected and interoperable modes of transport through seamless and secure transmission of data.

Examples include: location tracking and timestamping, road trains, automated drones, advances in interface security and infrastructure resilience, new airspace regulations for drones, validated and reliable multi-scale and multi-level models of our transport systems,  advances in model-based decision-making.

Innovation - Technology will enable new modes of sustainable transport to become mainstream. 

Measurement will enable test and validation of products and materials, and the development of agile regulations. 

Examples include: frictionless drive (maglev), evacuated tube-based mass transport (hyperloop), robust operation of national and international airspace regulations; wireless charging; reliability and re-usability of space craft, new materials for tyres and road surfaces. 

Decarbonisation - The electrification of our transport will continue at a faster pace, driven by the need to achieve net-zero carbon emissions. 

Measurement will help optimise the manufacture and recycling of batteries, and the adoption of alternative, less-polluting, natural and synthetic fuels and additives.

Examples include: rare-earth element recovery and recycling, novel electric propulsion technologies including those with no moving parts, hybrid-electric engines which can function with multiple fuel sources (such as hydrogen, ammonia, ethanol and novel bio-fuels derived from algae), safe methods of nuclear-powered propulsion.
 

Ownership - Operating and ownership models of individual transport will become service-based (servitisation) which will significantly reduce running and maintenance costs.

Measurement will enable management of integrated energy storage and a smart national charging grid.

Measurement will support consumer choice and the economics of new operating models.

Examples include: shared use of vehicles, battery-swapping points replacing recharging stations, regulations to overcome non-proprietary technology-sharing challenges.