What a driverless world could look like | Wanis Kabbaj

Translator: Gloria Guo Reviewer: jianhuan lai

Some people are obsessed by French wines.

有啲人鍾意飲法國紅酒

Others love playing golf

而有啲人鍾意打哥爾夫球

or devouring literature.

或者埋頭睇書

One of my greatest pleasures in life is, I have to admit,

我平時最大嘅樂趣之一

我必須承認有少少特別

a bit special.

I cannot tell you how much I enjoy watching cities from the sky,

我冇辦法描述我有幾鍾意

從飛機窗睇城巿

from an airplane window.

Some cities are calmly industrious,

有啲城市默默咁努力

like Dusseldorf

比如話杜塞爾多夫

or Louisville.

又或者路易斯維爾

Others project an energy that they can hardly contain,

有啲城市

投射出佢哋幾乎冇辦法承受嘅活力

like New York

比如話紐約

or Hong Kong.

或者香港

And then you have Paris

然後仲有巴黎

or Istanbul,

或者伊斯坦布爾

and their patina full of history.

同埋佢哋充滿歷史印記嘅一面

I see cities as living beings.

我將城市睇成生物

And when I discover them from far above,

當我從高空探索佢哋

I like to find those main streets and highways that structure their space.

我鍾意搵建構空間嘅大馬路同高速公路

Especially at night,

尤其喺晚黑

when commuters make these arteries look dramatically red and golden:

當果啲上落班嘅人

令呢啲大馬路望起身非常璀璨

the city's vascular system performing its vital function

城市嘅血管系統執行緊重要嘅任務

right before your eyes.

就喺你眼前

But when I'm sitting in my car

但係當我坐喺我部車入面

after an hour and a half of commute every day,

日日駕駛一個半鐘頭上落班之後

that reality looks very different.

現實就好唔一樣啦

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Nothing --

乜都無辦法

not public radio,

公共電台唔得

no podcast --

播客唔得

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Not even mindfulness meditation

甚至連冥想都冇辦法

makes this time worth living.

令呢一段時間變得有意義

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Isn't it absurd

唔覺得好可笑咩？

that we created cars that can reach 130 miles per hour

我哋製造出時速可以達到 130 英里嘅車

and we now drive them at the same speed as 19th-century horse carriages?

然後以 19 世紀馬車嘅速度嚟開？

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

In the US alone,

凈係喺美國

we spent 29.6 billion hours commuting in 2014.

2014 年，我哋就用咗296億個鐘上落班

With that amount of time,

同樣嘅時間

ancient Egyptians could have built 26 Pyramids of Giza.

古埃及人可以起 26 個吉薩金字塔

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

We do that in one year.

我哋喺一年時間就用咗咁多個鐘

A monumental waste of time, energy and human potential.

浪費大量嘅時間、能量同埋人類潜力

For decades,

幾十年嚟

our remedy for congestion was simple:

我哋應對塞車嘅措施都好簡單：

build new roads or enlarge existing ones.

起一條新路或者擴闊現有嘅路

And it worked.

呢個措施好有效

It worked admirably for Paris,

喺巴黎相當之有效

when the city tore down hundreds of historical buildings

巴黎拆咗幾百座歷史建築

to create 85 miles

嚟起 85 英里

of transportation-friendly boulevards.

方便運輸嘅林蔭大道

And it still works today in fast-growing emerging cities.

呢個做法對宜家高速發展嘅新興城市

依然好有效

But in more established urban centers,

但係喺更多發展完善嘅市中心裡面

significant network expansions are almost impossible:

大量嘅網絡擴張幾乎係唔可能嘅

habitat is just too dense,

住房建築太密集

real estate, too expensive

房地產太貴

and public finances, too fragile.

同埋公共財政太脆弱

Our city's vascular system is getting clogged, it's getting sick,

我哋城市嘅血管系統塞住咗、病咗

and we should pay attention.

而我哋應該多多關注

Our current way of thinking is not working.

我哋目前嘅思考方式係唔掂嘅

For our transportation to flow,

為咗令我哋嘅交通順暢

we need a new source of inspiration.

我哋需要新嘅靈感源頭

So after 16 years working in transportation,

喺運輸業做咗16年之後

my "aha moment" happened when speaking with a biotech customer.

