SkyTran
Super Efficient
Personal/Mass Transportation
This invention is
about transportation and making it faster, cheaper and safer for everyone.
When I start thinking of
how to improve something, I usually just ask myself what is the current
technology actually trying to accomplish and what do the "WORDS"
really mean. In this case, what does that word "TRANSPORTATION"
mean??? As best as I can interpret the word, it usually means a mechanized
method of taking you (or some goods) to somewhere you want to go - faster
than you can walk or run.
Many of us don't seem to be
fully aware that this planet did not come preassembled with paved
roads, highways, railroad tracks and airports. We puny little humans built
it all! Along the way, all kinds of inventors, came up with better and
better mechanized conveyances to get us places ever faster and
faster. We love those car inventions, but what a
mess that most wonderful feature - fast, personal mobility - has created. A
nice car costs $20,000 or more; gas costs over $1.50 per gallon; most cars
only get about 20 miles per gallon, and parking in a city can easily cost
over $10.00 per day! It all adds to the frustration. On top of that is all
the stressful time wasted in traffic because everyone else loves that same
invention and has to HAVE one of their very own.
I HATE
COMMUTING! If I had my way........
As a mental exercise, you
might want to think about what changes would make owning and driving an
automobile totally more pleasurable? No bounds - be selfish, be
fantastically unrealistic! Think hard. Mentally eliminate all current
sources of irritation!
Here are some of my
personal thoughts and desires:
1. Wouldn't
it be great if every other driver knew I was coming well in advance and always
pulled way over to the right to let me go by zooming along at least 25
MPH over the posted speed limit. I have a special license, so it's legal
for me.
2. Kids, dogs or other cars would never cross
in front of my car and there never would be any debris, pot
holes, or bumps in my roads.
3. Best of all - traffic lights would turn
green for me as I approached, so selfish me could just keep
blasting along.
4. When I got on the freeway, it would always be
legally totally emptied just for me. I would love never having
to slow down.
5. Also, my car is a super Ferrari-like thingy that is
perfectly safe to run at 100 MPH all day long.
6. Of course, I never get stopped by the police while
cruising at 100 MPH, since I have a very special license. In fact, the
police are way ahead of me and always give out tickets to the people who
don't get off the freeway at least 5 miles ahead of my approach.
7. By the way, my super car was given to me for free
- taxes included. I also don't have to pay annual taxes based on its
worth. Nor do I ever have to pay annual registration fees, or even one
cent for the $20 million dollar insurance policy that comes with it!
8. My super car gets over 200 miles per gallon!
9. In fact, this car is so super, that it is entirely
computer controlled. I just put in my destination GPS
coordinates for my office when I get in, then sit back and read the
morning newspaper (or plug in my computer modem, take a nap, etc.) while
my computer chauffeur takes me from door to door in absolute safety.
10. I also never have to park the car. I just leave it.
11. I never have to pay anything for parking.
12. When I am ready to go back, I walk out the office
door and my car is sitting there, warmed up and waiting for me.
13. Time between recommended tune-ups for my super car
is 1 million miles. Of course, those tune-ups are free, as are tires,
etc. My computer chauffeur also serves as a super mechanical inspector,
which continually monitors all possible maintenance aspects of the
machine. If there is even a potential minor problem it relays the data
to "super car headquarters" main repair station. In fact,
whenever they can't fix my super car on the spot immediately, they just
replace my super car with an identical model while I'm in my office. The
technology involved is transparent to me - I never have to
bother even thinking about checking the oil, water, air pressure, etc.
let alone pay for any maintenance.
Hmm! Wouldn't that
be fun car to own and a fun way to drive - even if it was just for one
single selfish day of your life!
As idyllic as the above
sounds you have to realize, that in reality, I severely limited
your/our dreaming as soon as I tied it all to the mental image
of an automobile! The ULTIMATE in what we really want in personal
transportation should probably:
1. Move people and cargo from any
point to any destination instantaneously (Beam me up,
Scotty!);
2. Move them on demand (without waiting for a scheduled
departure);
3. Move them without consuming any energy, nor making
any pollution;
4. Move them without any risk of danger whatsoever; and
5. Finally, the system for such travel should require no capital
investment.
I can't do an
ULTIMATE transportation system, but I can do the earlier discussed
super car AND all the selfish stuff associated with those thoughts! The ONLY
difference is that your home and your office are not 10 steps away from the
machine, but an average of 880 steps away!
If you are intrigued and are willing to
walk that 880 steps, twice a day to obtain all the other benefits - read on!
By the way it works for everyone, not just you and I, so in reality it
no longer is selfish! We call it Personal/Mass Transportation
and we will explain how those two totally
conflicting ideas of Personal Transportation and Public Transportation can
be merged into something the world needs. We call the machines you ride in -
SkyTran.
(We hated the earlier trademarked name
"People Pods". One of the earlier "People Pods" vehicle
models is shown above. Initially we liked "People Pods", but
as time went on it started sounding too much like something from an alien
Body Snatcher movie. WE just got tired of thinking about names and
picked something cute.)
The current SkyTran
name is trademarked and we already have
been issued a USA Utility Patent protecting the details and a USA Design
Patent on appearance.
Our SkyTran
concept is not Science Fiction,
but is merely an unusual integration of current technologies that yields an
interesting and potentially very useful transportation system.
to large animation (a 194 Kb
download)
or skip one page
and goto
Skytran description
to Technical table of contents