TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

Just as all of the Petroleum Industry, the Alternative Energy Industries should stand on their own.
To collect money from gasoline and diesel purchases to fund alternative energy projects is taxation without representation.
So I call on our members to dump your windmills and solar panels into the bay.

Transportation is the number one source of climate pollution in the United States. In order to cut emissions, and to slow the impact of global warming, we need to reimagine the way that we transport people and goods.

The states of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and the city of Washington, D.C., are working on a groundbreaking policy to modernize the transportation sector under the Transportation and Climate Initiative.

We need a plan that holds large transportation polluters accountable for the pollution they create and invests in clean transportation solutions including:
• More public transit and electric vehicle infrastructure in rural areas
• Expansion of commuter rail, electric vehicles, and streets in the suburbs that are safe, walkable, and bikeable
• Sustainable and equitable housing near transit and electric bus fleets in urban communities

I fully support this and I urge TCI to aggressively promote and adopt innovative initiatives. I live in a suburb of Boston, where traffic is terrible and public transit is, too! For the most part, unless we work in downtown Boston or Worcester, we are forced to drive. We need alternatives that allow growth and economic vitality with minimal additional pollution.

My own proposed above-grade automated transit system that I have named "Teleport" incorporates about 100 of my own separate innovations. I have quite a few interim transit inventions, but I’ll put them aside for now because human civilization needs to move quickly to 90% less fuel per passenger-mile.

My bare bones Teleport cost target is roughly 3 cents per passenger-mile including the lifetime cost of above-street trackage. This price is far below the total cost of automobile travel. I aim for the electricity equivalent of 300 mpg. I expect to achieve ADA-compliance -- all Teleport stations can be at ground level or at floor level in skyscrapers, with double elevator doors. I expect the automobile to be turtle-slow versus Teleport's net urban quickness, and I expect Teleport to compete versus the automobile in terms of inter-city travel.

Teleport's "last mile" transit section hangs from a zip line system. The simplest zip line system has two slack wire cables that hang from multiple support towers. At the support towers, cables morph into rails. A zip line track of, say, a mile can be supported every 100 feet or so. Individual cars have batteries and electric motors with which to negotiate the zip line system.

The experience of passing one support tower, going slightly downhill on a cable, going slightly uphill as the car approaches the next tower, transitioning onto the rail and passing the next tower is surprisingly smooth as compared to a conventional ski lift gondola car negotiating small bumps at every support tower. I have my own pivoting rail design to make the transition accelerations remarkably smooth and to reduce up/down motions.

The beauty of a zip line system is that simple cables cost at least 90% less per mile of track than even so-called "ultralight" or "flyweight" above-grade rail systems, and 99.99% less per mile to build than, say, a 1950s-vintage Disneyland above-street monorail system. Teleport needs two cables (a second cable adds a layer of safety) and support towers.

Full automation is far safer 20 feet above the street than with cars on the ground, with 99.9% fewer objects to hit. This saves money and lives.

Above-grade Teleport lines can cross each other at different levels without cars having to stop. Traffic congestion is seriously simplified. Perhaps 100 times as many Teleport cars can be fit above a freeway as autos on the freeway.

- - - Teleport rails, switches and elevators

Teleport car wheels are designed so that they can rather smoothly transition from zip lines to rails at support towers. Automated Teleport rail switches, similar to railroad siding switches but automated, can be built into rail sections. An automated switching system means that a particular Teleport car can be routed to any requested track or station on the automated Teleport network. All Teleport cars have forward and reverse abilities.

At Teleport elevator shafts, specific rail sections can be raised or lowered. This allows Teleport cars to be lowered to ground level so that wheelchairs can roll into Teleport cars through standard double elevator doors. The same system will deposit wheelchair-using passengers directly onto train platforms and onto various floors in a Teleport-ready skyscraper.

Certain Teleport stations will have local sidings where spare cars may stack up. When a commuter train pulls in, quite a few people will all want to use Teleport at the same time. Teleport's control system needs to anticipate that at a certain minute on weekdays a certain station is always flooded with patrons, and then stockpile extra cars in a timely manner.

