| Vehicle
concepts for the ATS - Mass
transit, commercial & alternative fuels |
Chapter
5B |
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Mass
transit vehicle
Here is a bus-like
eight-foot-wide mass transit vehicle for multiple destinations
within a metropolitan area. As you will learn later in chapter
9C, the ATS system is designed so passengers can board
and exit
mass
transit vehicles safely and conveniently.This vehicle
could be electrically powered, and draw electricity
from a rail embedded in automated roadways, and
still share the roadway with other types of vehicles.
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Long
distance luxury vacation cruiser (LDLVC)
Another
type of vehicle operating over the local Regional Metropolitan
Grid would be an eight-foot wide
luxury vacation cruiser used primarily for trips up
to 500 miles. By having no more than an eight-foot width
it can come to private homes, businesses, and hotels. The
model illustrated is family sized, but a more compact model would
provide luxurious yet more economical travel for a couple or single
passenger. Super comfortable seats extend
into beds and
have electro-mechanical massage rollers under the back rest sand
leg supports. The arm rests fold out of the way when seat
is extended
into
a bed. Other features of the LDLVC, which may
be likened to a conventional motor home, include wraparound windows, easy access
doors, full bathroom, kitchen/dining area, ample storage, long range fuel
capacity and
a Large plasma TV screen. See Chapter
7- LDLVC Trip to Atlanta!
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Trans-continental
mass transit cruiser
 The
transcontinental vehicle is 14 feet wide, 180 feet long, 18 feet
high and carries 320 passengers at 120 mph (our
drawing shows fewer seats). It has full reclining wide
sleeper chairs, a full service dining
area,
a bar and an area
to exercise. Other amenities might include GPS screens to show
the traveler where he or she is while looking at scenery, television,
movies on demand, wireless Internet, phone service, good food and
drink in very comfortable facilities.
See
Chapter 7
- TMT Trip to California
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Delivery and
errand runner vehicles (no driver compartment )
 
This is
a local
unmanned delivery vehicle that could be from four
to eight feet wide, up to 16 feet high,
60 feet long, and weigh up 100,00 pounds loaded, depending
on its intended use.The
ultra economical small
unmanned errand vehicle (above right)
would likely be only four feet wide and six feet long,
and weigh
a few hundred
pounds without cargo. It needs none of the facilities and comforts
required for human passengers. Access panels on both sides
provide easy
loading and unloading. It will save large sums of money
for businesses that have people
on
the road only to deliver documents, a small
part, office supplies, lunches, or the like. GPS equipment and other
electronics would allow remote monitoring of vehicle location,
transit schedule, operating conditions, and details about
pickups or deliveries. It would also be a part of a system
for automated grocery delivery.
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Tractor
Trailer Vehicle
As
a practical matter this multip-purpose cargo system would
likely have a detachable power unit with a universal linkage system
to connect
single
or multiple cargo trailers as shown. The power unit
has the engine and electronic controls. The power unit can be picking
up and moving cargo trailers while others cargo trailers
are
being loaded and unloaded.
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Liquid
hydrogen powered freighter
A
multi-trailer frighter with ten units would equal 360 conventional
tractor trailers transporting
goods across the American continents at 120 mph, providing
cost effciencies in multiple areas. For example, large quantities
of industrial and construction sub-assemblies could be shipped
direct from factories. Because of their
large width, these vehicles would operate
only on the 25-foot wide cross-country automated highways,
and new receiving facilities and factories would be built
around terminal points to take advantage of this system. See
Chapter 9B
ATS Benefits to Society
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Alternative fuel options (see also "Less dependence on foreign oil")
All
these vehicles shown could be designed from scratch to use alternative
fuels and energy. The light-duty freight
vehicles
might use propane
gas. Some could
use fuel cells. In high-density and high-traffic areas,
such as New York City, the regional grid can be electrified.
Vehicles
equipped
with electric
motors
will draw energy from the roadway to power the motor
and charge the vehicle's
batteries at the same time. Batteries power the motor
when the vehicle is not on
the electrified roadway. The electrified roadway would
not prevent or interfere
with the use
of non-electric powered vehicles over the same roadways.
< Back
to Chapter 5A | next: Chapter
6 - Infrastrutcture of automated roadways >
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