Infrastructure initiatives that factor in U.S. infrastructure needs by the year 2040.

1. THE WORLD OF 2040
This graphic was created by Booz Allen Hamilton for use in the “Megacommunity Simulation to Re-imagine
Infrastructure,” the first-ever “wargame” simulation examining creative infrastructure initiatives and solutions
that factor in U.S. transportation, energy, and water infrastructure needs by the year 2040.
A CITY BUILDINGS Offices have minimal resident employees, as employers F MEGAPORTS Floating, highly mechanized ports located offshore, are K AIRPORTS From pocket airports that handle Suburban Air Vehicles
allow them to work in their homes or at remote locations. These employees optimized for rising sea levels and free of the threat rising seas pose to land (SAVs) and local unnamed aerial vehicles (UAVs) taking off and landing
work in a virtual office environment that replicates the in-person experience ports. Critical remaining land ports are hardened and protected to deal with at small neighborhoods and within cities to massive megaregional
of an R&D campus. Sound and motion-sensitive lights are off until severe hurricanes and coastal storms. Artificial Intelligence is used to airports capable of handling the new super jumbo hybrid electric
movement or sound is detected. Buildings will have smart controls, monitor and control port processes and integrate port operations with aircraft, hypersonic, trans-atmospheric aircraft, and super cargo
automatically raising and lowering blinds to regulate light and temperature. downstream transportation modes. aircraft airships, future airports will vary substantially in size and
purpose. Airports will be 100 percent served by public transportation
B TREE COVERAGE Increased tree coverage saves billions of dollars in storm G MEGASHIPS Fully automatic container ships carry less crew and more green cutting down waiting, congestion, and parking problems. Personal
water storage costs, while also creating annual air quality savings by technologies. These massive ships are more than a quarter mile long, enough communication devices will contain all relevant ticketing, gate,
removing millions of pounds of air pollutants per year. to fill a 68-mile line of trucks each time it arrives in port and use less CO2 schedule and identification. Sustainable power, green infrastructure
equivalent than the container ships of the early 21st Century. Propulsion will and green buildings will reduce the environmental footprint of airports
C VERY LIGHT JETS (VLJs) AND PERSONAL FLIGHT VEHICLES VLJs are just be wind assisted and eventually may be hybrid or electric. and create self-sustainable transportation hubs that will facility the
becoming mainstay as on-demand “taxi” service between major cities transfer of people and goods.
and among more rural areas matures. Vehicles capable of both road and air H CARGO AIRSHIP Super energy efficient airships are common in the Arctic as
travel or air travel only, could extend the roadway system to include the sky. climate change has made the old ice roads and rail systems undependable L AUTOMATED CARS Vehicle automation will greatly improve safety and
for transportation between the burgeoning mining and energy industries of increase mobility by helping vehicles avoid collisions and improving
D COMMUNICATIONS Broadband and communications are the essential the “New North” and the markets of North America. traffic control.
infrastructure that underlies many of the changes envisioned for 2040.
Superfast broadband and communications (supplied by satellite, Wi-Fi or I HIGH-EFFICIENCY TRUCKS Cargos arrive at a megaport and are M MANUFACTURING Future manufacturing plants will be increasingly
other systems) will have become ubiquitous. Our lives, workplace, leisure, automatically loaded onto huge, high-efficiency electric, hybrid or LNG located in low-operational cost, highly connected locations near
and home will have been transformed by a complex, living, intelligent network powered trucks. These trucks, robotically operated, form into a 30 truck-long major transportation hubs. As virtualization and automation increases,
of thinking systems and devices that are constantly in communication with connected caravan and take Freight-only guideways. There they are joined “zero-payroll” factories will emerge. Workers will manage and operate
one another. Our homes and personal devices will monitor our health, by cargo arriving by rail and inland waterways and shipped via local completely automated high-value manufacturing plants from their
happiness and physical needs and provide us with access to the goods and automated electrified short rail. homes virtually. Raw materials and semi-finished goods will be delivered
services we need at the touch of a button. Government, public safety, health to factories by automated freight vehicles, processed and assembled and
care, retailing, manufacturing and other industries will be transformed J PUBLIC TRANSIT Our public transit system of the future will provide an delivered without any physical involvement from a human being. At the
by omnipresence of intelligent communication networks. integrated seamless system to move people and goods around the urban and same time, the spread of nanotechnology, additive manufacturing, 3-D
suburban space. Automated on-road electric people movers carrying a small printers and customization will mean that thousands of small plants will
E ELECTRIC DELIVERY The city’s core is the most populated part of the region number of people to customized destinations will replace taxis and personal exist in communities and people’s homes where customized products can
as increased energy prices have led to the shift of the population from vehicles in most suburban and urban spaces for short journeys. New be created immediately after their specification have been communicated
suburbia to the cities. Freight travels on a mixture of local electric internal automated intelligent rapid electric or hybrid buses moving in convoy in via broadband and delivered with minimal transportation cost.
freight cars and electric delivery trucks. There is a mixture of automated bus-only lanes will move people across the surface for long road journeys at
delivery systems and traditional mail service to make sure the customer low cost while street cars, underground rail and surface rail systems will
receives their order on time. move travelers around the carless urban core.
METRO AREA POPULATION CLEANER ENERGY
Po pula t i on i s con centrated i n urban 1 /5 o f th e e n e rg y i n me g a re g i o n s wi l l b e
c o r e s a n d sm a r t s uburbs that are spokes e mi s s i o n - fre e fro m s o l a r, wi n d , a n d fro m
t o t he cen t r a l h u bs. I n both cores and g ro u n d - s o u rc e h e a t p u mp s , wh i c h u s e th e
hubs p eop l e l i ve where they w ork, l i ve g ro u n d te mp e ra tu re d i ffe re n c e fo r e n e rg y.
ne ar n ecessi t i es, and rel y on m ass
t r ans i t mor e t h a n personal vehi cl es
t o t r a vel w i t h i n t h e core or to a hub.
6 Million
3 - 6 Million
1 - 3 Million
100K to 1 Million
RESILIENCY IS PARAMOUNT to the protection and security of people, assets, and mission,
including building for adaptive capacity, redundancy and graceful degradation