What if it were possible to travel between Australian capital city centres, such as Melbourne to Sydney, in 45 minutes?
Australians depend on an intercity mobility ecosystem that is ill prepared for a looming peak oil crisis, forcing us to rethink conventional practices in generation and transmission of energy for mobility. An increasingly urbanised population is putting further strain on outdated systems and infrastructure. Governments propose construction of new rapid rail links and additional airport infrastructure, yet these industries demonstrates little capacity or intention to transition away from fossil fuels or current practices.

Mobility 5.0 demonstrates a radical departure from business as usual to address emerging technologies, and design thinking to ignite discussion about the future of intercity transportation. It provides a glimpse of the future in which we are unburdened by old-world energy sources, the systematic inconveniences of air travel, and the inflexibility of our current system.

A conceptual tube system hosts a series of challenges to conventional vehicle forms and styling language. The use of experimental propulsion technologies, which are under development, has been coupled with speculative computer modelling and generative form that heralds the arrival of new ways of thinking about vehicles and forms that demonstrate intelligent, lightweight and efficient mobility.

The Design practice of bringing Mobility 5.0 to fruition includes future-oriented design methods including trend analysis, mobility services benchmarking and customer journey mapping in order to understand the behaviours, needs and desires of future users.

The project can be engaged through immersive experience via virtual reality which is featured to design, develop and present the futuristic tube transportation system that will potentially transform mobility for Australia into an era of increased usability and ecologically neutral sustainable transport.