Eero Paloheimo: The Europe of the Unborn Generations
Contents of the book
Excerpt from the book by the permission of the author
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A TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM TO REPLACE THE CAR
The local transportation system outlined in my paper is described in detail in my book The Europe of the Unborn Generations, which was published in Finland in late 1996. The book also discusses new solutions for passenger traffic, goods transportation, energy production, recycling and land usage. This paper is largely based on the chapter in which I discuss in detail a new solution for local transportation and the effect this will have on the larger cities.
Hegemony of the carThe car is as old-fashioned as the plane, and will soon suffer the same fate as the horse. It will become a nostalgic memory of times past, something to ride in at funfairs on Sundays.The car is not only antiquated, but harmful. It pollutes the atmosphere, changes the weather, depletes our most precious natural resources, fills our world with noise and filth, and in Europe alone kills, maims and injures hundreds of thousands of people every year. At this very minute it binds the time and attention of millions of people to the tedium of driving. Cars cover thousands of square kilometres of space in Europe. The lust to own a car is an unnatural relic. Buying a house, for example, is far more justifiable and understandable. It would be a good idea to abolish cars for ever as they are not a symbol of freedom, but of slavery. In order that it runs smoothly the car requires a vast back-up organisation: factories producing hundreds of parts, rolling mills and aluminium smelting plants, robotised assembly lines, oil rigs and refineries, a transcontinental service-station network, car dealers and driving schools, road planners and traffic police, whole batteries of excavators and asphalt spreaders. The environment is not destroyed by the car itself, but by the multiple effects of the giant mechanism behind it. Cars are associated with many unpleasant things, although only some are harmful to the environment. Oil resources are depleted, the air polluted. Would the electric car be the answer? Some of the new electric vehicles resemble traditional cars, others are more radically designed (Figure 1). If the petrol-driven car is replaced by a hydrogen or an electric-powered one but the electricity is still generated in coal-burning power stations, the world would not be much better off. In the chapter on Energy I discussed the production of electricity from the sun or other renewable resources. Non-polluting energy can be produced, this will not be the reason for the electric-powered vehicle to fail. But even such measures will not solve all problems. We shall replace long-distance travelling by plane, car and outmoded steel-wheel trains by high-speed, magnetic-levitation trains, hurtling through the continent at only a few millimetres above the track. As even these trains will not take people literally from door to door, we shall need a system for capillary traffic which provides this link. Otherwise the transport system would be like a clockmaker without fingers. Figure 1. Peugeot's 106 Electric and ElTransin Mini-El electric cars
CybercabsElectric cars require very powerful and massive batteries in order to move independently. The distances they can cover are limited as the batteries need to be continuously recharged. The driver is still incarcerated as he has to steer the vehicle and therefore cannot use his time more pleasantly. The electric car no more liberates than the petrol-driven one. The driver is only freed when he can decide both his destination and how to use his travelling time. An automatic, destination-controlled cybercab that follows the terrain fulfills this condition (Figure 2). Such a cab is not normally steered, but is remote controlled. It takes its power from cables under the road and directions from a communications centre. Passengers can spend their time reading or writing, looking out of the window or watching TV, playing chess in a special two-person chess cab or billing and cooing in a kissing cab. It is even possible to take a nap in a sleeper cab. The strain of driving is transformed into the pleasure of travelling. Everyone has their own private chauffeur.However, cybercabs are not private property, but part of the public transport system. You pay for them as you do for telephone calls today with phonecards. Their core element is a tiny, smart chip that offers passengers a multitude of services. Passengers inform the communications centre of the address by pointing to it on the screen map or typing in the nearest parking slot number. They could just type in the name of the person they are going to visit as the centre has a list of all the addresses in the zone. This new mode of transport should not be evaluated by comparing it to individual objects, such as cybercabs and cars, but systems, and by weighing up the advantages and disadvantages of the new system. How will energy production and the spare-parts industry change? How will it change the everyday lives of people? How will it affect people when they are no longer proud car owners, but just users of another public service like the post office? Figure 2. Scale drawing of a standard one-person cybercab
