Small-Scale Solution
for
A Big-Scale Problem
| Off-the-shelf power poles are used to support the rails. Mass transportation that costs less than a sidewalk and provides streetlights too. |
Small-Scale Solution for A Big-Scale Problem |
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An Eco-friendly, Aesthetic, Affordable People Mover
Intelligent vehicles are able to space themselves evenly so no more than one vehicle is supported by a single pole. This provides the most cost-efficient rail system. The dual rail shown here is capable of moving 1440 people per hour. |
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Mega-Transportation Projects are Slow, Inadequate, and Expensive
Currently cities provide poor commute choices for urbanites. New transportation projects focus on monorail systems which are slow, inadequate, inefficient, and expensive. Typically these monorails move 200-300 people from station to station every 5 to 10 minutes. Monorail trains move from one end of a line to the other on one rail while other trains move in the opposite direction on another parallel rail each of them stopping every couple kilometers for a minute at each station. Very much like 19th century train technology, just more stops on much more expensive elevated rails.
A 10 station commute of 20 km will include:
Even with a peak speed of 80 kph this 20 km commute will take 50 minutes. An average of 25 kph. Most bicyclists can ride a bike that fast! (If you have to do a transfer add an additional 10 minutes.)
But that's just the beginning. A commuter must get to the starting station then from the destination station to the final destination. Because the infrastructure (rails and stations) is so expensive most large cities can only afford one line going North-South and another going East-West. Most commuters will choose to use dirty, unsafe, and super-slow ground transportation because the stations are too far away. Paying for a tuk-tuk, motorcycle taxi, or taxi to get to a station plus the cost of the monorail is too much.
Obviously people living in one of the corners of a large city will spend more time and money getting to the station than riding the monorail. Commuters lucky enough to live near a station are the exception; however, they may not be so lucky finding a destination station close to their commute destination. The monorail may average 25 kph but typically the total average commute speed might be a mere 15 kph.
What about the efficiency of 200-person monorails systems? While monorails are aerodynamic and use low-polluting efficient electric motors, the trains are spending most of their energy starting and stopping; basically overcoming inertia. Absurdly, most of the 200 people aboard the vehicles at any particular stop don't want to stop! 19th century train technology so good that we must keep doing it?
Four Critical problems:
The Fly Rails Solution Provides:
How Fly Rails provides a 1 Start, 1 Stop Affordable Infrastructure Solution:
Industries in Developing Countries Provide Dirty Ground Transportation
I work for an American Company in a developing nation: Thailand. The company I work for is the largest American employer in Thailand. The company leases 250 diesel buses to transport 20,000 employees in two shifts everyday. It makes sense: 40 employees (40*250=10,000) per bus and 99% of the employees use the provided bus. Transportation is an important part of a company's benefit package. Without it most shift workers would work elsewhere (no possibility of individual cars; employees make $10/day). Companies like mine are located just outside of Bangkok in Industrial Parks typically 50 to 60 km's from downtown. Because of these buses the pollution is worse in the Industrial Parks than it is in downtown Bangkok.
At this time the most efficient and least polluting public transportation is a monorail and subway system that runs a 20 km loop around downtown. Because of the cost and the time it takes to build there is no way this alternative could extend to the industrial parks some 60 km's away in the near future. My company and others would jump at a chance to rid themselves of these expensive, polluting, slow, dangerous, and unpredictable buses. The Fly Rails alternative would provide affordable, clean, fast, safe, and predictable transportation for all employees.
In Developed Countries Individual Drivers Commuting to Work Drain Oil
Nearly 70 percent of the 21 million barrels of oil the United States consumes every day goes for transportation, with the bulk of that burned by individual drivers, according to the National Commission on Energy Policy, a bipartisan research group that advises the American Congress.
So despite the fierce debate over what’s behind the recent spike in prices, no one differs on what’s really responsible for all that underlying demand in the US for black gold: the automobile.
Although Asian consumers have begun emulating America’s love affair with the automobile, the largest energy appetite in the world is still found in the United States. Home to only 4 percent of the world’s population, the nation slurps up about a quarter of the planet’s oil.
Clearly here in Thailand emulating America's love for cars cannot be sustained. Burning 70% of a precious resource on cars is insane. The price of diesel and gasoline have doubled in two years in Thailand. According to the EIA in 2007 Thailand imported 580,000 barrels of oil per day. As in the United States policy makers in Thailand kept the price of diesel and gasoline artificially low, for many years diesel was heavily subsidized. Making these fuels affordable was a key to putting Thais behind the wheel.
The infrastructure in Bangkok can only support cars traveling at an average speed of 13 kph (8 mph) but the middle-class loves their car. Well not for long. A symbol of wealth and happiness most educated Thais can't wait to get a car so they can drive to work. At 45 baht/liter ($5.15/gallon) that's changing. The family car will spend the weekdays in the family garage. Thai urban planners must find ways to get middle-class workers from their suburban home to work affordably, comfortably and efficiently. The Fly Rails project provides an alternative.
Politicians Fail to Deliver the Real Goods
Nowhere is it more evident than in the United States that politicians who appeal to the lowest desires of their constituency fail. The nation was able to bail itself out of the 80's energy crises by doubling automobile efficiency. Since the 90's no significant automobile efficiency has been achieved. Politicians in America, unlike their counterparts in Europe and Japan, deemed it a great hardship on the Automobile industry to continue to increase automobile efficiency. Now guess who's in the driver's seat?
Last week, Ford Motor reported that S.U.V. sales were down 55 percent from a year ago, while demand for its full-size F-series pickup, a gas guzzler that was the country's best-selling vehicle for 26 consecutive years, is off 40 percent. A Ford spokeswoman says the market shift is “totally unprecedented and faster than anything we’ve ever seen."
GM and Ford persuaded politicians that they should not support increased car efficiency or raise gas taxes. A measly gas tax of $.05 in the US compared to $5 in some European countries only fueled the American consumer's appetite for domestic gas guzzlers. There is no way GM and Ford can shift gears. The Japanese and European car manufacturers will shut them down.
GM and Ford: it's too late, but get a clue. GM who effectively shut down mass transportation in the early 20th century in the US deserves bankruptcy which some on Wall Street say is inevitable.
Politicians beware: when is comes to resources error on the 'green' side.
For more information:
In Thailand call: 66(0)7-267-2002
Or Email: mike@redbicycle.org
