Any mode of transport is valued not only for its efficiency and economy, but also for how fast it transports cargo or passengers and how comfortable and safe it is. Modern passenger cars can reach speeds of over 200 km/h. High-speed trains travel at speeds of up to 300 km/h. Planes are much faster. For example, a military jet can reach speeds of 3,500 km/h. Passenger airliners fly at lower speeds, up to 1000 km/h. The first supersonic passenger planes, after a short operation, became the property of museums.
Recently aircrafts capable of entering the stratosphere and reaching high speeds – it takes only a few hours to cover a distance of 20,000 kilometers to circle half of the globe. In terms of technical flight characteristics they will resemble a spaceship with a high degree of flight control automation. The production technology of such space aircraft is already largely known. But there are questions of a completely different nature: Why do we need such planes and will they meet the accepted safety requirements for the transportation of passengers and cargo?
Water transport does not stand still in its development, it is not characterized by high speed, but by economical efficiency and cargo carrying capacity. For example, one oil tanker about 500 meters long can carry 800,000 tons of oil, and one liquefied gas tanker has a capacity of 125,000 cubic meters; this amount of gas is enough to supply gas to a whole city like Ryazan for a year.
When developing new modifications of all types of transport, much attention is paid not only to efficiency, carrying capacity and speed, but also to automation of control and monitoring of all vehicle systems and ensuring safety in case of emergency.
Many developed countries have set the task of converting road transport to hydrogen fuel and electric power. Its solution would drastically reduce pollution of the atmosphere with exhaust gases and save hydrocarbon raw materials, which, as we know from ancient times, are more appropriate and efficient not to burn, but to turn into many types of valuable products.
No matter how economical and efficient a modern car is, no matter how perfect its control system is, it cannot withstand traffic jams in which enormous amounts of fuel are needlessly burned, polluting the air. In this regard, much work remains to be done to organize an optimal mode of transport, to reduce freight and passenger routes, and to improve urban infrastructure so that hours of congestion can be transformed into rapid, unobstructed traffic.
