The 21st Century Transportation Revolution

In 1903, the airplane was invented by Wilbur and Orville Wright. They debuted their invention at Kitty Hawk, where the first ever recorded flight logged just 12 seconds in the air. During World War I, limited aircraft technology began to emerge, and throughout World War II, it made a dramatic shift to how war was conducted.

Today, more than 4 billion people per year are flying around the world via commercial aviation, utilizing nearly 45,000 airports across the globe.    

In 1903, there was no way the Wright Brothers could have predicted the long-term impacts of air travel.

Now, this next point is a bit debatable…but generally, 1885 is recognized as the year that the automobile was invented by Karl Benz in Germany. As paving technologies were developed throughout the early 1920s, modern highways began to reshape the global landscape.

Current estimates put the total amount of roadways around the world at roughly 23.7 million miles. There are approximately 1.2 billion automobiles in existence the world today, and in America the number of traffic fatalities topped 40,000 yet again in 2017.

Without a doubt, the automobile has changed family life, the economy, the environment, social life and culture, urban/suburban characteristics, and the way we all live on a daily basis.

In 1885, there was no way that Karl Benz could have predicted the long-term impacts of the automobile.

Now, in the modern era, we are face-to-face with the reinvention of mobility in the 21st century. Yet again, we find ourselves looking ahead to a very exciting future.

We’re learning about electric vehicles, connected vehicles, autonomous/driverless vehicles, drones, and a lengthy list of innovative technologies that are sure to change how mobility will exist in our near and distant future.  

And much like those examples from the 20th century, there is no way for us to predict how it will all unfold in the decades to come.

Is it exciting? Absolutely, yes! But is it possible for us to foresee exactly how it will all happen? Unfortunately, no.

That said, we are eager to help support these advancements (especially when it comes to electric vehicles!) and facilitate success where possible.