Citation

Loder JL. Transp. Plann. Tech. 1974; 2(4): 221-262.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1974, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/03081067408717079

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Despite the rapid rise in our material standard of living, our cities have become less pleasant places to live in. Most of their citizens find it more difficult to move around in them and to get out of them. Radical action is needed on a number of fronts if this process of deterioration is to be reversed, and the transportation system in particular needs early attention. Automobile travel can only be available to those who can drive or be driven and this form of transportation is often slow and dangerous, and is further limited by parking space requirements. Public transport routes are too widely spaced, and service is infrequent for many hours of the day. The construction of a freeway system would only be a partial answer to this problem, and has severe difficulties in implementation. The development of present public transport systems to adequately fulfil popular expectations of service is not economically possible, and would probably not be environmentally acceptable. An examination of the parameters which set limits to the location and design of an automated transportation system, within the constraints of available technology, lead on to the specification for a system designed to serve a major Australian city. A city of 3,500,000 people would have a system of guideways about 1,000 miles long on a basically one mile square grid of one?way lines, mostly elevated above existing streets, but never on streets less than 66 feet wide. Half the system could be on railway, freeway, electricity and waterway reserves, and on streets at least 99 feet wide. The guideway beam would be an open?topped box only 2 feet 4 inches deep and 2 feet 8 inches wide with columns every 70 feet. It would carry tandem?wheeled trolleys or pallets 5 feet wide supported against overturning by eight side?support wheels in the guideway channel. This pallet would be used to carry three kinds of load: a fixed 5 seat cabin which would never leave the system; a 10 feet long and 5 feet wide dual?mode car which would be driven to the guideway station and automatically loaded on the pallet for the trip; and standard cargo containers. The vehicles would be powered by an electric linear induction motor which has no moving parts, and the pallet would also carry computer components (solid state logic circuits). The line speed would be 34 mph (15 metres per sec.). All stations would be located on parallel loop lines and would generally be located every mile except in high?activity areas where they would be much more frequent. Average waiting time at stations for an empty vehicle or vehicle pallet, available on demand for an individual non?stop trip, would be less than a minute. The system would have about 110,000 pallets in various forms available on its 1,000 miles of track. The total all?in cost of the system, including the central and local computers but excluding privately owned dual?mode vehicles, would not exceed $2 million per mile. The system cost of $2,000 million represents about half the cost of a full freeway system combined with major improvements to the public transport system. Trip costs per mile would not exceed 8 cents if all capital charges were covered by fares, but alternative methods of finance are proposed. The need is discussed for a restructuring of the over?protected local car industry in order to obtain better cars at a lower price and this problem is seen as presenting an opportunity to introduce the dual?mode vehicle. This small vehicle has the added advantage of producing less pollutants and consuming fewer finite resources. The stages of implementation are discussed and a complete revision of the structure of taxes levied upon ownership and use of cars is recommended, so as to bring perceived expenditure into line with real costs. At the same time this would serve to encourage the early ownership of dual?mode vehicles. The institutional and political problems of implementation are described, and new organisations recommended as the best way of launching a new system to replace established (and familiar) alternatives. Reasons are given for the particular applicability of the system to Australia's cities whose low densities are not yet combined with major freeway systems. An action programme is proposed for the next few years aimed at starting large?scale guideway construction in 1977. The development programme of major overseas systems is given, and ways of obtaining their expertise without losing control of our own system, or incurring royalty charges, are outlined. A way of maximising the use of local talent through a series of cash awards is proposed. Appendices are attached which consider the technical options available for various parts of the systems; but it should be remembered that the system proposed here is composed of technically proven components. Much definitive work has been done in this field elsewhere, as a reading of the references would indicate.