Allow me to take a crack at this soothsaying thing.

Toyota and its legions of Prius owners want us to believe that soulless, potato-shaped hybrids are the future of motoring. They envision a world where muscular V8s are relegated to history with the rise of electrification and bold, expressive styling takes a back seat to aerodynamic imperatives.

Those of us who burn dead dinosaurs for personal pleasure will finally see the light of day, they say, and make mature, practical transportation choices for the betterment of the universe.

Bear in mind that it isn’t hybrid technology that I object to as I favor the development of alternative propulsion and find much to appreciate in the Chevy Volt, first-generation Honda Insight, and Tesla Roadster. The thorn in my side is the rise in popularity of the Toyota Prius, a soulless, cleansed appliance that offers no rewards in handling, styling, or refinement. It manages to be both innocuous and pious as well as politically correct.

If that’s the future, kill me now.

My expectation over the next five to ten decades, as more of the population moves into metropolitan centers in search of greater opportunities, is that public transportation will finally become convenient, practical, and appealing. No longer will city centers be clogged with busses filled with addicts and felons.

The unwashed masses who believe driving is such a burden (boo hoo) will eventually abandon their Priuses and Camrys in favor of a new system — it could be light rail, personal mobility tubes, or self-driven magic pods that fart rainbows and unicorns. (This is my vision so I get to imagine it however I want.)

I envision it to be something like this, where you attach your personal pod to a carrier network that drags your fat, lazy, car-hating ass around town:

(Amusingly, I found this photo at treehugger.com.)

The result will be leftover surface road networks used mostly by semi trucks, rural people, and auto enthusiasts. The selfish, distracted metropolitan commuter will become a relic of the past and accident fatalities will accordingly drop.

This unfortunately means the auto industry as we know it could disappear. In its place will be smaller manufacturers of leisure off-roaders and sports cars for the handful of remaining people who prefer driving to being driven.

On a positive note, less public interest in driving could mean fewer regulations on safety and emissions and more freedom to build and design cars that represent the 20% — the portion of the car buying public classified as auto enthusiasts. For this group, motoring pleasure is paramount and vehicle design could once again emphasize emotion over efficiency and practicality.

Unfortunately, until this magical utopia arrives, conditions will worsen as traffic density rises and municipalities cut back on infrastructure development.

For now, I can dream about rainbow-farting pods filled with asshole commuters.