In This Edition

Mobility Turns the World

Part 1: Mobility for the Future

Part 2: Impact of Mobility

Part 3: Managing Mobility

Questions & Answers

Prof. Joseph Sussman, PhD '68 Specialist in transportation systems

Prof. Cynthia Barnhart, SM '85, PhD '88 Co-director, Center for Transportation Studies

Video Interview: William E. Goodrich, SM '80 Project manager with Boston's Central Artery

Sarah Bush '98 Graduate student working on mobility needs of older people

Vinod K. Natarajan '00 Graduate student working on future vehicle technologies

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At the turn of the 20th century, drivers were asked to restrain their new horseless carriages to the 15 mile per hour speed limit. At the turn of the 21st century, space travel is a plausible vacation option and mobility is a key ingredient in global economic health and social well being. Yet mobility's byproducts--atmospheric pollution, urban congestion, noise, and accidents--are turning worldwide interest toward sustainable solutions. Researchers across MIT are exploring technologies, operations, and policies that can make sustainable mobility a reality.

This month, openDOOR explores MIT's interdisciplinary approach to mobility:

• Mobility for the Future: More power for future cars, worldwide congestion management, changing the car experience, applying intelligent transportation systems.
• Impact of Mobility: Air transport operations post-Sept. 11, the Big Dig, new auto technologies for 2020, reversing air pollution, assessing aviation pollution.
• Managing Mobility: Automating airline transport and safety, modeling solutions to traffic congestion, auto industry responses to technological change, the mobility needs of older drivers.

Last spring, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) asked MIT to outline mobility trends and challenges. Mobility 2001, available on the Laboratory for Energy and the Environment (LFEE) web site, presents findings such as these: the developing world is motorizing rapidly without sufficient infrastructure; the environmental benefits of more efficient and cleaner vehicles have been offset by increased driving and air travel; and aging populations in the United States, Europe, and Japan need new mobility options. Ensuring sufficient mobility to support economic growth while balancing environmental, energy, and resource requirements is the challenge for MIT researchers--and the world.

Poll: Which mobility technology would you most want researchers at MIT to pursue? High-speed planes Monorail trains Hydrofoil boats Robot-driven cars Energy-matter converter (i.e., beam me up Scotty)