The World in 2030

In many ways, daily life in the year 2030 will have been
transformed to the point that if we could magically teleport
ourselves from today to the start of the fourth decade of
the 21st century we would find life in the developed world
almost unrecognisable.
By 2030 all cars travelling on major roads will be under
the control of satellite and roadside control systems and
many cars will be driving themselves. Apart from the
need to reduce the present appalling death toll from road
accidents XIII – and the need to squeeze many more cars onto
crowded roads – automated vehicle and traffic systems will
make it safer to travel through the extreme weather systems
that we are likely to be suffering constantly in twenty-five
years’ time.
All road vehicles (except licensed vintage and classic
vehicles) will produce very low or zero carbon emissions.
Most large cities will operate congestion charging systems
and, in countries with severe traffic congestion, road pricing
will be widespread.
XIII
Almost 1.2 million people are killed each year and 20-50 million are injured or disabled, although
most people are unaware that road traffic injuries are a leading cause of death and disability.