On the Horizon is a New Glarus 360 feature looking beyond today’s headlines at larger economic, demographic, technological and cultural changes that may eventually reach our community. The goal is not to predict the future, but to recognize consequential changes while they are still far enough away to prepare for them.

Imagine leaving New Glarus for work in Verona on a weekday morning. The trip still takes 40 or 45 minutes, but you are no longer driving. You answer personal email, order groceries, pay a bill, read the news, play a game or simply close your eyes. By the time the vehicle reaches work, much of what used to be called the commute has been absorbed into the rest of your life.

That future is not legal on Wisconsin roads today. Wisconsin law still requires an operator behind the wheel and in physical control of a vehicle, and Tesla’s current Full Self-Driving system in customer-owned vehicles remains supervised. But the technology is moving quickly. Tesla already offers FSD capability in vehicles including the Model 3, Model Y and Cybertruck, and the company says it is working toward eventually deploying unsupervised autonomy in customer-owned vehicles as well as its Robotaxi fleet. If that goal is reached and Wisconsin law eventually permits it, a future New Glarus commuter may not need a special robotaxi at all. The vehicle already sitting in the driveway could someday do the driving while its owner works, shops, reads, sleeps or simply relaxes on the way to Madison or Verona.

For someone who already lives in New Glarus, the appeal is obvious. A 90-minute daily round trip could become personal time instead of driving time. Over five workdays, that is 7.5 hours — nearly a full workday — that could be used for errands, entertainment, communication or simply decompressing before getting home.

But the more consequential question may be the reverse: What happens when people who work in Madison and Verona discover that New Glarus no longer feels far away?