Busier Teleport networks will have circulators, multiple cable routes between most stations. In rare circumstances a zip line may be put out of service by a leaning tree caused by a hurricane. Teleport needs to detect this problem almost instantaneously. Then, lines of individual cars are quickly and automatically rerouted around the bad section. The days are numbered for a gasoline truck rollover at rush hour causing a five-mile backup of uninformed freeway drivers.

- - - The Teleport tractor-trailer extension

A more advanced Teleport zip line transit system separates individual gondola cars and cargo pods from the automated carrier units that latch onto them from the top, that lift them off of ground level and that carry them under zip line cables.

If the zip lines and controlling computers are seen as part of the automated Teleport system, then the carrier units are equally part of the automated transit utility. Some individual gondola cars may be people's private gondola boxes with windows. These private boxes could probably fit into a homeowner's standard garage. Other Teleport cars may be luxury cabs stocked and maintained by a cab company or they might be public bus cars owned by the Teleport utility. They may equally be cargo pods, some with onboard refrigeration ability..

Most Teleport cars will be elevator-sized, about 6.5 feet high, 6.5 feet long and 5 feet wide. A few Teleport carriers may have simple hook devices for carrying oversized freight objects such as replacement support poles over the Teleport system.

In a tractor and cargo pod arrangement, "tractor" is used in the sense of "tractor-trailer". Automated Teleport zip line tractors have motors and battery packs. They pick up and move Teleport cargo pods. Human-capable pods typically carry their own small battery packs for running various in-car human conveniences such as large computer monitors and refrigerators.

Teleport automated mini-trains move groups of Teleport cars on above-grade suspended train lines. For longer-distance commuting purposes it's more energy-efficient, more cost-efficient and more streamlined to move groups of cars versus single cars. On-train plug-in amenities such as a rest room pod and a coffee wagon pod are possible.

- - - - - - - Advantages

- - -Total system quickness

Battery-powered above-grade systems are much quicker than, say, battery-powered cars stuck in urban traffic. Automation allows for a public car to often be immediately available behind any elevator door when you walk up, and then the car starts up the elevator shaft as soon as the door closes. Teleport can drop you off not just at your door but on your floor. It drops you off, then it parks itself and picks up your groceries. How much time do you waste parking and walking to your downtown destination with all of your bags?

Teleport cable systems might move cars the "last mile" at 20 mph or at a steady 3 minutes per mile with few pauses. Low air friction, high capacity Teleport above-road trains might run at an energy-conserving 50 mph to 100 mph. Because loading/unloading is automated and because different trains may have different destinations, waiting times at stations will be limited. Automobiles spend half of their time at red lights, rush hour is never any fun and urban parking can cost a commuter an extra 15 minutes, but a Teleport car travels near its maximum listed miles per hour.

- - - Personal convenience

With Teleport you're not driving, where driving can be stressful. I want my personal pod with a fold down cot, a large screen and a fridge.

Teleport's last-mile solution can inexpensively reach suburban and even ex-urban streets. Running inexpensive Teleport cables into private garages is likely. Teleport is set up to move someone's private pod including all of their personal stuff from a home garage to any building in town.

Many people have bulky stuff that they want to use someday. One elevator door inside an apartment can accommodate one closet pod at a time. Moving across town becomes far easier if two houses or apartments both have Teleport stations. Storage of Teleport closet pods across town is easy. Teleport closet pods can be stacked.

Teleport cars can be shopping cart accessible. Shopping carts can be wheeled from checkout lines directly into Teleport vehicles, then to apartment refrigerators without unloading them. All sorts of items, from furniture to pizza to a closet full of seasonal items, can be delivered to the elevator door near or within an apartment if the apartment building is Teleport-capable.

- - - Lifetime Cost

I price Teleport cables at about 1 cent per passenger-mile. Teleport public cabs (non-luxurious models, at least) and engines would be another cent per passenger-mile, and the electricity to move a tractor and cab one passenger-mile would again be 1 cent. Total system cost (not counting R&D) is about 3 cents per passenger-mile. No automobile and freeway system could possibly compete financially with this transit system, not without vast built-in political subsidies for the old-fashioned motor vehicle technology.

