A Brief Description of the SkyTran Transportation System

SkyTran is your new 100-MPH computer-guided car. We call it Auto 2.0 or Auto2 -- not just auto-mobile but auto-matic.  This new-generation vehicle holds two passengers and weighs just 200 pounds empty. It moves on lightweight "guideways" 1' wide and 20-30' above the ground, riding on magnetic levitation ("maglev") coils inside the guideway instead of wheels. Because vehicles floating on a magnetic field can switch on and off the guideway easily, there will be stations every few blocks -- or several per block in busy areas -- little platforms 10' above the sidewalk or attached to the side of buildings.

You climb stairs to a mini-station above the sidewalk, or walk down the hall to one attached to the side of your building. Sit down in a waiting vehicle, tell your computer "driver" where you're going by voice or touchscreen, pay with a wireless token and you're off! High above cars and pedestrians on the street, and equipped with short-range radar and super-brakes that can stop a 100-MPH vehicle in less than a second -- your computer chauffeur keeps you completely safe as it drives to your destination. You can watch TV or surf the Web, or work -- even doze off.  Driving to work was so 20th-century!  more Details . . .

Guideways and stations are above the streets and sidewalks, supported by just a standard utility pole every 30 feet (10 meters); so SkyTran systems won't divide neighborhoods as new freeways or light rail lines would. Because the cars are so light, the guideways that support them can be just one foot (30 cm)-wide shells holding the maglev coils, not massive structures like elevated highways or railroad tracks.  Also, both the vehicles and guideway components can be mass-produced.  Therefore, building a SkyTran system will cost 1/5 as much as a new freeway or light rail line. Yet, because their advanced safety features let SkyTran cars follow each other more closely than automobiles can, a single 1' guideway carries as many passengers per hour as a three-lane freeway.  Cities can finally afford enough capacity to eliminate traffic congestion, even at rush hour.

Operating costs are low, too, because SkyTran systems are automated and very energy-efficient. Even at 100 MPH, the light, aerodynamic SkyTran vehicles use only 1/10 the energy of automobiles -- over 200 MPG (70 km/liter) equivalent fuel economy. Vehicles are powered by the track; so they don't need batteries to use all renewable electricity, whether from solar panels over guideways or wind, biomass or hydro power anywhere on the grid. Their combination of low capital and operating costs and high capacity means that, unlike other public transit, SkyTran systems can actually be profitable with fares of 10 cents per mile and no subsidies. Freeways and light rail may be tried-and-true, but SkyTran offers far more potential to reduce traffic congestion, pollution and fossil fuel consumption at reasonable cost.  more Benefits . . .

City SkyTran networks will have guideways every mile or half-mile; so a station is only a few blocks away. Traveling everywhere in minutes will transform life in a dense city, with far less expense and disruption than building new freeways or light rail lines. In a megalopolis like Los Angeles, Mexico City or Beijing, everyone will breathe easier as millions of cars stay in the garage or are never built. Outside cities, SkyTran vehicles go faster -- at 150 MPH they still get over 100 MPG fuel economy -- so inter-city travelers should find SkyTran faster than flying (counting airport delays) for trips of up to several hundred miles. For longer trips, they can reach the airport or train station without parking or car rental delays; even make connections gate-to-gate between regional airports dozens of miles apart .

Commuters are SkyTran's primary market, but mature SkyTran systems will serve many other purposes. A standard SkyTran vehicle holds two passengers, a passenger with 250 pounds of luggage, or 500 pounds of packages for automated delivery. Critically-injured patients won't lose the "golden hour" in which death or permanent injury could be prevented while their ambulance struggles through gridlock with its siren blaring. Mobile professionals from detectives to visiting nurses to repairmen will ride SkyTran dozens of times a day. Mail, packages and light freight will move quickly and cheaply day and night. Systems will eventually reach even small towns, speeding residents to distant cities; bringing medicines or spare parts or Amazon.com orders in hours. A big-city cook can make video calls to select from a farmer's produce or a fisherman's catch hundreds of miles away, and have it in his kitchen hours later.

Traveling on SkyTran will bring new independence to millions who can't or won't drive today: elderly, immigrants, young teenagers; people with vision, hearing or mild mental handicaps.  Wheelchair-accessible portals (including most portals attached to buildings) with free or reduced-cost van service will let mobility-impaired people ride SkyTran, too.  Even those who never ride SkyTran themselves will benefit: driving on less congested roads, breathing cleaner air and paying less in taxes.   more Perspectives ...

SkyTran is an innovative combination of new and existing technologies to achieve a remarkable result: combining the on-demand, nonstop freedom of automobiles with the no-driving convenience, universal access and capacity of mass transit. SkyTran systems are far cheaper and less disruptive to build than new freeways or light rail, greatly reduce human impacts on the environment, and will improve transportation choices for large numbers of people.