Worldchanging
Change your Thinking
A group for Worldchanging.com writers, readers and allies.
GROUP DETAILS
Created: Nov 12, 2007
Updated: Nov 21, 2009
Membership: Open
Semi-Private
Evolution of Mass Transit - Develop Smart Highway Infrastructure
Sustainable Transportation on a Public/Private ModelSolution Info Edit Hide
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Problem [Edit]
Substantial reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions can be achieved by encouraging mass transit.
Traditional mass transit is better suited to urban areas but less well suited to suburban and exurban areas, and builds hub and spoke rail and bus networks with either expensive fixed rights of way or labor intensive bus routes with significant investment in rolling stock.
Smart highway infrastructure is a standards-based approach to
technology development for universal mass transit, with the following
advantages:
• Little or no right of way (ROW) acquisition cost; reuse existing ROW
• Ideal for suburban, exurban areas and intercity travel
• Complete route flexibility
• Initially, all rolling stock privately owned/financed; can evolve to shared rolling stock
• Evolutionary development on a public/private model
• Fundable long term entirely by user fees
• Enhanced safety and collision avoidance
Action [Edit]
How to do it:
• Promulgate, in cooperation with industry, open standards for hi-tech
companies to design vehicle guidance and collision avoidance systems
• Start by deploying standardized fixed transponders along sections of
Interstate highway as a test bed that private companies can use for
development of such systems
• Allow IP backhaul, or use of transponders in conjunction with
intra-vehicle communications, provided that compliance with standards
is maintained
• Establish open standards for transponders sending highway location
and configuration data to receivers in the vehicles. Open standards
- Encourage adoption, innovation and competition
- Avoid proprietary systems that slow development
- Example: Digital coding, for a segment of traffic lane, of its
starting location, direction, length, curvature and rate of change of
curvature
- For redundancy, each transponder sends the data sets for the 10 upcoming nodes; the data sets for node n are same as for n-1 except the first one is dropped (since it was passed already) and the last one is new (it just ‘came within range’)
- Include standards for vehicle transponders for two-way system to share information
Road map for rolling out coverage, and different services, over time
• Coverage starts with a mere test bed
- Eventually cover inter-city portions of Interstate highways
- Eventually cover most highways
• Deploy infrastructure in parallel with development of user systems
• Rigorous testing to gain experience, public confidence
• Public/private technology partnership will guide road map
• Future infrastructure improvements can be largely self funding
• Standards can implement vehicle user fees
- Similar to ‘open road’ tolling, but not limited to tollways
- Base fees on infrastructure cost, highway use, wear and tear, etc.
- Miles of use
- Vehicle weight
- Time of day/congestion charging possible
- Pollution/CO2 charging possible
- Prepare for day when electric vehicles won’t pay a gasoline tax that finances the roads
• The same infrastructure can provide
- Backbone for rural Internet access
- Other Internet and location based services
Results [Edit]
• Data standards will drive private technology companies to develop systems that use the data for
- accident reduction
- vehicle guidance
- improved transportation efficiency
• Services start with vehicle guidance and passive (non-networked) collision avoidance systems
- Eventually add standards for networked vehicle-interactive collision avoidance systems
- Eventually evolve into a public/private personal rapid transit (PRT) system
- No need for right of way acquisition
- Reuse existing road infrastructure
- Compatible with former uses
- Ideal for low density suburban and rural areas
• American leadership can generate U.S. jobs in an international market
Open IP standards
• Encourage innovation and competition in the public interest
• Don't allow industry to design intellectual property (IP) policy for their own benefit; keep it simple
• IP policy provides that IP essential to the standard will be licensed
to all on reasonable reciprocal non-discriminatory and royalty-free
basis.
Limitations [Edit]
• Technology entrepreneurs
• Radio frequency (RF) engineers
• Software engineers
• IP attorneys
• Regulatory lawyers with FCC expertise
• Contacts and influence with technology companies and state agencies
When to Use [Edit]
Please note when this solution is best used. What circumstances make the adoption of the solution particularly appropriate and effective? Is there a particular time of year, a particular trigger event, a particular population group that is key to success?
E.g. "This solution is best used where there are clear incentives to reduce the use of fuel wood such as reducing the time spent by women and children in the community to collect wood, or reducing soil erosion and improving water quality for the community."
What to Do [Edit]
A public-private partnership could start with a pilot project with federal funding implemented at the state level by a Request for Proposals for a flexible test bed of limited in scope.
Initial goal is practical private sector experience with a small system to show the possibilities for products and systems, as well as identify the problems to be overcome.
Basic radio frequency (RF) design is important initially. Essentially, what is being deployed is a ground based highway GPS system as part of flexibly sized cell structure, similar to design of a cellular communications network.
As participants gain experience, the process can proceed iteratively and competitively, evolving the standards and test bed to make possible new products and services.
Tips [Edit]
Please share your hard learned lessons. What common mistakes would people implementing this solution make? How can they avoid making them and saving time and money?
E.g. "We recommend engaging an older and well respected female member of the community who is well-known for her cooking prowess as a way to understand what barriers to adopting fuel efficient stoves might exist. She may well become on of your strongest advocates."
Equipment & Supplies [Edit]
Please share what equipment and supplies are needed for successfully implementing a solution. Be as specific as you can with the number of each item required, its length/weight/quality etc, and if it’s a hard to find item, the name of a supplier, its item number, price, website, and telephone number. If you are only giving phone numbers don’t provide free-dial numbers that will not be accessible internationally.
E.g.
| Number | Name | Supplier | Item#/SKU | Price | Website | Phone |
| 10,000 | Less-Wood | Stove Inc. | 2459-99887 | US$5 | www.stove.com | +1 (567) 555-1234 |
Assessment [Edit]
Please share what monitoring and evaluation approaches are best used to assess the effectiveness of the solution during and after its implementation. Be sure to include, or link to, any specific documents or templates you have designed that might be useful to other people.
E.g. "We suggest taking a random sample of households in your target communities to estimate fuel wood use prior to implementing your project. Be sure to include a control community where you don’t implement the solution. Then follow up with the same survey in the same households six months and a year after implementation. The survey protocols and templates can be found in the ‘Files & Photos’ tab."
Related Resources [Edit]
Please share whatever resources such as websites, books, case studies, support groups etc that would be helpful for people implementing the solution. Don’t forget you can upload files and photos to the ‘Files & Photos’ tab of the solution. Also, you can connect this solution to consultants / service providers, practitioners, funders etc in the ‘Network’ tab.
E.g.
- "Fuel Efficient Stove" by P.Galvin (ISBN 0872884952) – good read for beginners.
- The Stove Org - a great consultancy/service provider dedicated to helping practitioners implement successful projects – we added a link in the ‘Network’ Tab
- Biogas - a solution on WiserEarth focused on alternative energy sources to fuel wood and might be suitable for your situation.