I estimate 90% lifetime energy savings over a gasoline and ground-based freeway system, plus the last 10% can be mostly renewable electricity. Teleport is long lasting - it's sustainable and maintenance is low. No other known automated system is nearly as climate-friendly as Teleport transit.

- - - Industrial extensions

Teleport turns a city into one large assembly line. Everything gets less expensive when the delivery cost of all freight, both retail and industrial, plummets toward zero. All sorts of goods and tools can just show up at people's homes as needed.

An automated Teleport system pretty much assembles its own new Teleport cable lines. Each new support tower and cable comes in on a Teleport line from an automated factory across town. A walking crane allows each piece to travel the last 100 feet or so. Buckets of concrete for stations can show up also. The same system can inexpensively help to assemble a house or a skyscraper onsite, piece by piece.

- - - Implementation Costs and Benefits

Dreaming and drawings are relatively inexpensive. First, draw. Next, prove out most of Teleport's subsystems, eliminating the biggest questions and financial risks first. Eventually, proper crash testing could take on the order of a $100 million dollar investment.

Displacing almost the entire automobile and freeway construction industry is a trillion dollar domestic market, and it would displace 20% of all worldwide greenhouse gas production. That's a bargain. It demands funding.

- - - Not shown here

There's a lot to the hardware. My cables have gone through several iterations. My rails are also new, and so are my support towers. I want wheels that really grip the cables well in any potential disaster, and that in rare cases can reattach to one cable or rail. I want airbags in case a ground-based truck hits a support pole or a tree breaks both cables. I want anti-terrorism equipment sniffing certain cars for explosives to properly designed airport departure and arrival gates. Rest room pods go to special stations for cleaning as needed. Passenger pods need heat/cooling, lighting and creature comforts. For a perfect quick food sale, the pod's elevator door opens and there's someone behind a counter for the customer. Special tractors and cars are made for emergency vehicles, for hauling 30 foot poles or for hauling plywood. Above-grade maintenance and rescue cars are another specialty item.

Next, there's a lot to the cellular software, from computer network security issues to optimizing network flow given emergency vehicles and freight rates. Inquisitive newcomers should be brought in to a central station for a free pass (at least on the first day), a brochure and a gentle sales pitch. Persistent scofflaws can be redirected to the police station for a talk with the desk sergeant. Emptying a large sports stadium would involve letting fans walk into elevator cars labeled to travel in their general destination directions. Full and heavy passenger cars might be assigned premium travel times by the network computer at rush hours.

This Initiative is extremely important to create momentum and collaboration to address our deadly emissions from transportation which constitute a third (and growing) of our carbon emissions in the US. We need to address these problems not only because of our pressing need to avoid the catastrophic implications of climate change but also because air pollution and crashes are also killing so many of us right now- including young people. Strong investment in clean, efficient public transport and non-motorized transport as well as improved land-use is a win-win-win move forward. Smart electrification of our vehicles can lead to many benefits in terms of saving money and costs in public health, but this too requires investment, cooperation and strategy that this initiative is helping to do. Finally, in New York, we passed the inspiring Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act with ambitious targets for carbon emission reduction and social justice. We will not succeed without a strong initiative to address transportation and since NY is part of an important regional system, we must work closely together on this initiative to succeed in our goals. This initiative is absolutely critical for us to move forward and is long overdue. It deserves support.

While recently on Maui in Hawaii I was impressed by seeing a bus with a large label on it's side touting that it was 100% electric.
Let's move ahead in Maine!

Very briefly -- I strongly support modernizing our nation's transportation system with low-carbon-emitting solutions. Transportation is the #1 source of carbon pollution at present. Carbon, in turn, represents the driver behind the biggest crisis facing humanity at present -- the sudden and severe alteration of our world's climate. Modernizing our transportation environment should include dramatically reducing private vehicle usage, particularly in dense cities, where they never made much sense anyway. Thank you for the opportunity to share my views.

This is the perfect opportunity to upgrade transportation options on the east coast while also reducing emissions. As a teacher at a community college in Maine where many students have to commute, I see that more public transport is needed. Improving these systems can help students' mobility while addressing climate change at the same time.

We do not have alternative means of transportation traveling to our workplaces! Stop trying to make us pay gas taces.