New world for drivers by 2050

In future frustrated motorists will pre-book a "slot" on a motorway system which will then drive them by auto pilot to their exit allowing them to sleep or read. An in-car computer will pay tolls electronically and give drivers updates on time, weather and delays.

The system, linking an in-car Traffic Information Manager (TIM) with Galileo, the European satellite Navigation System, is described in a new report seen by Motors.

In Vision of Transport In Ireland in 2050, the Irish Academy of Engineering (IAE) lays out a system to easily handle 4 million vehicles if the right decisions are taken now. By 2050 Ireland could have 8 million inhabitants, 5 million of them in the east from Carlow to Larne.

In its report, which was sent last week to the Minister for Transport, Mr Cullen, the IAE assumes recommendations of the National Spatial Strategy would have been put in place and starting to bear fruit.

Using the spatial strategy as its basis, the report says the radial pattern of all roads leading to Dublin should be replaced with a grid system linking the major towns. Motorways would connect Dublin to Cork, Limerick and Galway, while Derry and Cork could be linked by a western corridor including Sligo, Castlebar, Galway and Limerick. The motorways will have control systems based on GPS with vehicles on autopilot, improving safety and ensuring a constant speed.

The academy suggests that 45 years from now the M50 may have been extended along a flood protection barrier across Sandymount Strand. A new motorway would link towns about 30 kms from Dublin such as Balbriggan, Dunshaughlin with Enfield and Kildare. In the North, a motorway may be built on Lough Neagh's east side joining the M1 and M2 east of Belfast Airport.

By 2050, says the IAE, vehicles will be powered by fuel cells, in which hydrogen reacts with an electrolyte to produce electricity with only water produced as waste. Diminished oil reserves will have resulted in a ban on fossil fuels for public use.

Fuel cells will drive small, lightweight cars, with electrical motors in each wheel rather than a combustion engine. More than 80 per cent of the materials used in making cars will by that time be recyclable.

Driving control will be provided by technology similar to that used to pilot aircraft. Pedals, gears and steering columns will be replaced with a single steering guide control.

The TIM computer will plan routes, with access to public transport timetables, park-and-ride facilities - and will pay tolls and parking charges electronically.

Is there a catch? The report notes another use for the new technology - if motorists get into arrears with their tolls, taxes or charges, their car won't move.

The report suggests speed traps will use the GPS system, automatically slowing a vehicle once it enters a restricted zone.

The academy anticipates new material to be used in road construction. It will have "smart" road markings which could be changed quickly. It may also store solar energy for use during icy conditions and will have sensors to monitor type and volume of traffic.

Resurfacing in 2050 may involve unrolling long strips of this synthetic material onto roads being repaired. The system would allow 5kms of road to be resurfaced a day, according to IAE.

According to the authors, their document "casts an optimistic vision of all-Ireland transport in the middle of the century" based around sound assumptions.

The IAE is made up of former presidents of the Institution of Engineers and nominated experts. Membership is limited to 100.