I Need an Opinion: Futuristic Transportation?

Question

i have been tasked with inventing a form of mass transit for the future. i came up with IXATs, or taxi spelled backwards. they're pods that run compressed air on painted lines. they are publicly owned and when you need one you call one with a card. the nearest non occupied one picks you up. they drive themselves: all you do is put in your destination. they communicate with other IXATs to pick you the quickest route. i loved it, until it was pointed out to me that they are similar to cars in concept and methods of transportation. what do you think? are they glorified cars?

Answer 1

Vehicles have followed a trend from strict mechanical and combustion technology toward increasing electrification for the last 100 years. I expect that trend to continue. We may see a move away from batteries or smaller batteries as wirelessly transmitted electricity allows transportation with unlimited range. The next step would be toward driver-less vehicles. If we were to develop mag-lev or some other anti gravity technology we might dispense with tires. If teleportation or mind projection were to ever become a reality then we might dispense with the vehicles and the need to move ourselves physically from one place to another.



Is your "invention" too much like cars? No but it entirely depends upon your perspective. Is a car too much like a horse drawn carriage? There are certainly similarities. We can see how one evolved from the other.



Is a cell phone too much like smoke signals? It could be as they are both forms of communication. What you probably should be asking is "too much like" compared to what, or by what standard. Forms of mass communication like television, radio and the internet are less like personal communication just as mass transportation is less like personal transportation.



What you have thought of does exist today however. It is not widespread but you have to look no further than the public transit at Heathrow air port for an example: http://cleantechnica.com/2011/08/10/automated-battery-cars-replace-buses-at-heathrow/

Answer 2

In some ways, yes. Their limited space can only hold a few passengers, and create just as much traffic as traditional cars. My question is what means does the compressed air get stored... by a gas generator? Compressed natural gas, petrol, or some other type of fuel? If electric... how often do they recharge, how many miles or hrs can they run, and is the energy source renewable or sustainable? Is it 'clean' energy doing this.. like hydroelectricity?



The next question is can you delegate routes with a larger capacity of passengers? Research the public transit system of Portland, Oregon. They have multiple rails that are publicly owned, some are free, and some are low cost. To service wider areas, they use the buses and taxis. Within the city you have easy access of walking to and from the rails within a couple blocks. Buses too. But the buses help alleviate traffic to and from the suburbs, with easy connections and times. Cost is always a factor, and this is one of the best systems around the country I have seen yet.



Hope this helped. Good luck.

Answer 3

the whole point is to move "mass transit" as in a lot of people not just individuals.

there would very little progress if you substitute a an I.C.E with a Pneumatic one. you still need to create a huge infrastructure to establish the service so it will work against you to do this as a solution to individuals.



I'd go with a way of transportation to move the masses. its like commuting. 2 people driving the same vehicle to reach the same destination is better than 2 doing it individually but for a mass of people you would need a whole lot bigger vehicle.

hope I helped somehow.

Answer 4

You have a good idea. There has been interest in sending cars through vacuum tubes, like you do at the drive in bank window. The tubes are laid under ground. With the absence of air pressure, cars might be able to go 800 mph from point to point.