New Mode of Surface Transportation for 21st Century: Autoway
Acroscape releases the technical design of Autoway, a new mode of surface transportation for 21st century. Autoway is an advanced autonomous transportation system for passengers and light freights, with a focus on commuting and e-commerce. It offers a comprehensive solution to traffic congestion, oil dependence, air pollution, and traffic safety. The publication of the technical design of Autoway will speed up the worldwide development and adoption of the new transportation system.
Reston, VA (PRWEB) November 15, 2004 -- Acroscape releases the technical
design of Autoway, a new mode of surface transportation for 21st century.
Autoway is an advanced autonomous transportation system for passengers and light
freights, with a focus on commuting and e-commerce. It offers a comprehensive
solution to traffic congestion, oil dependence, air pollution, and traffic
safety. The publication of the technical design of Autoway will speed up the
worldwide development and adoption of the new transportation
system.
“Autoway will make people rethink our strategy to address the
transportation challenges,” said Dr. Hengning Wu, president of Acroscape and the
inventor of Autoway. The current debate between automobile and mass transit will
lead us nowhere. Automobile is the most convenient and comfortable means for
passenger transportation at present, but it is also the source of traffic
congestion, air pollution, energy shortage, and traffic accidents. “Practically
speaking, automobile is very effective for cities with a moderate population
density and a moderate total population. If you look at cities in the US with a
population less than 750,000 people, traffic conditions are reasonable. The
situation of metropolitan areas is another story. For cities with a high
population density, such as metropolitan areas in US and many big cities in Asia
and Europe, it is a frustrating feeling between passion and hatred, ” Dr. Wu
remarked.
Another shortcoming of automobile is that a considerable
portion of the population cannot drive. School children are too young to drive
and some senior citizens are no longer able to drive safely. As the senior
population continues to increase, their transportation needs will become a
challenge to the society.
Public transportations like buses, subway and
railway trains are no longer convenient for the dispersed, distant and complex
urban transportation, and significant government subsidies are often required to
sustain the public transportation system. “Mass transit used to be effective and
profitable. First, a more efficient transportation means, I mean, automobile
became a strong competitor after its mass production. Second, the economic
structure of a modern society further tilted the balance in favor of personal
transportation. It is time to think outside the box of existing transportation
modes,” Dr. Wu explained.
“The invention of Autoway was purely by
chance,” Dr. Wu recalled. “One day, while I was thinking about static binding
and dynamic binding of the computer language Java, an idea flashed through my
head. If we can dynamically bind people together in their commuting trip, we can
significantly increase the road capacity. It is like car pool. If you can
convince most people to car pool, you can immediately improve the traffic
congestion. Of course, car pool is difficult. But if we do it dynamically, we
can do it.”
“On retrospect, the binding, or carpool, in Autoway is a
totally different concept from the binding in a programming language. This is
how cross-linking in knowledge happened in real life, ” Dr. Wu said. In Autoway,
we take advantage of the fact that at any given time there are a significant
number of people travel in the same direction for at least some sections of
their trips. When we use small vehicles, and safely and dynamically couple and
decouple the vehicles, we can achieve the same result of carpool. “Although the
dynamic binding in Autoway is a different concept, many ideas in internet
traffic can be useful in this new mode of surface transportation. Previous
knowledge can work in unexpected ways. During the development of the concept of
Autoway, my broad engineering background has been very helpful. ” Dr. Wu
said.
Autoway uses small, autonomous, electric vehicles for one passenger
on a tri-rail guideway, as shown in the attached figure. The guideway is less
than three foot wide and it can be constructed as an overhead structure with a
minimum impact on existing roads and buildings due to its small space
requirements. Autoway can be built with a low cost of 5% of subway. Sitting in
an executive chair in your private vehicle, with your favorite music in the
background, you are browsing the news over your morning coffee. This would be
the commuting experience on Autoway. The only thing you need to know is your
destination. It is as easy to operate as the elevator, suitable to all people
from school children to senior citizens.
Autoway provides a global
solution to traffic related problems: traffic congestion, air pollution, energy
shortage, and traffic accidents. Gone are the days of traffic congestion.
Autoway provides a high capacity and high-speed (65 mile/hour or 100 km/hour)
transportation mode for commuters, with a high standard of convenience, safety,
comfort, privacy, and reliability. The lane capacity of above 10,000 people/hr
is equivalent to 5 lanes of highway. The fuel efficiency of Autoway is 20 times
higher than conventional automobile, or an equivalent of 500 miles per gallon
(200 km per liter). In addition, as electricity is used as the power source,
many alternative energy sources can be used, including solar energy, wind
energy, geothermal energy, hydropower energy, coal, and natural gas. This will
significantly reduce energy shortage, oil dependence and air pollution.
As for e-commerce, Autoway provides a cost-effective system for local
delivery of light freights. As an automatic system, it is ideally suited to
e-commence for businesses and consumers. A distribution center can handle a
region with a radius of 100 miles. People can also choose the delivery time.
Autoway is people-friendly. People from school children to senior
citizens can easily use it. People from developed countries to developing
countries can afford it. Traffic accident is such a major health threat that
World Health Day 2004 was dedicated to road safety. According to World Health
Organization, every year 1.2 million people were killed and 50 million people
injured in road accidents. Autoway will significantly improve traffic safety.
First, Autoway will be the safest mode of transportation. For instance, the
tri-rail guideway will essentially eliminate de-railing. Second, Autoway
provides a safe and convenient alternative and therefore helps to reduce
accidents on the highway.
Autoway is environment-friendly. It will
significantly reduce air pollution and noise pollution related to traffic. It
will spare the surface landscape from erosion related to road construction. As
Autoway is typically built as an overhead structure, it will significantly
reduce the interference of traffic with wildlife.
Autoway will contribute
greatly to our social and economic development. Think about the railway industry
in the 19th century and how it transformed the economy. Think about the
automobile industry and airline industry in the 20th century and how they
changed our personal and business world. Autoway will further extend the
physical boundaries of daily human activities and enrich our personal,
professional, and cultural experiences.
As a transportation technology
for the 21st century, Autoway will bring a lasting economic boom. The economic
opportunities range from steel making, manufacturing, computer
software/hardware, communication, e-commerce, and construction. Many traditional
manufacturing industries in developed countries have suffered a long time of
downturn with significant loss of jobs. This new transportation technology will
provide the opportunity of prosperity and employment for these industries and
affected regions.
“The invention of Autoway is just the first step, a
blueprint for a new technology,” Dr. Wu added. “It will take the joint efforts
of investors, entrepreneurs, engineers, national and local governments, to make
Autoway a reality.” The publication of the technical design of Autoway will
speed up the worldwide development and adoption of the new transportation
system. Commuting will be no longer a rush in congestion. Cities will be no
longer a noisy place with air pollution. We and our children will be able to
walk leisurely on the street, breathing the clean air.
About Acroscape:
Acroscape is an independent invention business focusing on fundamental
technologies. The technical white paper about Autoway is available at http://www.acroscape.com/autowaytech.html. For more
information, please contact Dr. Hengning Wu at (703) 796 1192.
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/11/prweb178468.htm
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