當我同一個做生物科技嘅客人

傾偈嘅時候

靈感出現咗

She was telling me how her treatment

佢同我講佢嘅療程

was leveraging specific properties of our vascular system.

點利用血管系統裡面嘅某啲特性

"Wow," I thought, "Our vascular system --

我心諗︰哇，我哋嘅血管系統

all the veins and arteries in our body

即係體內所有嘅血管同動脈

making miracles of logistics every day."

每一日都創造緊物流嘅奇跡

This is the moment I realized

就係呢一刻，我意識到

that biology has been in the transportation business

生物學已經存在喺運輸業入面幾十億年

for billions of years.

It has been testing countless solutions

血管系統試過無數解決方法

to move nutrients, gases and proteins.

嚟運送營養、氣體同埋蛋白質

It really is the world's most sophisticated transportation laboratory.

真係世界上最精密嘅運輸實驗室

So, what if the solution to our traffic challenges was inside us?

如果解決交通需求嘅方法 就喺我哋體內呢？

I wanted to know:

我想知

Why is it that blood flows in our veins most of our lives,

點解血液好平常咁喺血管流動

when our big cities get clogged on a daily basis?

但係我哋嘅城市就日日塞車？

And the reality is that you're looking at two very different networks.

事實上你係睇緊兩個非常唔同嘅網絡

I don't know if you realize,

唔知你有冇意識到

but each of us has 60,000 miles of blood vessels in our bodies --

我哋每個人體內都有六萬英里長嘅血管

60,000 miles.

有六萬英里

That's two-and-a-half times the Earth's circumference,

喺你嘅體內

inside you.

係地球圓周嘅 2.5 倍

What it means is that blood vessels are everywhere inside us,

亦即係話我哋體內周圍都係血管

not just under the surface of our skin.

唔只係喺我哋皮膚表層嘅下面

But if you look at our cities,

但係當你望向我哋嘅城市

yes, we have some underground subway systems

冇錯，我哋係有地鐵系統

and some tunnels and bridges,

有隧道同橋樑

and also some helicopters in the sky.

仲有天上嘅直升機

But the vast majority of our traffic is focused on the ground,

但係大部分嘅交通都集中喺地面

on the surface.

喺表層

So in other words,

即係話

while our vascular system uses the three dimensions inside us,

我哋體內嘅血管系統係立體

our urban transportation is mostly two-dimensional.

而市區運輸系統基本上係平面

And so what we need is to embrace that verticality.

所以我哋應該將天空納入運輸系統

If our surface grid is saturated,

如果我哋嘅平面飽和咗

well, let's elevate our traffic.

咁就將交通升高

This Chinese concept of a bus that can straddle traffic jams --

呢個概念嚟自中國

巴士可以跨立係堵塞嘅車輛上面

that was an eye-opener on new ways to think about space and movement

呢個概念令我哋大開眼界

對於城巿入面嘅空間同移動

inside our cities.

有新嘅思考方式

And we can go higher,

我哋可以行高啲

and suspend our transportation like we did with our electrical grid.

將運輸系統懸掛

就好似我哋嘅供電網咁

Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi are talking about testing

特拉維夫同阿布扎比宜家討論緊

測試呢種磁懸浮車艙嘅未來網絡

these futuristic networks of suspended magnetic pods.

And we can keep climbing, and fly.

我哋可以繼續攀爬，飛天

The fact that a company like Airbus

事實上好似空中巴士呢種公司

is now seriously working on flying urban taxis

宜家認真咁研究市區空中的士

is telling us something.

講明咗一啲事

Flying cars are finally moving from science-fiction déjà vu

飛天汽車終於從科幻

to attractive business-case territory.

轉移到吸引嘅商業範疇

And that's an exciting moment.

呢一刻好令人興奮

So building this 3-D transportation network

所以起呢個 3D 運輸網絡

is one of the ways we can mitigate and solve traffic jams.

係緩和並且解決塞車嘅方法之一

But it's not the only one.

但唔係唯一嘅方法

We have to question

我哋必須質疑

other fundamental choices that we made, like the vehicles we use.

我哋其他嘅根本性選擇

比如話交通工具

Just imagine a very familiar scene:

想象一下一個好熟悉嘅場景：

You've been driving for 42 minutes.

