High speed monorail travel?

Question

I’ve seen a lot of articles and programs on high-speed monorail trains. Driving down the interstates here in the U.S. and Canada I have often looked at the median strip and wondered if a high-speed monorail system could not be incorporated into our national highway system. Various stations could be constructed that could offer access to other local forms of transportation. Anyone else think this would be viable?

Answer 1

Ground level may have some merit, but anything built above ground/below ground costs 10 times more than on ground.   Thats continous track, if you add in the extra cost of switches to route trains to different locations, stations, storage yards the costs are mind boggling.  Then there's the problem with passengers accessing the station across 4 or 6 lanes. Lets make the existing freeways work better.  Smart cars are the answer, you watch a DVD (have lunch) and the cars computer gets you to your destination as in the movie "Demolition Man".

Answer 2

This is a great idea and doable.

Check out the question below yours asking if "this is a good idea for public transit in London" and go to the You Tube link posted there.

There wouldn't be the problems associated with eminent domain and the expense of property acquisition.  When the BART system was built in the SF Bay area of northern California, much of it was built along highway right of way, as an elevated system, for the most part, along these shared rights of way.

I must respectably disagree with the gentleman above.  Automobiles are never going to be a solution to transportation problems, regardless of how "smart" they are.  The emissions they pour out are still the same as emissions from the "dumb" cars of today, and still relying on petroleum.

Answer 3

France, Germany and Japan have developed prototype maglev (magnetic levitation) monorail systems that you might Google for more detailed answers for why no commercial service has been implemented.  Three diverse sources are offered.

Most maglev systems have been projected as 50-300 mile long non-stop services between cities or city and airport.  

To date, the cost per passenger (high cost-low capacity) remains uncompetitive with flying for a commercial venture.

High speed rail (hsr) that offers some advantages for access, safety, and energy efficiency is generally faster than driving without traffic congestion over 100 miles but slower than flying over 300 miles.

The Interstates have a number of sharp curves you may not notice while driving that would restrict hsr and maglev speeds.

Answer 4

High speed monorail, heavy rail, or maglev it really doesn't matter.  They are all antiquated in design. They are a fixed guide-way system that is not a point to point system that could in a metropolitan area replace the convience of the automobile.  The link below show a combination of the monorail and maglev technoligies that is an on demand system yet meets the needs of a metropolitan community.  

It is called SkyTran. There main website is www.skytran.net

The link below is to a brochure for their transportation system.

Currently politicians are hung up on Light Rail and heavy rail metro trains.  These systems are like moving cattle cars one at a time at average speeds of 15 mph and 45 mph from station to station.

The SkyTran system moves hundreds of individuals from point to point independantly for a more effecient use of resources.  A 100 square mile grid would cost about half of what just 50 miles of light rail track and 100 light rail cars would cost.  Then at your destination point of each station along the way of the SkyTran system small local electric cars, like the MB GEM, could be available to take you the rest of the way home or at your destination small shuttles for local delivery.  NO MORE GASOLINE powered cars clogging our highways which would be better used for for the delivery of goods and services.

This system could be expanded to cover inter-urban areas such as Phoenix,AZ to Tucson,AZ , approximately 110 miles in just under 45 minutes OR say Phoenix, AZ to Yuma, AZ approximately 185 miles in just under 90 minutes AND you would be delivered to a point of your choice within your destination city not just be droped off at a central point an have to figure out additional transportation to your finial destination.  

Our quality of life depends upon picking better alternatives and thinking outside of the box when it comes to getting from one place to another in the future. Today we are choking on smog and dirty air from automobile caused pollution.  The greenhouse gases this is causing is changing the climate.  We need to act now to change our habits when it comes to transportation.

SkyTran is one of those "out of the box" fixes for our transportation future.