Entrepreneurs: Start. This. Company. Now.(techcrunch.com)
techcrunch.com
Entrepreneurs: Start. This. Company. Now.
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/11/19/entrepreneurs-start-this-company-now/
6 comments
Some possible solutions:
* some kind of congestion pricing
* private routes (Could be roads, rail, tunnels, etc. Charge for access.)
* private vehicles (Could use existing routes or new routes.)
* reduce traffic (by increasing costs, reducing the need, increasing number of people per vehicle, reducing vehicle size, separating people and goods)
* make traffic more efficient (by providing status, prediction, or suggested routing)
* make travel more personally productive
The easiest solutions seem to be making travel more productive and reducing the need to travel.
People stuck in traffic can consume music, news, lectures, advertising, etc. Sell something they can look at or hear.
People stuck in traffic can get angry. Use that anger somehow. Give them an outlet to complain.
Provide real-time traffic information, suggest routes, provide etas.
Provide communication tech which reduces the need to travel. Conference calling, virtual presence.
Help people to live without having to travel. The big solution to this is to build multipurpose real estate where people can work at or near their homes. Another way would be to deliver stuff to them. If your food were delivered to you, you wouldn't have to go out shopping for it.
Physical mail should be digitized as much as possible.
Efficiencies might be had by separating the transport of people and goods and by providing separate transport means. For example, why not deliver a family's daily food by robotic balloons or mini-robotic vehicles that can easily weave in and out of traffic?
Web/phone services like craigslist that help people find what they want close to home would be useful.
Smaller vehicles like segways might be very useful.
* some kind of congestion pricing
* private routes (Could be roads, rail, tunnels, etc. Charge for access.)
* private vehicles (Could use existing routes or new routes.)
* reduce traffic (by increasing costs, reducing the need, increasing number of people per vehicle, reducing vehicle size, separating people and goods)
* make traffic more efficient (by providing status, prediction, or suggested routing)
* make travel more personally productive
The easiest solutions seem to be making travel more productive and reducing the need to travel.
People stuck in traffic can consume music, news, lectures, advertising, etc. Sell something they can look at or hear.
People stuck in traffic can get angry. Use that anger somehow. Give them an outlet to complain.
Provide real-time traffic information, suggest routes, provide etas.
Provide communication tech which reduces the need to travel. Conference calling, virtual presence.
Help people to live without having to travel. The big solution to this is to build multipurpose real estate where people can work at or near their homes. Another way would be to deliver stuff to them. If your food were delivered to you, you wouldn't have to go out shopping for it.
Physical mail should be digitized as much as possible.
Efficiencies might be had by separating the transport of people and goods and by providing separate transport means. For example, why not deliver a family's daily food by robotic balloons or mini-robotic vehicles that can easily weave in and out of traffic?
Web/phone services like craigslist that help people find what they want close to home would be useful.
Smaller vehicles like segways might be very useful.
Save yourself some time and only read the last 4 or 5 paragraphs. The entire article will still make sense.
People are already toying with many ideas to solve this issue. One such idea, was to construct self-contained satellite townships. In Pune, India, a township called "Magarpatta City", has been built. It houses, commerical spaces, Residentials spaces, schools, shopping Complexes, hospitals(http://www.magarpattacity.com/_new/unique.asp , http://www.magarpattacity.com/_new/amenities.asp). All the needs are generally satisfied within the township. This concept really helps in containing the traffic within a township. I believe, in near future, these ideas will be replicated across urban India.
Is Will Shatner writing titles for TC now? ;-)
Nah, it's Sarah Lacy. Pretty much the female version of the same.
Tech Crunch has become garbage.
Why is this article garbage? It points out a problem that millions have, some proposed solutions, and invites entrepreneurs to solve it.
I think the main title is the issue. If someone calls for someone else to solve their issues, there is a problem. If the idea was lucrative and someone had a method of implementation, laziness or inability are the only reasons I can fathom not to proceed.
"Hey, guys, I have this great idea..." I hear this so much, but when I pick apart the ideas of others, they are normally not fully developed, they have no profitability, and they want to take credit for someone else doing all of the work. I think the title is the major issue with the article.
"Hey, guys, I have this great idea..." I hear this so much, but when I pick apart the ideas of others, they are normally not fully developed, they have no profitability, and they want to take credit for someone else doing all of the work. I think the title is the major issue with the article.
"become" garbage , i would like to know a time when it was not.
Disappointed to see this getting a lot of upvotes. It's hardly a new issue for entrepreneurs or governments. Traffic control on the roads, in the skies, and on the rails is a known problem that transportation engineers have been working on for decades. Sarah Lacy is talking about it like she just discovered the problem.