你已經開咗 42 分鐘車

The two kids behind you are getting restless.

你後面嘅兩個細路仔開始煩躁

And you're late.

而你已經遲到

Do you see that slow car in front of you?

見唔見到前面果部開得好慢嘅車？

Always comes when you're late, right?

呢種事成日發生係你遲到嘅時候

啱唔啱？

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

That driver is looking for parking.

果個司機搵緊停車位

There is no parking spot available in the area,

果度附近冇空位

but how would he know?

但係佢點知呢？

It is estimated that up to 30 percent of urban traffic is generated

估計大約 30% 嘅市區塞車問題

係因為司機搵緊停車位

by drivers looking for parking.

Do you see the 100 cars around you?

見唔見到你身邊嘅 100 部車？

Eighty-five of them only have one passenger.

其中 85 部車入面只有一個乘客

Those 85 drivers could all fit in one Londonian red bus.

呢 85 位司機可以坐滿一部倫敦紅巴士

So the question is:

然後問題係

Why are we wasting so much space if it is what we need the most?

如果空間係我哋急需嘅嘢

點解仲要浪費？

Why are we doing this to ourselves?

點解我哋要咁對待自己？

Biology would never do this.

生物學永遠唔會咁做

Space inside our arteries is fully utilized.

我哋充分利用咗血管裡面嘅空間

At every heartbeat,

每一下心跳

a higher blood pressure literally compacts millions of red blood cells

高血壓就壓迫幾百萬個紅血球

into massive trains of oxygen

進入龐大嘅氧氣火車裡面

that quickly flow throughout our body.

好快咁係我哋人體內流通

And the tiny space inside our red blood cells is not wasted, either.

而紅血球裡面嘅小空間亦冇浪費

In healthy conditions,

喺健康嘅情况下

more than 95 percent of their oxygen capacity is utilized.

最少會用到 95% 嘅氧氣容量

Can you imagine if the vehicles we used in our cities

你能唔能夠想象

如果城市裡面用嘅交通工具

were 95 percent full,

使用率有 95%

all the additional space you would have to walk, to bike

將會有幾多額外空間攞嚟行路

踩單車、同埋享受城市嘅魅力？

and to enjoy our cities?

The reason blood is so incredibly efficient

血液之所以咁高效率

is that our red blood cells are not dedicated

係因為我哋嘅紅血球並唔係只用喺

to specific organs or tissues;

特定嘅器官同組織

otherwise, we would probably have traffic jams in our veins.

如果唔係，我哋嘅血管可能會塞車

No, they're shared.

紅血球係共享嘅

They're shared by all the cells of our body.

係我哋體內所有細胞共享嘅

And because our network is so extensive,

因為我哋嘅網絡咁龐大

each one of our 37 trillion cells gets its own deliveries of oxygen

37 兆個細胞，每一個都運送氧氣

precisely when it needs them.

啱啱好係需要嘅時候

Blood is both a collective and individual form of transportation.

血液係一種既集體又獨立嘅傳輸方式

But for our cities,

但係對我哋嘅城市嚟講

we've been stuck.

我哋塞住咗

We've been stuck in an endless debate

我哋塞喺無止境嘅辯論裡面

between creating a car-centric society or extensive mass-transit systems.

辯論建立以車為中心嘅社會

定建立係龐大嘅公共交通系統

I think we should transcend this.

我覺得我哋應該更進一步

I think we can create vehicles that combine the convenience of cars

我覺得我哋可以發明一啲交通工具

結合車嘅方便

and the efficiencies of trains and buses.

同埋火車同巴士嘅高效率

Just imagine.

想象一下

You're comfortably sitting in a fast and smooth urban train,

你同 1,200 名乘客一齊

好舒服咁坐喺一部

又快又流暢嘅巿區火車裡面

along with 1,200 passengers.

The problem with urban trains

城市火車嘅問題係

is that sometimes you have to stop five, ten, fifteen times

喺到達最終目的地之前

before your final destination.

有時要停靠 5 次、10 次、15 次

What if in this train you didn't have to stop?

如果呢部火車係不需要停靠呢？

In this train,

當你喺路上嘅時候

wagons can detach dynamically while you're moving

呢部火車嘅車廂可以動態分離

and become express, driverless buses

變成快車、無人駕駛嘅巴士

that move on a secondary road network.

