I am Van Metre Lund, the owner and president of Autran Corp. and the designer of Autran automated transport systems. These systems can avoid the deaths, injuries, trauma, property damage and ecomomic losses associated with operation of existing systems. They can reduce congestion. They can reduce use of oil. They can make travel and shipping more convenient, faster and less costly.
These systems can eventually be built on a nationwide scale to produce enormous benefits to the public and enormous profits to those involved in financing, building and operation of the systems. Initially, a system with an elevated guideway will most likely be built in a location where traffic is highly congested and where addition of conventional highway lanes would be prohibitively expensive. Profits can be generated even from a system only five or ten miles in length. I would appreciate suggestions as to possible locations.
I am also looking for interest in partnership arrangements or other ways for getting the systems built. I can offer (1) detailed designs of systems and components, (2) patent protection (eight U.S. Patents have been issued so far), (3) the knowledge acquired in over ten years of work in the field of automated transportation and (4) the technical and legal background of a forty year career as a patent lawyer in private practice. (See VMLinfo )
Please be free to email me at vanlund@comcast.net or call me at (847) 674 4947.
Three big problems are presented by operation of vehicles on streets and highways. As will be discussed, Autran systems can effectively and efficiently reduce these problems.
Safety is Problem No. 1. It is very serious. It is very costly. A study of 6,261,000 police-reported crashes in 1997 was published in 1999 by Wang, Knipling and Blincoe of the U.S. Department of Transportation (For excerpts, see CrashCosts. ). The study estimated total comprehensive costs of the crashes at $431.9 billion for all vehicles. For passenger cars, total comprehensive costs were estimated at $353.7 billion, averaging $2900 per registered vehicle and 24.81 cents per mile traveled.
Another big problem is traffic congestion. The magnitude of this problem is suggested by a review of a Reason Foundation book "The Road More Traveled" which states that "Congestion robs the U.S. economy of over $63 billion a year and traffic delays are expected to increase by more than 65 percent over the next 25 years."
A third big problem is oil. Burning of oil causes pollution. It depletes a very valuable non-renewable energy resource and it is costly. For highway transportation in 2004, the U.S consumed about 4.05 billion barrels of crude oil. At $40/barrel that's $162 billion. At $70/barrel it's $283 billion. Since about 65% of the crude oil we consume is imported, we can add at least a portion of what we pay in taxes for military expenditures to defend oil supplies from the middle east, estimated in 1990 at between $33 billion and $64.5 billion annually. The Iraq war which started in March, 2003 reportedly had cost us at least $360 billion by October of 2006 and may continue for years.
Thus the three problems of safety, congestion and oil result in an annual cost to the U.S. of well over half a trillion dollars.
These safety, congestion and oil problems can be reduced by Autran systems which use electrical power to transport highway vehicles on guideways rather than using gasoline or diesel fuels to operate the highway vehicles on streets and highways. The electrical power can be generated without burning of oil and can preferably be generated from the sun or wind or in a manner that otherwise minimizes polluting of the air and contributing to global warming.
In Autran systems, carrier vehicles move within and are electrically powered from the guideways. The carrier vehicles can individually support loads thereabove including platforms each of which can receive a "light vehicle" i.e. a car, a van, a light truck or a SUV. Any existing light vehicle may be transported regardless of age or condition. It is especially desirable that gas guzzling and polluting vehicles be carried. Safety features include:
- The light vehicles can be securely locked to the platforms.
- Rails provide reliable support and guidance for the carrier vehicles and protect against the effects of side winds.
- The rails are within the guideways and are protected against the adverse effects of rain and snow.
- The carrier vehicles move in paths that may merge but otherwise do not intersect and they move in only one direction in each path.
- The carrier vehicles are so controlled electronically as to minimize risks of collisions between vehicles moving in merging paths and between vehicles moving in the same direction in each path.
At an entrance station of an Autran system, a light vehicle may be driven onto an awaiting platform. It is then securely locked to the platform. Then the carrier vehicle is accelerated to a high speed and is moved from a connecting guideway onto and along a main guideway, not stopping until after moving from the main guideway onto another connecting guideway and to an exit station selected by the driver of the light vehicle. At the exit station the light vehicle is driven off the platform to continue on streets or highways to a final destination.
