Others love playing golf

另外有些人則愛打高爾夫球

or devouring literature.

或者狂嗑文學作品

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

我必須承認，我生活中最大的樂趣之一

a bit special.

有點特別

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

我無法告訴你，我有多愛從空中鳥瞰都市

from an airplane window.

特別是從飛機的窗子向外看

Some cities are calmly industrious,

有些都市看起來平靜又勤奮

like Dusseldorf

像是杜塞爾多夫

or Louisville.

或者如路易斯維爾

Others project an energy that they can hardly contain,

有些城市投射出的能量幾乎無法隱藏

like New York

像紐約

or Hong Kong.

或者香港

And then you have Paris

然後是巴黎

or Istanbul,

或者是伊斯坦堡

and their patina full of history.

滿佈歷史的銅綠

I see cities as living beings.

我總喜歡把城市看成生物

And when I discover them from far above,

每當我從天空下望發現他們時

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

我總喜歡找到構成他們的空間的主要街道和高速公路

Especially at night,

特別是在夜裡

when commuters make these arteries look dramatically red and golden:

通勤者使這些交通動脈看起來火紅又金碧輝煌

the city's vascular system performing its vital function

都市的血脈系統發揮它的重要功能

right before your eyes.

就在你的眼前

But when I'm sitting in my car

但當我坐在自己車內

after an hour and a half of commute every day,

每天花上一個半小時的通勤時間

that reality looks very different.

真實面往往大不相同

Nothing --

什麼都沒有

not public radio,

沒有公眾廣播

no podcast --

沒有 podcast

Not even mindfulness meditation

甚至無法放空冥想

makes this time worth living.

讓這段時光值得存在

Isn't it absurd

是不是很荒謬？

that we created cars that can reach 130 miles per hour

人們造了每小時可跑130英里的汽車

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

但我們開起來卻和19世紀的馬車沒有兩樣

In the US alone,

單在美國一地

we spent 29.6 billion hours commuting in 2014.

2014年我們就虛擲296億小時在通勤時間上

With that amount of time,

把這些時間加總起來

ancient Egyptians could have built 26 Pyramids of Giza.

可以讓古埃及人在吉薩城蓋26座金字塔

We do that in one year.

而我們一年就浪費那麼多時間

A monumental waste of time, energy and human potential.

時間、精力和人類潛力的不斷虛擲

For decades,

數十年來

our remedy for congestion was simple:

我們對交通阻塞的解方太過簡單

build new roads or enlarge existing ones.

就是不斷的新增或拓寬現有道路

And it worked.

它確實有效

It worked admirably for Paris,

對巴黎市區非常有效

when the city tore down hundreds of historical buildings

當巴黎市區數百個歷史建物因此遭到拆除

to create 85 miles

只為了多造出 85英里

of transportation-friendly boulevards.

對運輸友善的大道

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

這種解法在快速成長的新興城市依然有效

But in more established urban centers,

然而在許多成熟的都市中心

significant network expansions are almost impossible:

要大幅如網路般延伸幾乎已不可能

habitat is just too dense,

人的棲息太過密集

real estate, too expensive

房地產又貴的不得了

and public finances, too fragile.

公共財政又太過脆弱

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

我們城市的血脈系統正在堵塞，它病了，

and we should pay attention.

而我們應該注意

Our current way of thinking is not working.

我們現行的思考方式已經失靈

For our transportation to flow,

對於交通流量

we need a new source of inspiration.

我們需要一個新的靈感來源

So after 16 years working in transportation,

經過16年在交通部門工作

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

在一次與生物科技客戶談話的過程中，我的「靈光一閃時刻」終於出現

She was telling me how her treatment

她告訴我，她的治療方法

was leveraging specific properties of our vascular system.

不妨利用我們的血脈系統的特性

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

"哇”我想到，"我們的血管系統 --

all the veins and arteries in our body

我們體內所有的靜脈和動脈

making miracles of logistics every day."

每天都在上演物流運籌的奇蹟

This is the moment I realized

此刻我意識到

that biology has been in the transportation business

生物學已在交通業務上

for billions of years.

運作了數十億年

It has been testing countless solutions

也測試了無數種的解方

to move nutrients, gases and proteins.

來運送營養、氣體和蛋白質

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

它真的是世界上最複雜的運輸實驗室

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

那麼，我們體內的交通挑戰的解方究竟是什麼呢？

I wanted to know:

我想知道

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

為什麼血液可以在我們的大部分的生命中不斷流動

when our big cities get clogged on a daily basis?

而我們的大城市卻是每天都堵塞？

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

現實的情況是，你正盯著兩個非常不同的網路看

I don't know if you realize,

我不知道你們有沒有聽懂

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

每個人體內有長達6萬英里的血管

60,000 miles.

6萬英里咧

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

是地球圓周的二倍半

inside you.