喺細啲嘅馬路上行駛

And so without a single stop,

所以完全唔使停靠

nor a lengthy transfer,

亦唔會有漫長嘅轉車

you are now sitting in a bus that is headed toward your suburb.

你宜家坐喺一部開往郊區嘅巴士上

And when you get close,

就嚟到嘅時候

the section you're sitting in detaches

你坐嘅果部分會脫離

and self-drives you right to your doorstep.

自動將你送到目的地

It is collective and individual at the same time.

既集體又獨立

This could be one of the shared, modular, driverless vehicles of tomorrow.

呢個係共享、組合式

無人駕駛嘅未來交通工具之一

Now ...

宜家……

as if walking in a city buzzing with drones,

就好似喺城市行走，有無人機

flying taxis, modular buses and suspended magnetic pods

空中的士、組合式巴士同埋磁懸浮車艙

was not exotic enough,

都仲未夠神奇

I think there is another force in action

我覺得仲有另外一種力量喺度努力緊

that will make urban traffic mesmerizing.

令巿區交通變得更有魅力

If you think about it,

你諗下

the current generation of driverless cars is just trying to earn its way

宜家嘅無人駕駛車輛諗緊辦法

into a traffic grid made by and for humans.

進入由人製造、為人服務嘅 交通網絡裡面

They're trying to learn traffic rules, which is relatively simple,

佢哋嘗試學習交通規則

呢個仲算簡單

and coping with human unpredictability,

更有挑戰性嘅係

which is more challenging.

佢哋仲要應對人類嘅不可預測性

But what would happen when whole cities become driverless?

但係當成個城市變成

無人駕駛嘅時候會點？

Would we need traffic lights?

我哋仲需唔需要紅綠燈？

Would we need lanes?

仲需唔需要車道？

How about speed limits?

速度限制呢？

Red blood cells are not flowing in lanes.

紅血球唔係喺車道上面流通嘅

They never stop at red lights.

佢哋從來都唔會因為紅燈而停

In the first driverless cities,

係第一批無人駕駛嘅城市裡面

you would have no red lights and no lanes.

唔會有紅燈同埋車道

And when all the cars are driverless and connected,

當所有車都係無人駕駛而且連埋一齊

everything is predictable and reaction time, minimum.

一切都可以預測，反應時間都係最短

They can drive much faster

無人駕駛車可以開得更加快

and can take any rational initiative that can speed them up

可以採取任何合理嘅行為嚟加快速度

or the cars around them.

或者加快旁邊其他車嘅速度

So instead of rigid traffic rules,

車流會係可以透過使用動態

flow will be regulated

不斷自我改善嘅規則系統控制

by a mesh of dynamic and constantly self-improving algorithms.

代替死板嘅交通規則

The result: a strange traffic

結果就係，奇怪嘅交通系統

that mixes the fast and smooth rigor of German autobahns

融合咗德國高速公路嘅快同穩

and the creative vitality of the intersections of Mumbai.

同埋孟買十字路口嘅創意活力

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Traffic will be functionally exuberant.

交通功能將會非常豐富

It will be liquid like our blood.

會好似血液咁流動

And by a strange paradox,

根據一個奇怪嘅悖論

the more robotized our traffic grid will be,

交通網絡越係自動化

the more organic and alive its movement will feel.

佢嘅流動就越統一而且充滿活力

So yes,

所以，冇錯

biology has all the attributes of a transportation genius today.

生物學有嗮所有

當代交通天才應該有嘅特性

But this process has taken billions of years,

但呢個過程已經喺幾十億年前開始

and went through all sorts of iterations and mutations.

而且經歷咗好多次嘅反覆同變異

We can't wait billions of years to evolve our transportation system.

我哋唔可以等幾十億年

逐漸發展運輸系統

We now have the dreams,

宜家我哋有夢想

the concepts

有概念

and the technology

有技術

to create 3-D transportation networks,

嚟起一個 3D 運輸網絡

invent new vehicles

發明新嘅交通工具

and change the flow in our cities.

同改變我哋城市嘅流動

Let's do it.

一起行動啦

Thank you.

多謝

(Applause)

（鼓掌）