Jimmy

Here’s part 2 of my series of posts on Transit in America. Sorry about the delay, I meant to post this several days ago, but life got in the way and it took me until now to finish writing it.

If you haven’t already read it, I encourage you to go and read the first post in this series that provides some background for this post. Otherwise read on to see the overview of my vision for Transportation in America called the Three Part Network (version 0.1 [a.k.a. ‘draft 1’], there will certainly be changes down the road).

In thinking about this post and what I wanted to say in it I was wondering if it was really necessary to overview the whole idea before just getting into the details. I was trying to figure out if it would be overkill to write an entire post summarizing something that I’m planning on explaining in more depth soon anyway. Then I remembered Rule 37: “There is no ‘overkill.’ There is only ‘open fire’ and ‘time to reload.’” So with that little issue cleared up, let’s “open fire” on this issue, shall we? (I apologize if my dark sense of humor offends some of you that were reading this post just to see some college student’s take on Transit in America without side topics interjected into it. It won’t happen again.)

The plan is organized into three parts as follows:

• Local/Urban Transit Systems. This covers forms of transit for getting around at the neighborhood level (less than a quarter mile), the urban area level (100+ miles) and every level in between. This will, of course, include current (in almost all locations) transit technologies like our street networks and sidewalks, etc, but also include new (to many places) forms of transit like Podcars, more light rail in certain places, more bike paths/lanes and replacing all gas-powered vehicles with gas-electric hybrids and all-electric vehicles. A change in urban planning strategies is also needed to put more emphasis on making room for walking and biking paths and Podcar guideways (e.g.: more emphasis on “alternative” forms of transit and less on roads).
• Regional Transit Systems. These systems would cover 20-500+ miles and are used for shuttling people and light cargo between local/urban transit systems in the region as well for quickly moving people and light cargo across large urban areas. Technologies used for this purpose include the state, US and interstate highway systems for the travel of hybrid and electric cars, trucks and buses; the current freight railroad system (with upgrades); and new systems like a high-speed version of the local Podcar system and express light rail systems.
• National Transit System. This system is used for transporting people, light cargo and freight distances greater than a few hundred miles, connecting regional systems in different parts of the country to each other. The backbone of the human and light cargo transport system is a new super high-speed rail system capable of average speeds over 200 miles an hour. Other transport technologies used for this system include the current interstate highway system, current airport system and current freight railroad system, all with moderate to substantial upgrades and improvements. I also purpose a system for light cargo and mail based on the Podcar system but with speeds much, much higher and no options of human transport.

So there we have it: the Three Part Network in a nutshell. The plan is to upgrade existing/current technologies to 21st Century standards while also introducing new uniquely 21st Century technologies to help handle the load put on the overall transportation system by a growing and active population while also addressing issues of sustainability and cost.

Next post: Part 3: Local/Urban Transit Networks.

Cheers.

-jimmy

Posted in: Transit by jimmy2 / Tags: tia