在你體內

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

這意味著，我們體內血管幾乎無所不在

not just under the surface of our skin.

不只是在我們的皮膚表面下

But if you look at our cities,

但是，如果你看看我們的城市

yes, we have some underground subway systems

是的，我們有一些地下鐵路系統

and some tunnels and bridges,

一些隧道和橋樑

and also some helicopters in the sky.

也有一些直升機在天上飛

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

但我們大部分的交通都集中在地面上

on the surface.

在表層

So in other words,

換句話說

while our vascular system uses the three dimensions inside us,

我們的血管系統佈滿我們體內的三個維度

our urban transportation is mostly two-dimensional.

但我們的都市運輸系統卻只用了兩個維度的大部分

And so what we need is to embrace that verticality.

因此，如果我們需要的是擁抱這種垂直性

If our surface grid is saturated,

如果我們的道路的路網已經飽和，

well, let's elevate our traffic.

好吧，不妨讓我們把自己的交通往上抬昇

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

像這個中國公共汽車的概念，就可以跨越交通堵塞--

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

這真是開創性的新方法來思考空間和移動

inside our cities.

在我們的都市之內

And we can go higher,

我們可以往上走得更高

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

並像我們懸吊電力網所做的那樣，處理我們的交通問題

Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi are talking about testing

特拉維夫和阿布達比已在談論進行測試

these futuristic networks of suspended magnetic pods.

這些懸吊磁性莢艙的未來網路

And we can keep climbing, and fly.

然後我們可以繼續往上爬昇，甚至起飛

The fact that a company like Airbus is now seriously working on flying urban taxis

空中巴士公司目前已經認真在研究都會飛行計程車的事實

is telling us something.

而它也告訴我們一些事

Flying cars are finally moving from science-fiction déjà vu

飛行車最終會從科幻電影的浮生幻影

to attractive business-case territory.

飛進非常具有吸引力的商業領域

And that's an exciting moment.

那是很讓人興奮的時刻

So building this 3-D transportation network

因此建立 3-D運輸網路

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

是我們能減緩和解決交通阻塞的方法之一

But it's not the only one.

但它還不是唯一的解方

We have to question

我們必須質疑

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

像是車輛這種我們過去所做的基本選擇

Just imagine a very familiar scene:

再想像一個非常熟悉的場景

You've been driving for 42 minutes.

你已開了四十二分鐘的車了

The two kids behind you are getting restless.

後座的兩個小鬼已經坐不住了

And you're late.

而且你已經遲到了

Do you see that slow car in front of you?

你看到前面那輛龜速車了嗎?

Always comes when you're late, right?

它總是在你遲到時就會出現，對吧?

That driver is looking for parking.

那名駕駛人正在找停車場

There is no parking spot available in the area,

這個區域已經沒有停車位

but how would he know?

但他怎麼曉得?

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

據估計，城市裡的高達30％的交通量

by drivers looking for parking.

是因駕駛人在找停車位所產生

Do you see the 100 cars around you?

你看到你週圍的100輛汽車了嗎？

Eighty-five of them only have one passenger.

其中85輛上都只有一個乘客

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

這85個司機都可以坐在同一輛倫敦紅巴士上

So the question is:

所以問題是：

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

我們為什麼浪費這麼多空間，如果它是我們最需要的？

Why are we doing this to ourselves?

我們為什麼要對自己做這樣的事呢？

Biology would never do this.

生物學絕對不會如此

Space inside our arteries is fully utilized.

我們血管裡的空間可是充分利用

At every heartbeat,

在每一次心跳

a higher blood pressure literally compacts millions of red blood cells

較高的血壓會直接壓縮數百萬個血紅素細胞

into massive trains of oxygen

進入大隊的氧氣列車裡

that quickly flow throughout our body.

它會迅速流過我們的身體

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

即便是我們的血紅素細胞內的微小空間也絲毫沒有浪費

In healthy conditions,

在健康的條件下

more than 95 percent of their oxygen capacity is utilized.

它們95%以上的氧氣容量被使用

Can you imagine if the vehicles we used in our cities

你能想像如果城市裡我們所使用的車輛

were 95 percent full,

載客率達95%

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

所有的額外空間，你可以步行、騎自行車

and to enjoy our cities?

並且來享受城市風光？

The reason blood is so incredibly efficient

血液之所以讓人難以置信地有效率的原因是

is that our red blood cells are not dedicated

我們的血紅素細胞並非專門

to specific organs or tissues;

給特定器官或組織使用；

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

否則，我們的靜脈可能會交通堵塞

No, they're shared.

但，他們卻是共同分享的

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

被我們體內的所有細胞所共享

And because our network is so extensive,

由於我們體內的網路如此廣泛

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

37兆的細胞都會收到自己應得的氧氣

precisely when it needs them.