During transport of the light vehicle in this way, the driver and any other occupants avoid the high safety risks of travel on streets and highways. The driver and any other occupants also avoid the stopping or slowing down which might otherwise occur in travel in a congested region. They also avoid contributing to the problems of others traveling in a congested region. The light vehicle does not burn gasoline or diesel fuels during transport, does not pollute the atmosphere and does not contribute to global warming.
The building of Autran light vehicle transport systems will thus make immediate progress toward solving serious problems with safety, congestion and oil. It would have other important advantages as follows:
- In addition to being safe and saving time, the driver avoids the stress of
driving and can relax, sleep or work as desired and the driver avoids the costs
of gasoline or diesel fuel that would otherwise be
required.
- Capital costs of guideways, even though elevated, can be comparable to and quite
possibly lower than the costs of conventional highway lanes. This is due to a higher
capacity, the allowable use of existing rights-of-way and a load-carrying
requirement that can be much lower than that for the conventional lanes that must be
usable by heavy trucks.
- Maintenance costs of guideways can be lower that those of conventional lanes.
This is the result of the use of long-lasting steel rails for supporting and
guiding the carrier vehicles and the protection of
such rails from the adverse effects of the temperature changes and weather
conditions to which conventional lanes are subject.
- Capital costs for carrier vehicles can be low. This is because of
simplicity in construction and because the number of carrier vehicles required can be low
in relation to the number of light vehicles that they carry
- - each carrier vehicle can make a great many load-carrying trips
each day.
- Fares can be charged which are low enough to
attract users but high enough to allow a fair return on invested capital.
No taxpayer support should be required.
- Manufacture and use of electric battery-powered cars would be encouraged, since they
can be transported by such systems to thereby extend the range of the cars.
Batteries can be charged from electrified guideways during transport.
- A passenger-carrying capability can be included during or after building of any
light vehicle transport system to provide greater service and to increase profits.
- Similarly, a freight-carrying capability can be included during or after
building of any light vehicle transport system to provide greater service and
to increase profits.
- Systems can be built that use guideways and carrier vehicles of lower
weight carrying capabilities than those used for light-vehicle transport. Such
systems can be used for carrying passenger cabins,
particularly in urban areas or for airports or other special applications, and
can be used for carrying cargo.
- A light vehicle-transport capability can be added to any passenger-carrying
or freight carrying system that has adequate weight-carrying capabilities.
- Networks can be formed through system extensions and interconnections to
increase the number of destinations available to users and to increase
profits.
- I expect that networks will evolve of larger and larger size, eventually
forming a nation-wide network of guideways. There is an urgent need to attack
immediate problems of safety, congestion and oil. Because of that and to minimize
initial capital outlays, I expect that the first systems to be built may
only have a light vehicle carrying capability. However, I also expect that
through inclusion of passenger-carrying capabiliies there will be more and more
travel as passengers and less and less travel by
cars or other light vehicles. This would be highly desirable. I also expect
that most cargo will eventually be moved through the network because
of the convenience, cost-savings and other advantages a cargo-carrying system can offer.
See Autran System Examples for discussions of these and other features and advantages of Autran systems.
For showings and descriptions of these and various additional features of the Autran system, see:
- Carrier Vehicles move in protected
regions in guideways and can carry loads that include
platforms for cars or other light vehicles as well as passenger cabins and
freight containers.
- Carrier Vehicle/Guideway
Features provide secure support of loads and safe and
reliable control of movements.
- Stations and Cabins for Passengers
are designed for carrying of people in small groups while
handling a large number of passengers per hour.
- A System for Fast Loading/Unloading of
Autos is designed to make the system attractive to
drivers and to maximize fare revenue.
- An Light Vehicle Platform Construction
provides safe and secure support of light vehicles at low costs.
- An Electronic Control System controls
vehicle movements and monitoring, billing and other operations.
- Transfer Features facilitate manufacture and connection of vehicle and load components and construction of networks.
For a discussion of profitability of Autran systems, see Financial Analysis
Attention is also invited to Comparisons With Alternatives and Advantages of Carrying Autos.
Autran Corp. also invites a comparison of its system, feature by feature, with other automated systems. Many are disclosed at the Innovative Transportation Technologies web site.
If you have questions or wish additional information, send an email to vanlund@comcast.net
© 2006 Autran Corp.