The cybercab systemThe new system will cover the whole all Europe, but cybercabs will not go everywhere. The continent will be divided into some 2000 zones each some 2500 square kilometres in size or containing a population of about 250 000. The system is the same everywhere so that people moving from one place to another do not have to adjust to local variations. It would also be possible to journey slowly across Europe, moving from one zone to the next at intervals of about an hour. In the canton of Vaud, Switzerland, with its population of about 600 000 in an area of 3000 square kilometres, the northern part could well function as one such zone. As it has a railway, it allows the town to be connected to the rest of the continent (Figure 3).Figure 3. Main transport connections in the canton of Vaud today The core of the system is not the individual cab, but a computerised communication centre controlling all the cabs in the zone and ensuring that the system works flawlessly. It sends cabs for maintenance and recycling at regular intervals, calculates the best route for each one before it sets out, ensures safety, steers individual cabs, optimises the flow of traffic, and makes sure that passengers pay for their journeys. It up-dates the address files and maps, provides information on timetables, and sounds the alarm if something goes wrong or if one of the cabs disappears or breaks down. It is also possible to control the inter-zonal movement of cabs. The cybercab, like the car today, requires its own vast production mechanism. The cabs will be made in underground, robotised assembly and dismantling plants, capable of recycling some twenty million units a year. These plants are supplied by others making spare parts. One consolation, however, is that the cab needs far fewer parts than today's car. This is because it is only a glorified sedan chair, that modestly protects its occupants from the elements and conveys them safely from one place to another. It needs only a small battery to power manual operation over short distances of up to 5 kilometres. The steering mechanism and address file, on the other hand, are routine computer products. It will not be necessary to build new roads as the cabs are designed to use existing networks. Actually they will use today's roads more efficiently as their turning radius is minimal and thus are considerably easier to park. Obviously, when the time comes to renew road networks this will not be done with cars in mind, but cybercabs, just as long ago the transition was made from horse-drawn to motorised transportation. Thus both the infrastructure and vehicles using it will change over the decades into one uniform system. Cybercabs are not always in use, so they will have to parked somewhere. However, because they are in collective use, fewer of them will be idle than today's vehicles. The average car today requires a parking space of 25 square metres. Cybercabs require only 2 square metres because they can be parked nose to tail. As they are all the same, you just take the first one in the rank. Furthermore, as the overall number of vehicles will diminish, most of the space now reserved for urban parking will be freed for other uses. Although the idea is to use existing surface and multi-storey car parks to begin with, future parking areas will be tailored to the requirements of cybercabs. So even parking areas will become a natural part of the infrastructure (Figure 4). Figure 4. Detail from Nyon town plan showing the parking area on the corner of Place Pertems
Connection to rail transportAbsolute safety has to be guaranteed. In the first place, cybercab lanes are not fenced in, just clearly signposted. The lanes, however, have to be separated from other traffic like pedestrians, cyclists, skiers, and the occasional heavy-duty freight transports. In towns there will be pedestrian crossings and traffic lights, with secondary traffic controlled from the cybercab communication centre. In the countryside bridges will have to be built for light traffic. Even though the cab lanes are not enclosed, they will be lined on both sides by optical alarms. A dog straying in front of a cab, for instance, will cause the traffic to stop far more quickly than nowadays when it only does so after a multiple human chain reaction. Collisions between cabs must be avoidable even if the central computer breaks down, so a reserve system has to be built. In addition to these safety measures, the electric cables have to be buried deep enough to make them safe for pedestrians. I will return to this subject at the end of the chapter. All in all, moving by cybercab and maglev trains in the future will be far safer than in skyscraper lifts today and infinitely less dangerous than by car. Safety will be further increased by the complete restructuring of goods traffic. Cybercabs can also be steered manually, because it is not economical installing cables up to everyone's front door. The battery does not weigh hundreds of kilos as now, because it is only intended to power distances up to 5 kilometres. It is also required at crossing points where it is not possible to take power from the cables, but this is a very minor technical problem to overcome.
