by pea-jay » Sat 13 May 2006, 04:04:19
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MyOtherID', 'Y')ou're confusing your hatred of humanity and your concern about overpopulation with the viability of solutions.
You need to try to separate emotions from logic.
I don't hate humans. I dare say all of my best friends are human. And for better or worse, I am stuck with today's concepts of humanity. But you are right, I am concerned about over population.
And I have thought about this solution, rationally and without emotion. You want a real transportation solution that combines the freedom and flexibility of a car with the advantages of public transit? One that operates more efficiently than today's ICE vehicles and bio-fuel creation systems. Try looking at dual mode systems for a moment.
Personal vehicles are great for independent travel at any time of day to virtually any place that can be reached with some form of road system. They are grossly inefficient means of travel however, encourage wasteful land use decisions and are not available to the young, very old, infirm or poor. Even if we didn't have a fuel problem, many cities simply have too many vehicles for the amount of road ways and no way to expand those roads. Either they turn to transit or everyone suffers in gridlock. Plus personal vehicles are impossible way for everyone to evacuate a large urban area in the event of a disaster.
Public transit is great for moving large amounts of people and is relatively affordable. That's about it. You travel around their schedule and route system. You either make it work or you dont go.
Both systems are fueled by a non-renewable resource (electric busses and trains excepting) and shifting to biofuels and or hybrids not plausible. Even if it were, you STILL have the traffic problem. Fuel cells?? Still no sign of the H2Economy.
Dual mode combines advantages of both and ditches the dependence on petro OR biofuels altogether. Imagine a system where somebody gets into their car, a small battery electric car that charged overnight at home instead of a conventional gas car. But unlike a gas car, this vehicle is driven only a few blocks to miles to a mono-rail like rail on ramp. From that point the car automatically gathers speed merges up and forms a platoon with other vehicles (reducing drag) and drives automatically to the nearest exit point, all the way running off third rail supplied electricity.
During rail mode, the car is under automatic control, so the driver can do other things. Capacity is drastically improved because cars could drive at 60 miles an hour, seperated by inches from other vehicles. When the car reaches the destination, the driver takes over and drives it conventionally. It is parked on a small rail and charged until it is needed again.
See, now you have a system that is more efficient at moving large numbers of people like transit, but flexible like private cars. And it can be run more efficiently than ANY bio-fueled ICE car could be. And all of the parts are available now. Standard battery technology will suffice. No need to wait for fuel cells. The electricity can be sourced from anywhere. Even if it is coal fired, the use of an all-electric transit system would mean fewer pollutants than if they were from conventional gas and diesel vehicles.
Plus the system is flexible to all types of users. The middle class and well-to-do would by their own cars, if they so chose, paying the full cost of transportation. People needing cars periodically or regularly even could also now use cars like they use CARTS at the airport. They walk up to a line of parked vehicles for use, swipe ID and payment and are off. They go to where they need to, parking their car in the nearst drop site. The car would wait there for someone else to use it or--wait, this gets better--drives off if attached to the rail portion and automatically goes to where it IS needed. That way a fewer number of cars can be used more frequently by more people (meaning FEWER need to be made in the first place).
But wait, let's say you are poor. Or cant drive. The system can accept small mini-bus vehicles driven by a driver that follows a general route, but is free to derivate, entering and exiting the rail when needed. But the rail sytem itself can have "stations" too, like a people mover. Totally automated cars would circulate around on the rails for people-mover style use. All the person has to do is walk to the nearest rail station and rides on one to the nearest station of their choosing.
It's a huge investment, dont get me wrong. Rails need to be built, generation capacity created and vehicles manufactured. All are within our reach today. It solves our liquid fuel problem for most of the Urban and suburban world and related intercity travel, and reserves liquid use for the spread out rural areas for the time being.
RUF out of Denmark has the best illustrated concept out there, but they are not the only ones.
http://www.ruf.dk
Now you can't say I am being negative or unable to offer any solutions. I am just not prepared to try and follow a fools path that is bio-fuels and internal combustion engines. Now having described this whole setup doesnt mean government will go for it. Thats why I figure a powerdown future with no cars whatsoever may be the more likely of the two outcomes.
But sorry, I still think that 8K MPG car is still a joke.