奇速英语

空中交通

Pods travel above city streets using a network. This is SkyTran -- but is it the future? SkyTran wants to do away with train schedules and central stations to develop a system above the ground with “ramps” acting as stations where users can board the pods. Call for SkyTran on your smart phone and a computer-controlled pod arrives. It will fly you across the city to your destination. SkyTran says the technology uses only a third of the electricity used by one of today’s hybrid cars because its vehicles weigh just 300 pounds.

The first project will be at the campus of Israel Aerospace Industries. The 400-meter system is planned for completion by late 2015, with the hope of getting the licence needed to build 20 kilometers in Tel Aviv for public use in three years. And there are hopes to move into cities across Europe and Asia.

Building traditional urban roads and railways is expensive and requires much land. One way around that is to go underground, with subway systems serving populations well in cities throughout the world -- but at great cost. “We can build on sidewalks, buildings, anywhere really and create a whole host of stations for people to choose from.” says Skytran CEO Jerry Sanders, who added, “The system can be built for $10 million per mile.”

Joe Dignan is a smart cities expert based in the United Kingdom. As he sees it, there’s a rosy horizon for SkyTran’s automated, personalized transit. “The test is, would you use it yourself? And I would certainly use it. I can see it very much useful for cities that are developing fast.”

Ryan Chin is managing director of the City Science Initiative at MIT. He says, “Personal Rapid Transit systems like this one in the last several years may make sense in some limited applications like an expansive airport, university/corporate campus, or something like big cities(take Shanghai or Dubai).”