For most of my life, I’ve been using a bicycle for when I need to be somewhere. During my commute, I would sometimes observe people driving cars, and think about what compels them to choose a car–a large, heavy, expensive, inefficient, dangerous mode of a transport–over a bicycle. Especially when I would see that the driver is the sole occupant of the vehicle. In the climate crisis era, you’d want people to use something much more efficient than a car.

Why invent a new type of transportation? In short, it is in order to solve the car problem.

There has been a push to get people to switch to electric cars. While electric drivetrains are very nice, it doesn’t change the fact that electric cars are cars. More efficient, but still inefficient when having just one occupant, and still dangerous. Then there’s pollution that comes from tire wear. This type of pollution will persist with electric cars, and may worsen substantially because electric cars are so much heavier.

Why would the car problem necessitate the invention of a new type of transportion? Why not just convince people to switch to bus, bicycle, scooter, etc?

Because I don’t think that’s possible for the vast majority of car users. Current alternatives to cars are not compelling enough for people to stop using cars. When I thought about why some people use bicycles and other people use cars, I immediately felt that it would be difficult to convince car users to use bicycles instead.

Come to think of it, why have I been using a bicycle all this time? Why didn’t I just get a car like everyone else?

Beep beep! Comfort and Status

There’s different types of transport and different types of people. I think the reason why I’m content with cycling has to do with what kind of person I am. I think cycling is comfortable enough, and I don’t particularly care too much about status.

My take on why people choose to drive cars is that cars are not just more comfortable but also show status. People that choose to drive cars care about this difference. You could argue that it’s not just comfort and status, but also practicality. With a car, you can take people with you, take lots of things with you, and travel greater distances.

I reject practicality as an explanation for car usage for several reasons.

Car users get stuck in traffic surprisingly often. Meanwhile, I rarely have anyone ahead of me and rarely stop for a light when I’m cycling. When I do stop for a light, it seems to turn green for me faster than for cars.

If you’ve seen any advertisments for cars lately, you’ll notice they depict the driver in the middle of nowhere rather than in the hustle and bustle of cities. Cars can be cumbersome in dense cities, yet they are used overwhelmingly in those places. Needless to say that whenever I go to the city center, I never stress about having to find a parking spot.

Cars allow substantial carrying capacity, but most of the time people don’t seem to carry very much. And while you can indeed use a car to travel long distances, most car trips cover short distances.¹

The Current Options

Bicycle, scooter, car, bus, tram, metro, train…

All types of transport have upsides and downsides, but cars are by far the most problematic. Is it possible to get car people to use something else? If you can’t convince them to ride a bike, can they be convinced to take the bus or tram?

I don’t think so, because those options just don’t offer enough in terms of comfort and status. But then again, who is ’they’? If we’re talking about all car users, I say it can’t be done. If we’re talking about convincing some car users to switch, can that be done? Can bicycles, scooters and public transport be improved in such a way that at least some cars users would switch to those alternatives? I think so, yes. It can be part of the overall strategy to solve the car problem. I especially think bicycles are ripe for innovation; the kind of innovation that can make bicycles much more pleasant to use.

You can push some car users to use something else, but not all of them. Not a majority. But to solve this problem, the majority will need to be pushed away from cars. And if they will not let themselves be pushed onto any current option, you need a new option. An option that can offer car-like comfort and status without being problematic.

I think I’ve found that new option. I will try to have it developed and thoroughly tested once I have the resources. It will remain under wraps in the meantime.

If it works well, how hard do we push car users to use it? Actually, my hope is that there will be no need for a forceful push; getting people to use it will not be difficult once people realize that it’s a more pleasant and less problematic way to get around.

Like all transport options, there are downsides. It’s not as flexible as a car, and becomes less flexible the further you are from populated areas. I think cars, especially petrol cars, are very hard to beat if you’re in the middle of nowhere.

How to Invent Stuff

So how exactly did I go about designing this hypothetical contraption? The observations I made during my commute lead to critical insights. I came to the conclusion that people choose to use cars over other options for comfort and status. Understanding the user is absolutely paramount in design. And it can never be enough. The more you observe and try to understand, the better.

My observations also made me think a little bit about myself. About what kind of a person I am, what my idea of comfort is, why I’m okay with how important or unimportant I look to people. Riding a shoddy bicycle isn’t going to get me the attention as driving an expensive car would. And I could not care less.

Beyond those observations? I just had to focus on the problem and think really hard for a long period of time.