As a high-altitude voyage captured the attention of billions of people around the world, it would have been easy to miss some important developments on and near our planet鈥檚 surface.
The New Shepard voyage, a product of Jeff Bezos鈥檚 Blue Origin Enterprises, happened on April 14, with the flight reaching an altitude of 106 kilometres. The voyage lasted 10 minutes and 21 seconds.
The six women on this flight were two former NASA scientists and four celebrities and media personalities. One of them was the fianc茅e of Bezos, the founder and head of Amazon and the second-richest person in the world.
Similar flights have occurred since 2021, by companies including Richard Branson鈥檚 Virgin Galactic, Bezos鈥檚 Blue Origin and Elon Musk鈥檚 SpaceX.
Just a few years ago, non-astronaut passengers boarding a rocket to get a glimpse of space would have been considered science fiction. Space tourism has become a reality.
Passenger flights to space are possible, but the cost is prohibitive for most people. On Blue Origin鈥檚 website, the cost of a flight is not stated, but there is a line on the form that states Blue Origin will collect a deposit equivalent to $208,000 Canadian to begin the order process.
While this latest flight to space is impressive, there have been other noteworthy developments within recent years, right here on Earth.
Around the same time as the New Shepard voyage, the 5th China International Consumer Products Expo in Haikou, China included a display of flying cars and flying taxis. And if flying cars are not impressive enough, the Civil Aviation Administration of China has permitted two Chinese companies to operate autonomous passenger drones, with no human pilots.
The cost of this new technology is not yet known.
Rocket trips and flying taxis are awe-inspiring, but the transportation developments to watch most closely are happening at ground level.
China has also been working to develop a network of fast trains, capable of reaching speeds of 200 to 380 kilometres an hour. China鈥檚 high-speed rail service was introduced in 2007 and opened to the public in 2008.
The cost of a second-class ticket on a bullet train from Beijing to Shanghai, a distance of 1,318 km, converted to Canadian dollars, is around $105.
Seoul, South Korea has some driverless buses as part of its transit system. The first of these buses appeared in late 2023, operating at night. By the next year, these driverless buses had expanded to the early morning.
The price for a ride, in Canadian dollars, works out to $1.16.
Even without technological advances such as driverless transportation and high-speed trains, there are some advances in public transportation.
British Columbia has intercommunity bus services connecting rural and remote areas. This began in northern British Columbia in 2018 and has expanded to other rural and remote areas.
In the community of Summerland, a free bus fare program is in place on Route 30, the route connecting Summerland with the city of Penticton. This service was introduced as a pilot project in April 2023 and became permanent the following year.
A transit system, whether offering free fares, service to remote communities, or self-driving buses, will not take passengers to space. Neither will a bullet-train service.
However, public transportation provides people with mobility, allows affordable commuting, and provides freedom of movement to those who would be limited without it.
The New Shepard voyage, while an impressive feat, did not accomplish those things. Instead, there were stunning visuals of celebrities before, during and after a brief but expensive ride.
The transportation developments to watch are happening closer to home, and do not involve rocket flights.
John Arendt is the editor of the Summerland Review.
