Interesting transportation things

[Busy Bee]

Well ain't that something

[Bonsai Tree]

Long-distance/intercity buses suck. Nothing here to change my mind

[202_Cyclist]

If only we had high-speed rail to provide an alternative to some of the fights between certain city pairs (Los Angeles - Bay Area is one of the busiest air corridors) and provide connectivity to small and medium-sized cities.

[mhays]

I'd LOVE the ability to book a bus from the airport. The idea sounds like partially a marketing redo, but it also fills a transportation need at a reasonable price.

Intercity buses can be grimy, but that's not inherent. They're simply the only way you can get between most cities without a car or a plane ticket. Make them more popular and you immediately dilute the problem.

I took Greyhounds in a big US circle decades ago, then a Greyhound once maybe five years ago and a Bolt around the same time. No problems and both very quick.

[M II A II R II K]

Metrolink is First Passenger Rail Agency in the Nation Powered by Renewable Fuel

https://metrolinktrains.com/news/met...enewable-fuel/

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- Today, Metrolink publicly shared its switch to renewable fuel, making the agency the first in the nation to completely power all its locomotives by the cleaner burning alternative. --- “It’s a proud achievement to be the first rail agency in the nation to use renewable fuel to move people around southern California,” Metrolink Board Chair Ara Najarian said. “We are committed to continue working toward better air quality in our region and lessening our effect on climate change for the planet.” --- To meet its aggressive climate targets, Metrolink launched a pilot program of renewable fuel in its locomotives in early 2021.

- The renewable product is made of recycled natural fats and vegetable oils. It contains no petroleum fossil fuels and thus burns cleaner reducing harmful pollutants and decreasing greenhouse gas emissions of carbon dioxide by up to 80 percent. --- “This transition by Metrolink to using renewable fuel will help further reduce the air pollutants from our locomotives and improve the air quality for all the communities along our 538 miles of track,” said Metrolink Board Vice Chair Larry McCallon, who is also a member of the South Coast Air Quality Management District's Governing Board. “It is certainly the right thing that we needed to do for the health of our children and our quality of life.” Metrolink began powering 100 percent of all its locomotives with renewable fuel in February.

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[M II A II R II K]

Switzerland Moves Ahead With Underground Autonomous Cargo Delivery

https://spectrum.ieee.org/cargo-sous-terrain

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- Like so many concepts of this kind, six years ago it seemed like it was highly unlikely to ever happen. However, this past December, the Swiss parliament passed the necessary legal framework to enable underground freight transportation, meaning that the CST project can commence on August 1st. — The vehicles, which travel on wheels and have an electric drive with induction rails, operate in three-track tunnels with a constant speed of around 30 kilometers per hour. The goods are transported on pallets or in modified containers. Thanks to refrigeration-compatible transport vehicles, the transport of fresh and chilled goods is also possible. Attached to the roof of the tunnel is a rapid overhead track for smaller goods packages.

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• Video Link

[Busy Bee]

Of course.

[M II A II R II K]

Canada might be getting a 1,000 kph vacuum-tube train

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/f...oop/index.html

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- A Canadian company has unveiled plans for a fully electric train-style vehicle which could travel at 1,000 kilometers per hour and, it claims, would cost less than a plane ticket to travel on. FluxJet was announced by TransPod in its home city of Toronto last month, with a scaled-down one-tonne version of what it terms the "plane-train hybrid" featuring in a live demonstration of its capabilities. — FluxJet will be propelled at ultra-fast speeds along a protected tube-guideway using groundbreaking technology based on a new field of physics called "veillance flux."

- The pods are magnetically levitated and the vacuum tubes allow them to travel at great speed. The idea is that the train will operate exclusive on a network system dubbed the TransPod Line, with stations in major cities and key locations. The proposed first phase of what will is estimated to be a $18 billion infrastructure project will be linking the Canadian cities of Calgary and Edmonton. — The network will transport up to 54 passengers and 10 tonnes of cargo at a time in FluxJet vehicles, with trains departing every two minutes, according to TransPod's vision.

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[Swede]

I see someone's trying to get Canadian politicians interested in a boondoggle instead of just going for that actually working technology that is HSR?

[Busy Bee]

Always pregnant with the future. I guess Canada is inflicted with that too.

[M II A II R II K]

A new rapid transit hovercraft service coming to Niagara Region and Toronto in summer 2023

https://www.newswire.ca/news-release...812095312.html

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- Transportation in the Golden Horseshoe area is getting a much-needed lift. Hoverlink Ontario Inc. (Hoverlink) will be launching its rapid transit route between Toronto and the Niagara Region in summer 2023. The first of its kind in North America, this large-scale hovercraft service will move passengers across Lake Ontario in only 30 minutes – a journey that typically takes up to three hours by car or bus, or up to two hours by seasonal train service.

