We're Going All Sci-Fi

I filled up my gas tank twice this year.

That tends to blow minds, but it really shouldn't be shocking. I specifically chose my apartment based on its proximity to campus and grocery shopping and its location on a bus line. We also chose the apartment because it was a two-minute commute to my fiance's work. He has since started working on the other side of town, but he organized a carpool and is now filling his tank about once a month.

It wasn't always this easy to conserve gas. Before I came back to school, I was living and working in different cities. At first I got an apartment near my job, but my evenings were lonely and I'd travel on weekends anyway. I decided to move back to my hometown and do the highway commute.

I hated it. A tank a week aside, the congestion on the highways was stressful and more than once I witnessed fatal accidents. The commuting experience really hammered home for me that cars are more than an environmental problem, it's also a problem of the health, well-being and efficiency of our communities. The transportation system relied on so heavily in the world, and especially America, has got to change.

Roseland talks about transportation demand management. Instead of improving cars, alternative means of transportation should be considered. This chapter talks about increasing pedestrian-friendly zones and bicycle transport, but they do not consider traveling to places outside of a feasible walking or biking distance and they do not consider inclement weather. What I want to know about is alternative vehicle transport, and for that, I looked to the future.

Michigan's Hydrogen Highway

Roseland stresses in the previous chapter that light rail travel is the way of the future, or at least, it is what is necessary to reduce our automobile carbon emissions. Well, my research showed that the future is not as far off and a lot closer to home that I had anticipated. From what I can find, plans (or attempts) are being made for an elevated rail system connecting Ann Arbor and Detroit in Michigan. The Interstate Traveler Company has developed a design for the rail highway which would run along the automobile highway. The vehicles, which will hold passengers, freight, automobiles, and medical services, will zoom along at 200 mph on magnetic rails and powered by solar panels. The system will also produce hydrogen (from electrolysis of water) as a fuel source for other systems and carry waste and resources. The company is very forward thinking and imagines that this will someday be all over the country and people may even live in a large version of the vehicle.

I am not sure if or when this project will actually happen in Michigan. I found plenty of news articles about it, but the last one was in 2010. From what I understand, the Michigan House and Senate passed the proposal and private investors were lined up so I am not sure why the project dropped from the radar. Has anyone heard anything about it?

RUF Dual Mode Transport System

This next sci-fi-ish idea is being developed in Denmark. I am particularly excited about this one because I honestly think that this is going to something that becomes commonplace in my lifetime. Since Americans have an obsession with personal vehicles, they might actually get on board with this Danish idea. The RUF Dual Mode Transport System combines cars and a rail system. Personal electric vehicles are manually driven on streets but then connect to an elevated rail track. Driving then becomes fully automated; you put into the computer where you want to go and then sit back and enjoy your morning cup of coffee and watch some television on the way to work. The rail system will increase speed and efficiency of transport, decrease traffic accidents, and decrease traffic congestion. The system could eventually replace highways and passengers could actually sleep while their car travels to their destination. The plan could also incorporate wind turbines that double as structural supports for the rails.

Again, it can take a variety of forms, but I definitely agree with Roseland that our future is in rail. I'll leave you will this slightly strange and a little dramatic but oddly soothing rendering of a rail and manual vehicle system. I sure hope this type of system happens sooner than later.