Communication technology has radically changed in my lifetime – think cellphones, 84-inch TV screens, the whole freakin’ Internet.

But we’re pretty much using the same transportation technology that existed since before I was born.

I don’t imagine a President Kamala Harris is going to be as bold as to push for magnetic levitation, vacuum or anything else short of the impossible (see: “Star Trek,” transporter). So I’ll settle for improving and rebuilding our systems of getting places – and that’s a commitment that will be more of a continuation than a change.

President Biden should go down in history for what’s he captained in terms of infrastructure. It might be frustrating to get stuck in traffic caused by the umpteen highway improvement projects around the country. 

But making these roads safer and more efficient is a job that’s long overdue – and Biden did all this while boosting employment and, yes, keeping the inflation inherent in such an expansion in check. (Yes, we had inflation problems, but those were more about supply chain shortfalls caused by the pandemic.)

Improving highways isn’t the best way to meet our nation’s transportation needs. The idea is to get more people out of cars rather than into them in order to combat climate change and move people more efficiently. But that will take time.

Fortunately, the Biden-Harris administration has been clear-minded about pushing for alternative fuel – particularly, electric – vehicles. And it’s making a difference – there are lots more hybrid and electric vehicles on the road. People are starting to realize how much better life can be when you don’t need to unburden yourself of $40 or $50 to fill a gas tank each week.

Harris wants to expand the network of charging stations so that you’re never more than a few miles away from one. Her administration would also need to push automakers to improve battery life and length – long-distance trips are still a problem because of limited vehicle range.

Biden’s being a train freak has been a boon for public transportation. Improvements in intercity rail and commuter lines were prioritized – New York and New Jersey are finally building a new tunnel to replace century-old infrastructure under the Hudson River.

Now it’s time to expand. Europe and East Asia thrive on high-speed rail. There’s no reason the United States can’t. If it took less than five hours to from midtown New York to downtown Chicago by train, wouldn’t you rather take that than schlep to LaGuardia, wait for a 2-hour flight, then schlep from O’Hare to the Loop.

Secretary Pete Buttigieg – whose high profile has been a reassuring sign that Biden and Harris took transportation seriously – has pushed for an expansion of high-speed rail projects across the country. It’s going to take a while to build them – probably beyond the lifetime of many of us.

But let’s at least start.

One other transportation thought.

This summer, New York was on the verge of a bold experiment, the kind that doesn’t happen often in this country. Like several other cities around the world – London, in particular – New York was going to initiate congestion pricing – making drivers pay a toll to enter midtown and lower Manhattan.

The idea would be to unclog the narrow streets of the nation’s largest city, making it easier for vehicles that absolutely need to get around. Nothing terrifies me quite like seeing an ambulance stuck in gridlock on an impassable side street – imagine the poor person fighting for his or her life inside.

People who live in the suburbs squawked. How dare New York charge us extra to bring our pickups and SUVs into town? (Forgetting how they bar non-residents from using their parks and pools.) So the state’s governor, Kathy Hochul, caved and put off the plan’s implementation.

Should Harris win the White House, she should push to get the experiment started. And she should also, after making sure officials keep their promise to fund mass transit with the revenue from the program, pump federal money into the city to help improve the subways and buses.

Getting people from here to there – safely, quickly and cleanly – appears to be a goal of the Harris-Walz campaign. And let’s face it, it’s the only campaign thinking about something that serious.