尤其它需要氧氣時

Blood is both a collective and individual form of transportation.

血液兼具集體和個體的運送形式

But for our cities,

然而對我們的都市來說

we've been stuck.

我們嚴重阻滯

We've been stuck in an endless debate

我們卡在無止盡的爭論

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

認為應該建立一個以汽車為中心的社會或普遍的公共交通系統

I think we should transcend this.

我想我們不妨超越一下

I think we can create vehicles that combine the convenience of cars and the efficiencies of trains and buses.

我想我們可以創造兼具汽車方便性和火車、巴士有效率的載具

Just imagine.

想像一下

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

你可以很舒服地坐在快速、平穩的都會火車

along with 1,200 passengers.

同行的還有 1,200名乘客

The problem with urban trains

問題在於都會火車

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

有時必須要停個五、十、十五次

before your final destination.

在你抵達終點之前

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

而如果搭上一趟完全不必中停的火車呢?

In this train,

在這列火車上

wagons can detach dynamically while you're moving

車廂可以在你移動時動態地分離

and become express, driverless buses

然後成為快速、無人駕駛的巴士

that move on a secondary road network.

它還可以往次級路網移動

And so without a single stop,

中間完全不需停站

nor a lengthy transfer,

也無需漫長的等候轉運

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

就坐在巴士朝著往你住的郊區前進

And when you get close,

當你越接近

the section you're sitting in detaches

你坐的那部分開始與車體分離

and self-drives you right to your doorstep.

並且會自行駛往你的家門口

It is collective and individual at the same time.

同時兼顧整體和個體

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

這可能是明日共享、模組化、無人駕駛車輛的一種

Now ...

現在...

as if walking in a city buzzing with drones,

假設你走在一個城市充滿嗡嗡叫聲的無人機、

flying taxis, modular buses and suspended magnetic pods

飛行計程車、模組化的巴士和懸吊式磁性莢艙

was not exotic enough,

可能都還嫌不夠奇特

I think there is another force in action

我認為還有另一種力量已蠢蠢欲動

that will make urban traffic mesmerizing.

這將使城市交通更迷人

If you think about it,

如果你思考一下

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

這一代無人駕駛汽車只是試圖

into a traffic grid made by and for humans.

把自己融入人類所建、專為人類設計的交通網格內

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

它們必須試著去學習還算相對簡單的交通規則

and coping with human unpredictability,

並且應付人類的不可預期性

which is more challenging.

那才真有挑戰性

But what would happen when whole cities become driverless?

但如果整個城市的車輛都變成無人駕駛時又會怎樣呢?

Would we need traffic lights?

我們還需要交通號誌嗎?

Would we need lanes?

我們還需要畫上線道嗎?

How about speed limits?

那行車速限呢?

Red blood cells are not flowing in lanes.

血紅素細胞可不需要在線道上排列

They never stop at red lights.

它們也不需等紅燈

In the first driverless cities,

在第一個完全無人駕駛的城市裡

you would have no red lights and no lanes.

將完全沒有紅燈和線道之分

And when all the cars are driverless and connected,

一旦所有的車輛都無人駕駛且相互連結

everything is predictable and reaction time, minimum.

所有的事都變成可預測，且反應時間會趨於最小

They can drive much faster

它們可以開得更快

and can take any rational initiative that can speed them up

可以採取任何合理的主動性方法加速前進

or the cars around them.

或者讓在它週圍的車輛先加速

So instead of rigid traffic rules,

所以拋開現行路網的交通規則

flow will be regulated

車流量就會

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

被動態且不斷自我改進的演算法加以調節

The result: a strange traffic

結果是： 奇特的交通應運而生

that mixes the fast and smooth rigor of German autobahns

它混合著快速、平穩且精確的德國高速公路

and the creative vitality of the intersections of Mumbai.

和孟買十字路口的創造性活力

Traffic will be functionally exuberant.

整個交通功能將活力旺盛

It will be liquid like our blood.

像我們的血液一樣成為液態

And by a strange paradox,

特別吊詭的是

the more robotized our traffic grid will be,

我們的交通網格越自動化

the more organic and alive its movement will feel.

會讓人越覺得它的移動更有機、更靈活

So yes,

所以，是的

biology has all the attributes of a transportation genius today.

生物學具有今日運輸天才的所有屬性

But this process has taken billions of years,

而這樣的進程可是花了幾十億年

and went through all sorts of iterations and mutations.

歷經各種迭代和突變

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

我們無法再等數十億年來改變我們的交通系統

We now have the dreams,

我們現在就擁有這個夢

the concepts

觀念

and the technology

以及科技

to create 3-D transportation networks,

來創造3-D立體運輸網路

invent new vehicles

發明新載具

and change the flow in our cities.

同時改變都市的交通流量

Let's do it.

讓我們來動手吧

Thank you.

感謝各位