Some thoughts on an
INDIVIDUAL RAPID TRANSIT SYSTEM
A guideway-based rapid transit system is proposed. The system is composed of numerous intelligent, individual car-ferries. It retains the convenience and flexibility of the private automobile while providing, among others, the advantages of: efficient use of rights-of-way, reduced cost, comparatively effortless commuting, favorable environmental impact, and a reduced accident toll. Under favorable conditions, a single line of this description might accommodate as much as 5 to 7 times the capacity of a single freeway lane.
I
INTRODUCTION
It
is assumed that a need for transporting people in and about urban areas will
continue to increase, perhaps dramatically.
Further, it is assumed that people will not willingly give up the
convenience and flexibility of individual automobiles, absent either
legislative action or a significant deterioration of the freeway system. Neither of these would seem likely; although
the latter seems more probable each day.
Yet we cannot continue, at an ever-increasing rate, the paving of urban
areas to create new or expanded freeways.
Continuing the present policy will result in even greater congestion and
an ever-lengthening commute. Thus we
are presented with a challenge to provide significantly greater efficiency in
the use of existing and future rights-of-way.
It
is a reasonable proposition that the most efficient use of a given freeway lane
is to have all cars travelling head-to-tail at eighty (or some such number)
miles per hour. Efficient yes, but
totally lacking in either flexibility or practicality. To facilitate access, we
could provide for packets, or platoons, of cars travelling together. In either instance, this would require
driving skills comparable to a professional race car driver; a skill level not
likely to be found in the average motorist.
Thus, while it may be unreasonable to expect this level of skill from
humans, it surely is not unreasonable to expect that the necessary skill and
discipline can be realized from intelligent machines.
What
we propose is a rail, or guideway-based, system consisting of numerous
intelligent, independently operating car-ferries. Why guideway-based rather than some esoteric electronic guidance
approach similar to the NAHSC’s[1]
discontinued automatic highway program.
Because much of the technology exists, or can be readily designed, is
reliable and well understood, costs can be predicted accurately, and because it
reduces the control problem from two dimensions to effectively one. Moreover, a physical link facilitates the
use of electrical power for propulsion, thus providing an important ecological
advantage. Most importantly, however, such a system can insure that both safety
and operational integrity are entirely under system control. For
these critical functions, the system is in no way reliant on either the user's
skill or the mechanical well-being of his vehicle.
A specific focus of this discussion is the use of current technology wherever practical. The emphasis is on the management and operation of a complex system, rather than innovation or invention. Moreover, it should be noted that this proposal is directed specifically at removing vehicles from the freeway, and is not simply an elegant replacement for busses