Today the Scottish Parliament will debate how Scotland can modernise its transport infrastructure and meet the challenges of the 21st century.
To really address these challenges, they are going to have to have a serious talk about cars.
The whole world has to talk about cars these days, because whatever alternatives are provided - whether it's trains, trams or bike paths- hordes of people still want to drive them.
India is a stark example. Recent estimates suggest there are at least 103 million cars on the country's roads, with that number set to quadruple in less than a decade. The number of new car users is increasing at a pace that new road construction can't keep up with.
The test for India's government is how it can reasonably cope with this explosion in road usage. Goldman Sachs predicts that at least £1 trillion would need to be pumped into infrastructure projects in the next decade to prevent economic growth from halting. In reality, spending is expected to be less than a third of that.
Many Indians are asking: what radical and affordable steps should be taken now to address this impending crisis - and how can environmental impact be addressed at the same time? These are the same questions the Scottish Parliament should be asking in the Scottish context.
Electric vehicles (EVs) will be part of the answer. EVs were once thought to be for fantasists and dreamers, but now electric charging points are becoming a normal sight in cities including Glasgow. Renault-Nissan has become one of the world's leading EV advocates. The company believes EVs will change the face of mobility and it's backing that claim with more than £3 billion in investment.
In India, REVA's new 30,000-capacity EV car assembly plant has just been completed, positioning the country as a world leader in the creation of EVs. REVA was named one of the world's 50 most innovative companies in 2013 by Fast Company magazine.
While the growing global ambition to go electric inspires hope and confidence for greener transport, it doesn't solve the problem of increasingly congested roads. Completely new projects are needed that embrace an EV future while planning ahead for higher-capacity transportation needs. The TEV Project was created with both of these concerns in mind.
TEV is being developed as an open-source initiative, based on a belief that policy must include car users in a green future rather than exclude them. TEV proposes a system of compact, electrically powered roads for use by electric vehicles - including private cars and public transportation such as mini-buses, self-driving pod cars known as robot taxis, and light freight vehicles.
These electric roadways would be designed for rubber-tyred vehicles, but are called "tracks" because they use single lanes. On them, EVs could drive indefinitely without stopping to recharge. The tracks would form a network to supplement traditional roads. By employing a new combination of today's leading transportation technologies, these highly designed roads can handle 10 times the traffic of a traditional motorway.
When our Scotland-based project was invited to meet with senior transport officials in India to share our electric highway designs, a newspaper headline proclaimed: Scots inventor to electrify India.
It's ironic that our ideas are being embraced half way around the world, yet we aren't talking of electrifying Scotland's roads anytime soon. TEV is lesser known in Edinburgh than it is in New Delhi. But we shouldn't lose hope. Scotland is famous for its inventors and inventions over the centuries.
Now, more than ever, that innovation gene needs to be activated; brave decisions need to be made by politicians and business leaders at home as well as abroad. Let's create a sustainable and innovative infrastructure that will inspire the world and keep Scotland moving.
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