"Co-Creation Community" Local Motors continues their fostering of geography-specific vehicle designs with their DRIVEN design competition, which begins today. The Design of Relevant and Innovative Vehicles for Energy Needs competition is the result of a collaboration with fuel giant Shell's GameChanger branch, which provides funding for alternative energy projects.
Five cities have been chosen as the context for the competition's designs: Amsterdam, Bangalore, Basra, Houston and São Paolo. Hit the jump to see the promo video and the "unique challenges for the future of mobility" presented by each city.
Amsterdam has one of the highest densities of cyclists in the world. In a city that has narrow roadways, is quite compact, and a dense population, the Dutch have found the bicycle to be a very practical means of transportation. In addition they have built innovative variations of the bicycle to meet their specific needs. One problem Amsterdam has is the combination of cyclists, cars, and large trucks having to share many narrow roads. The cyclists breath in the fumes from the vehicles, and the drivers of the vehicles sometimes have a hard time seeing the cyclists.
Main sources of energy: - Gasoline - Diesel - Electricity
Bangalore has an extremely dense population that currently relies on old, unsafe methods of getting around, such as three-wheeled, underpowered, rickshaws, or four people riding on one small Moped. In addition, the road conditions round the city can be very dangerous as there are many unimproved roads, and few people in this region respect traffic laws. The Tata Nano was supposed to solve the problem of safety, but compared to a rickshaw or even a moped, the Tata Nano is a big vehicle that is difficult to park. While there is a certain level of poverty around the city, Bangalore is home to some of the finest universities in the country and is also extremely high-tech. This would make this city a great candidate for vehicles that incorporate technology such as car-to-car communication to keep traffic going.
Main sources of energy: - Gasoline - Diesel - Solar
The people of Basra have been through a lot over the last decade. While the war in Iraq is over, the people are still recovering. They simply need transportation that can ferry citizens around safely in the event of insurgent gunfire or worse, improvised, explosive devices. They also have to deal with very poor road conditions, which accentuates the congestion already experienced in the city. Lastly, there is a high level of poverty here and so personal mobility for many is still a luxury, despite having very cheap energy.
Main sources of energy: - Gasoline - Diesel
Houston is a huge, spread-out city with miles of highways and roads. It is the epitome of the American Dream—a city designed around the personal automobile. The great distances between points in the city pose a problem as energy prices increase faster than the efficiency of most of the available new vehicles. Add to that that "Everything is bigger in Texas" and you have a significant amount of large vehicles, which is not a good combination with long driving distances as it adds to an increased amount of pollution.
Main sources of energy: - Gasoline - Diesel - Electric - Solar
São Paolo has so much congestion that is has become the helicopter capital of the world, with nearly 500 registered helicopters ferrying journalists and businessmen around the city every day. While Sao Paolo is continuing to add new infrastructure, many roadways are aging, and simply cannot handle the amount of traffic the city has. Congestion coupled with helicopters adds to an already serious pollution problem the city is facing. However, the city does have many modern amenities, and like Bangalore, could benefit from technologies that could help streamline the flow of traffic. In addition to the traffic problems however, São Paulo has been struggling with a serious kidnapping problem for the past decade, and the residents are spending more money on armored vehicles and security just to keep themselves safe.
Main sources of energy: - Ethanol - Gasoline
In related news, we're pleased to announce that Local Motors President and Co-Founder John Rogers is the jury captain of the Transportation category of the 2012 Core77 Design Awards!
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Comments
What is written on briefing is just for a 0,001% of population in there.
Sao Paulo doesn't need a "new" mean of transportation, but yes more of its variety. The subway is just 60km long for a huge metropolis about 27 million citizens. Buses are rubbish.
Traffic jams are powered with stupid/political analysis, drive education, system engineering is poor and roads are in bad conditions.
Public transport is expensive - very - and inneficient.
Motorcycles are pretty smart but due miseducation is dangerous.
Everyday ONE PERSON DIES riding a motorcycle.
Everyday TWO PEOPLE DIES as a pedestrian.
Bicycle is just for very short trips in few areas due the geography and relief.
We don't need new vehicles. We need new system and education. We need serious management.
Helicopters are notable but complete out of context on our traffic problems. Helicos goes for 27 people, not to 27 million...