Alex

It is the year 2050 in Rotterdam. Rotterdam has suffered from the effects of global warming and as a result, the rising water levels have flooded half of the city. Although the city had emergency preparations, the city could not foresee the magnitude of the damage that unfolded. Due to this cities were forced to come up with a quick and effective solution. Rotterdam, like many cities, chose to elevate its roads in an attempt to fix the issue of transportation that had been made impossible due to the flooding. The amount of roads made was limited in an attempt to adapt quickly to the situation. That meant that public transportation was prioritized and private transport was almost nonexistent and only exclusive to those who could afford it.
Due to the flooding, the only usage of the previous roads were now for public or private boats which were used as a way to go a bit further or just to go around the city. The rest of the transportation, such as buses, trains and trams existed on top of the new suspended roads that were held in place by cement columns. These changes had a major impact on people and their daily lives. Some were forced to leave their house behind while everyone was forced to adapt to the new way of living. The lack of space and the new shared transport system were difficult for some to accept in the beginning but now it has become part of daily life.
Housing also became a huge issue as houses were flooded and the whole structure of the city was in danger. This issue was solved by removing some of the previous buildings and making space for new floating buildings. Obviously, this was a time consuming process which meant that people had to be moved from their own houses to make way for the new city. Some people left the city while some were able to stay in buildings that were now being held by extendable pillars that were installed in what used to be the first floor. Now that the new floating city is finally finished, those who can afford it move out of these old buildings. These buildings are left for the poor since living in these is unstable, making the rent more cheap.
If abled people had issues adapting to the new life, this increased among the disabled people. Alex has limited mobility and is in a wheelchair. They live in one of the old buildings, these buildings have also been accommodated for disabled people, with the intend of making their mobility a bit more easy. At the beginning the transportation was not inclusive enough and this meant that most disabled were confined to their houses. The situation changed recently due to the new skeleton shuttle bus. Today Alex has a medical appointment. Before the skeleton shuttle bus, nurses and doctors had to come by disabled people's houses with their own equipment. Now, Alex is able to go to the hospital on their own by just ordering one of the capsules from the app and simply hopping onto one of the capsules that comes directly to their house. The capsule either goes to people's roofs, which are accessible by elevators, or they land in the newly added foldable balconies. The capsules then fly and attach itself directly to the skeleton shuttle bus.
Once Alex hops onto the capsule, they must verbally indicate the destination to where they are headed. The skeleton shuttle bus itself never stops, the capsules detach themselves once they are near the destination and leave the passenger in front of the building they are headed to. This invention has been a game-changer for people like Alex and has made transportation a bit more accessible but there is still a lot to be done when it comes to making transportation more accessible in this new reality that we have found ourselves in.