Podcars make the Chevy Volt look old hat with automated driving
By Matt Jansen
The Chevy Volt brings a lot to the table: 40 miles of electric-only operation, sporty design, and the flexibility to travel beyond that, using gasoline. But what about people who don’t like to drive in the first place, and do the vast majority of their traveling within a congested city? Automated driving with podcars may be one answer.
Podcars are essentially miniature versions of trains that are powered with clean energy. They transport 10 passengers at a time and provide the functionality of traditional mass transit systems with the added flexibility of smaller units.
At stations located every block or every half-mile, depending on the need, a rider enters a destination on a computerized pad, and a car would take the person nonstop to the location. Stations would have slanted pull-in bays so that some cars could stop for passengers, while others could continue unimpeded on the main course, according to the Associated Press.
A group of builders, activists and students by the name of Connect Ithaca wants to make Ithaca, NY the first podcar enabled city in the United States.
The fundamental goal is to make moving people more efficient and more pleasant. Anyone who’s endured rush hour traffic in NYC certainly can relate.
Of course, because podcars must use some sort of rail system, there’s an inherent restriction on where they could travel, and that gives cars like the Chevy Volt an advantage. And building a new infrastructure always creates funding challenges. In this case, the initial investment would be tens of millions of dollars. That translates into about $25 million to $40 million per mile.
While using an automobile is ingrained into the American lifestyle, the time may be ripe for change as gas prices continue to fluctuate and people seek new ways to conserve energy and money. The Chevy Volt may bring a new paradigm to the automobile industry, but the podcar explores a whole new platform.
Plus, taking a nap during the daily commute to work just sounds too tempting.
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October 14th, 2008
I actually lived and now also spend a lot of time in Ithaca and I personally have mixed feelings about this idea.
In the specific item (which was also republished in some local newspapers here) there was not much said about the infrastructural changes. In some earlier publications in Cornell newspapers it was mentioned that Podcars are going to run on elevated monorails. If that is the case, I can imagine this initiative meeting a lot of opposition in a place like Ithaca, which tends to be proud of its natural beauty. Could be great to have more details about how these Podcars are actually envisioned…