Construction of the cybercabNow for a few remarks on the actual construction of the cybercab. It is quite stupid to make single-person cabs only. Equally as silly is to make multi-seat ones, because there are plenty of them and people should not take up unnecessary space. The idea, therefore, is to make standard cabs for one person, for one person with a lot of luggage or accompanied by children, cabs for two persons facing each other (chess cabs) or sitting side-by-side, and others for conveying goods, the handicapped and people wishing to take a nap. The drawing in Figure 116 is of a standard one-person cybercab, the details of which can be left to international design competitions later on.But still a few other details about the ordinary, one-person standard cab, just to illustrate the principles involved. Basically, it is only a covered chair, rather like the sedan-chair of times past. It is at least as comfortable as the best office chair: it can be raised and lowered, and both the back and the headrest are adjustable. Only the casters are missing, because such a chair would demand too much space. The cab should have ample windows offering passengers an all-round view of the landscape they are moving through. Functionally, the best shape would be a trapezium or shuttle, as this allows easy parking. Such shapes well suit three wheels, which are otherwise more suitable to a vehicle with a small turning radius. The tiny boot is under the seat. The main feature of the cab is the terminal with a keyboard on which to enter instructions at the beginning or during the journey. The traveller can also access information and send messages. The screen displays that segment of the map in which the cab operates and this can be magnified to show very small details, like individual houses. In the canton of Vaud, which I mentioned above, there is a town of 15 000 inhabitants on the banks of Lake Geneva called Nyon. The number of cabs permanently in operation would be about 1500, equal to about a tenth of the population. The parking space needed for them is shown in Figure 4. When the cars that are nowadays parked along the streets are removed, a great deal of space would be made available for the new small-scale cybercabs (Figure 6). The cab's screen would show the traffic network for the whole area, the parking slots, and, if required, people's addresses and houses. Once the destination has been entered, the route, nearest recommended parking slot, present position of the cab, and estimated travelling and arrival times appear on the screen. The cab can be left at any point along the route where it will be automatically directed to the nearest parking space, just like taxis today return to the nearest rank (Figure 5). Figure 5. Sketch of a cybercab's screen There are innumerable parts in present day cars which are unnecessary in the new cybercabs. It has no bumpers because the computer eliminates collisions, no headlights as it is unnecessary to know what is in front, and no direction or breaking lights, windscreen wipers, unnecessary seats, gear boxes, safety belts or any of the other gadgets which have been fitted to motorcars for the simple reason that they driven by imperfect people who are at the mercy of other imperfect people. Cybercabs are incredibly simple compared to cars. They can transport luggage and goods, children, the handicapped and elderly, even those on a bender, automatically and safely from one place to another. As a huge number of parking areas will be freed, there will be a saving in supervision and costs. Driving schools can be closed down as cybercabs do not require a driving licence. There are no traffic regulations, only safety instructions. Traffic cops can be transferred to other duties. Cybercabs are to the train like fingers are to the hand, digits of a complete entity. And like trains, it is not necessary for cybercab passengers to know how they operate. Figure 6. Nyon railway station Finally, a couple of details to prove that the above idea is realistic. Power cables should be buried under the roads in the way shown in Figure 7 because under no circumstances should they get wet or give anyone a shock. The gap in the road is too narrow for a bicycle wheel to get stuck in it. The cables should have an electric resistance so they will not freeze in winter. There are two insulated cables with a 600 volt tension between them. The control cable is separate. As the cables cannot cross, the cab switches over to battery-operation at these points without passengers noticing anything special. None of the technical problems are unsolvable. Figure 7. Drawing showing the principle of locating power cables under the road