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[creamcityleo79]

Originally Posted by M II A II R II K

A new rapid transit hovercraft service coming to Niagara Region and Toronto in summer 2023

https://www.newswire.ca/news-release...812095312.html

That's insane...and wonderful!

[muppet]

The engineering involved in an HSR track


• Video Link

[llamaorama]

Not sure what underground battery operated forklift highways with a whopping max speed of 18 miles per hour but cost eleventy-gazillion dollars to build using TBM's offer. Eventually there will autonomous electric trucks that can operate on conventional highways which will make the whole idea unnecessary. What the trucks can't do, hmm, do the Swiss have trains ? /s

[llamaorama]

Originally Posted by M II A II R II K

Can ‘Buses-As-Flights’ Get Americans Out of Cars — And Planes?

https://usa.streetsblog.org/2022/04/...rs-and-planes/

I think this actually a good idea.

Where some family lives, in College Station, TX, the regional airport (Easterwood) has expensive and low frequency puddle jumper flights to DFW and IAH. It's about 90 miles from Houston and 75 miles from George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH). I've flown from Easterwood to DFW before plane(usually a prop plane like an ATR or Saab) never even gets above the clouds, you literally take off and then land. College Station, because of Texas A&M, has an above average amount of travel demand for flying. In the past, there were passenger trains(hence the name) but nothing has ever gotten very far in reviving them.

So what you see in CS that you don't see elsewhere are a couple local companies that run sort of upscale Sprinter vans down to the airport in Houston. The biggest one is called Ground Shuttle. They have a "terminal" building and a private park and ride facility in College Station and you see their vans on highway 6 going back and forth constantly.

Suppose an airline like American or JetBlue or Spirit branded some buses and had a kind of virtual airport terminal in cities like College Station where you could go through TSA and check your bags and everything. Then the bus would run to the actual airport, and go directly to the terminal to a special bus station that is essentially just another gate, past security and everything. Your checked bags get unloaded by the bus by a crew and get hauled over to the plane by a crew just like if you were on a connecting flight.

Tangential, I read an article about how in China, they have what they call trackless train stations for high speed rail. In places that the lines miss, they have a whole terminal but you get on a bus to take you to a hub. Same concept.

[mrnyc]

holy mackeral singapore changi airport, already the nicest major airport, is about to build a new terminal 5, which will be as big as terminals 1-4 combined and which will also not be in isolation, but an extension of the city state:


more:
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/s...cmd/index.html

[mrnyc]

hmm … it flew for 8 minutes:


Alice, the first all-electric passenger airplane, takes flight

By Jennifer Korn, CNN Business
Published 7:01 PM EDT, Tue September 27, 2022



more:
https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/27/tech/...ght/index.html

[Swede]

Originally Posted by llamaorama

Suppose an airline like American or JetBlue or Spirit branded some buses and had a kind of virtual airport terminal in cities like College Station where you could go through TSA and check your bags and everything. Then the bus would run to the actual airport, and go directly to the terminal to a special bus station that is essentially just another gate, past security and everything. Your checked bags get unloaded by the bus by a crew and get hauled over to the plane by a crew just like if you were on a connecting flight.

I think this'd cost to much. The whole TSA & bag check-in etc, that is.
Having a nice bus that goes, in this case, DT College Station - University - Airport - DT Houston, that would be real nice probably. Especially if it was run in cooperation with the airlines at the airport so you could book the whole trip in one go as one ticket.

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by Swede

I think this'd cost to much. The whole TSA & bag check-in etc, that is.
Having a nice bus that goes, in this case, DT College Station - University - Airport - DT Houston, that would be real nice probably. Especially if it was run in cooperation with the airlines at the airport so you could book the whole trip in one go as one ticket.

yeah its a great idea, can you imagine? very user friendly, but even if there was an available terminal gate area to do it the airport tsa security is the expensive bottleneck.

outside of a direct terminal linkup, why not if its feasible? the more busses you can take to an airport the better.

[202_Cyclist]

Terawatt plans electric truck charging stations from LA to El Paso

By Joseph White
Reuters
Oct. 20, 2020

"DETROIT, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Terawatt Infrastructure will develop a U.S. network of charging stations for medium and heavy trucks along Interstate 10 between Los Angeles and El Paso, Texas, the electric vehicle charging startup said on Thursday, anticipating a significant increase in electric truck traffic along that largely desert corridor.

Terawatt said in September it had raised more than $1 billion from investors to begin building large-scale charging centers for commercial vehicle fleets..."

https://www.reuters.com/business/aut...so-2022-10-20/