my idea for future transportation

[warrantofice]

Just a thought:

I just read about the concept for self-driving cars and thought that really doesn't seem like an efficient use of money or technology. So i came up with this idea for general transportation in and around cities. I was just wondering what drawbacks and obstacles would make this unrealistic.

The idea i came up with was a hybird vehicle that would travel on rails similar to a train/rollercoaster and be powered by electricity using the same methods as a street car. The concept is a small carrage similar to a rollercoaster cart but larger and seats 2-6 people comfortably, this design could obv be easily changed to suite needs/weight requirements but basically something that is very low friction/drag and light. The 'car' would contain a small electical engine and a small battery that could be charged within a persons garage. The battery would hold enough power to move the 'car' till it reached a main rail line were it would then switch over to being powered by conventional street car technology perhaps something slightly more high tech, whatever is cheap and reliable.

The 'car' would also contain sophisticated GPS and sensor techology, and also use "smart rails" which would allow for the rail system to communicate with the 'car'. I could change the root depending on traffic conditions and generally ease congestion during high traffic periods.

The benefits of this type of system would eliminate the need for conventional roads, which are expensive and use fossil fuels in their building and upkeep. Athough i have no real knowledge i would bet that a rail system would be easier and cheap to maintain and build and would require faster and easier maintenance, also closing down a section of road would very easy as traffic could be diverted. The movement of the vehicles would be more environmentally friendly, although dependent upon how the electricity is generated, but would also have benefits from not having to actually build cars, which are very costly and environmentally unfriendly. As for Safety, very little can go wrong with a auto-driven rail system, no drunk drivers, elimination of human error although obv when something does go wrong it would got very wrong, but with 'smart rails' any problems could be immeditately identified immediately and help sent right way and again diversion of traffic around the problem area. This system would also be end of high speed pursuits and stolen vechicles.

The draw backs for this type of system, were in the intial transition. Ripping up roads to put in rail systems would be very hectic and anger many people. But i think if you started in the city core and did only a few blocks per year and then slowly expanded it outwards it could become a feasible option. Perhaps until you had reached a certain area of coverage you would have the 'rail system' working as a very cheap taxi cab service so people would get used to using it, and comfortable with the idea. The other problem would be a strong resistance from the auto industry, they could though develop and sell the 'cars' for the system. Another problem would be transporting large quantities or large objects in the city, although the rail system could be set up to handle heavier rail vehicles, things could also be transported in smaller pieces and be assembled on-site because the transit time would make it efficient enough to do so. The biggest problem that i could come up with would be people trying to travel longer distances, however for the most part that could be covered using trains and airplanes and bus services. Although it would be difficult to get people to get used to not have the luxury of an automobile for longer random journeys, i think that enventually most major travelled areas could be accomidated with this light to medium rail idea.

Well its just something that i thought up. Thanks for reading all of this, i would like to hear some ideas, changes, more reasons why this wouldn't be a possibility. I think the easy reason to discredit this type of system would be the initial cost of it and the shock of not having roads anymore. Also going from having a few city blocks of rail system to having rail system leading into your garage, but we have driveways and they need to be replaced at the expense of the owners so i could see if there was tax incentives and rebates that developing a rail system could be possible. Also the city could do a car buy back program were they would basically take your car, rip up your drive way and install a rail system free of charge, and give you the most basic type of 'rail car' and if your car's value was over the cost of this, you would be given a tax refund for the remander of the cost minus some subsidy towards the lower income people (or just do that in canada).

Thanks,
warrantofice

[pvn]

TL;DR. Does this plan include some sort of provision for outlawing cars?

Where are you parking all of these things?

[warrantofice]

I guess i figured that as the rail system increased and roads were removed, there would be no access for automobiles in the city. And i figured that you could convert conventional parking areas into garages for them, plus if their on rails there pretty stackable.

[Valentyno]

Well, consider that the outlines are already laid, and just overlay the new stuff over the infrastructure.

And, yeah, the cleaner stuff is, the happier people are.

Not a bad idea tho. It all will work.

Personally, I'd be happier if we went back to a focused ground-based transportation system. The slower the trip is, the more we enjoy the view.

I mean, would you rather take a train from St. John's to Vancouver or fax yourself? Which would be more fun with your family? Why not talk instead of drive? And, well, why even modify the old structures? As long as the safety's beyond redundant, whatever.

We'll always be there. Why not turn cities into palaces without cars and leave the cars for between-city transportation and... Take risks? Plan it and stunt it. No biggie to us.

Personally, the best and worst trips I've ever had 'cross Canada and around Ontario were always by thumb. I'd rather walk, seriously.

[jstnrgrs]

This reminds me of when I used to play SimCity. I never built roads, only rails (because they pollute less.)

I don't see any reason why you would need to rip up the roads. You could just put the rails in the middle of the existing roads. This way people could still drive cars if they need to (to go on long trips etc.) And you could still get trucks into the cities for deliveries.

[kerowo]

Chicken/Egg.

I thought some Discovery Channel thing on developments that used little pods within the development instead of cars. Probably someplace in Europe.

[T50_Omaha8]

[ QUOTE ]
a rail system would be easier and cheap to maintain and build and would require faster and easier maintenance

[/ QUOTE ] To throw a figure out, costructing mainline track on ungraded land costs around $1m/mile. This rail tends to be about 130 pounds/yard, which is way too heavy for what you describe.

Spur rail/leadout track costs between $100-$130/track foot, depending on material prices. This requires less grading than mainline construction and rail weight of only around 100 pounds per yard.

I imagine the rail you describe could be made for more like $60-$70 per track foot.

I know that maintaining rail is absurdly expensive, but the company I work for doesn't maintain track (we only build it), so I can't offer any ballpark costs per mile per year or anything.

[warrantofice]

I don't really know anything about contruction costs for roads/rail. Thank you for those figures though, it certainly gives some idea of the costs involved in such a project. I've done a cursory search online and found this quote:
road commission budgeted about $7.9 million to address 60 miles of paving and chip-and-seal operations
So with some basic mathematics it works out for $24 per foot which is ruffly 3x cheaper than the track costs that you have estimated. I might assume though, for such a large order as to cover a city, that the cost would be decrease by the simple bulk order or mass manufacturing of it.

[FortunaMaximus]

You nag it, I'll freeze the falls. Research quadangle reverb.

warrant, I mean, i want the stella stunna. that's all.

[warrantofice]

could you provide a link? or is it only in texts? I tried to google it but couldn't find anything.