Change in passenger traffic in citiesThe change in a city's passenger traffic is most important. Driving a car in a European city today, trying to read directions with one eye and watch the traffic with the other, is enough to convince even the keenest driver how crazy it is. One-way streets, no right turn, no left turn, no parking places, sudden changes in street names, street works, jammed traffic lanes, U-turn's strictly punishable, lorries and vans unloading, and all drivers in a hell-bent hurry. Just think how confusing it is for our country-cousin who, having got to one place by the grace of God, still needs to go a hundred metres to the north, an almost cryptic task: first driving three hundred metres to the south, half a kilometre west, then a hundred metres north, 50 metres west, after this 500 metres north-west, a hundred metres east and finally, perpetrating an outrageous traffic offence trying to cover the last fifty metre lap, driving in an absolutely forbidden direction, accompanied by hooters noisy enough to bring down the walls of Jericho and irate drivers giving him the V-sign, despite the fact that solving the problem requires genius as this specific route could only have been guessed by supernatural intuition, as it is not shown on the city map and at the back of his mind is the gnawing fear that erring into a motorway, where every decision only makes the situation worse and pushes the distraught driver nearer and nearer the spin that slings him mercilessly 20 kilometres outside the town, to return an hour later to the same spot, a hundred metres away from the destination which he had already managed to reach, to give him a second chance. A rat in a labyrinth? On future streets there will be no cars, no smelly exhaust fumes, and no noise. If people do not cycle they can use cybercabs, mostly automated. Cybercabs make no noise, they do not pollute or crash into anything. They offer a view in all directions, and inside you can read or do something else that is useful. There is a map on the display screen where one can follow the journey. You just state the destination and you are taken there. There are cybercabs to be hired everywhere in the city, for everybody who wants one. Ten times more people will fit onto crowded streets than at present. Streets can again be two-way, the distance and time between two places becomes automatically as short and simple as possible. Even a stranger to town can find his way on the map. Even the old streets of European cities are wide enough. The underground railway is no longer needed for passengers, it can be used for goods. There are plenty of cybercab ranks and they will not block the traffic. This is how mechanical passenger traffic will be organised in the big cities. Alongside them extensive areas and long lanes would be reserved for pedestrians, cyclists, horse riders, and for skiers and tobogganists in northern winters. You can freely walk along most streets in the city, breathing in fresh air, with only the murmur of conversation breaking the silence. Birds sing in the parks, children laugh in the playgrounds and music can be heard from the open doors of restaurants. Streets are no longer grey, monotonous, noisy, but park-like pedestrian zones full of life. In the event that the above ideas receive sympathetic understanding in EU circles, a trial area should be built as soon as possible. It would then be possible to test all aspects of the proposed system. I suggest that either Lathen or Dörpen would be a good place to start as they already have a maglev test track operating between them. The suitability and safety of power cables sunk under the tarmac requires testing at different times of the year and under varying weather conditions. As regards building the cab and its operational requirements, valuable experience could be gained from studying different prototypes. The computer system for the communication centre should also be thoroughly tested in practice. Before going ahead and building the first truly operative maglev track, careful attention should be paid to developing the kind of feeder connections which a modern rail transport system requires. Neither should the idea be ignored that even a feeder system could run without wheels, magnetically.
What then?Once the technical problems have been ascertained from an test area, work could begin on the realistic introduction of the scheme. Europe should choose one of its ancient cities, Vienna for example, as the place where the experiment could be carried out. A wide area around the city centre, some tens of square kilometres in size, should be declared a car-free zone. Within it the cybercab network would be installed, as welll as a complementary system of pipelines for transporting goods. Huge, multi-storey car parks should be built on the outskirts of the zone, which can be dismantled, moved and re-erected elsewhere. Drivers entering the city would leave their cars in them and continue their way by cybercab.
And finally...On the basis of experience gained - and here I don't believe decision-makers will need any extra persuasion - similar systems could be introduced into other European towns and so the new transportation system wouid gradually take over. The use of present-day cars would become progressively marginalised and eventually disappear compietely from the normal traffic scene. They could, however, remain as a funfair attraction. Copyright: Eero Paloheimo 1996, 1997 |