Tuesday, July 28, 2009

NOWAITTRANSIT: high tech approach to sustainable mobility

Today about 3 billion live in cities, and the transport in the cities will increase by 200% till 2050. The increase is particularly high in developing countries that also produce most of the population growth. These markets have serious financial limitations and current mass transit solutions are too expensive. The NOWAITTRANSIT ® track is constructed as a closed loop filled with cars individually coupled to each other through a distance beam. Each vehicle consists of an 8 m long car beam, an 8 m long distance beam, two bogies and a passenger compartment. Hence, the NOWAITTRANSIT ® vehicle is 16 m long and 1,6 m wide. Each bogie consists of two conventional railway wheels and three guide wheels, which precludes derailment. The passenger compartment is located on top of the car beam via suspension system. Due to the factor 10 relation between vehicle length and vehicle width the speed is reduced by the same factor 10 as the vehicle rotates 90 degrees while entering a station. As the vehicle leaves the station it is rotated back to its initial position and the speed is regained. Much more can be read here.