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Q: When most electricity comes from "dirty" coal, is Project 21 any better in terms of greenhouse emissions than autos?
A: YES, a whole lot better. It is generally conceded that electric autos can save a third or more of emissions compared to conventional cars, even with "dirty" coal. If they ever become practical, all-electric autos will carry up to five passengers with 100 to 140 horsepower.
But Project 21 can carry up to 50 people per vehicle with no more than 200 hp. That's better by a factor of 5 to 7 compared to a pure-electric auto and more like 7 to 10 compared to a gas-fueled "economy" car.
Q: That outrigger looks sort of tricky. What makes it go up and down?
A: It just "follows the beam." As the upper rail rises, e.g. approaching a station, it pulls the outrigger along. That's why the outrigger attaches to the car on a particular radius; the effect is that the outrigger is equally "comfortable" with any vertical position.
Q: What about hurricanes? And earthquakes?
A: Conditions for the standard guideway design include 40 psf (about a 120-mph gust) and 0.5 G in an earthquake with a crush-loaded 4-car train on one side. Or 0.3 G with such trains on both sides. All using extra-tall columns. That should be OK for 95% of all American cities; for the others, columns might have to be made-to-order. Foundations, like tall buildings, are always designed for the predicted conditions in that city.
Q: What makes you think your steel wheels can climb 10% grades?
A: Grades up to 12% exist today for streetcars in Lisbon and did exist for decades in Pittsburg. (But going downhill is pretty scary.) Our unique suspension geometry puts 122% of the vehicle weight down through the main wheels, so we have a 22% advantage over the best present practice in both traction and braking. Actually, we should be able to tackle 12% grades after gaining practical experience at 10%.
Q: Will it be noisy?
A: It is true that rail systems can make too much noise, particularly the wheel click when there is a track joint every 80 feet or so. We need such joints to allow completion of 84-foot beams in the factory, and to permit overnight replacement of a beam damaged by an oversize truck. Three measures to minimize noise are integral in our design: 1. A rubber ring just inside the rim of a streetcar wheel was developed a generation ago and has helped a lot. We arranged with the manufacturer to adapt that feature in our wheel.
2. The small insert shown in the Expansion Joint picture is carefully designed so that wheels rolling forward step down 0.01 inch or less at each end of the insert. Reverse running takes place only at low speed.
3. The final design provides for rubber in anchoring the beams atop the column. This detail is too small to show in the picture named above.
With these measures, I am reasonably confident that noise will be acceptably low. But if still more suppression is needed -- maybe in front of a church -- soft insulation, like that under your car's hood, can be cemented inside the webs of the beam.
Q: What about emergency escape? Aren't there all kinds of regulations?
A: Not a huge problem, I believe. Recently I spent over an hour with one of the foremost rapid transit authorities on this subject. He noted first that the ASCE's people-mover standards don't apply at all to systems with an operator in the train. I favor operators because they can calm and inform the passengers when, not if, there is a breakdown or other contingency. And they would initiate and supervise the exodus if that's indicated. Also, people liked the friendly operators of the streetcars.
The other agency that has purview in this subject is NFPA, the National Fire Protection Association. I understood the gentleman to say that NFPA mainly requires that there be formal emergency plans that satisfy the local Fire Chief. Some of those officials settle for cherry-pickers, ladders, or airline-style chutes that leave both of us a little dubious. I prefer (1) making everything in the train really fire-proof so that the train's only combustibles are what the passengers bring on board* -- he seemed to like that, and (2) providing for a nearby train to come to the rescue from any of three directions. That includes a train pulling up on the other side of the beam. Thus four-car trains would have up to eight simultaneous exit paths created by hinging down the inboard windows. Passengers crawling across that level 5-foot stretch couldn't see below or even be reminded if they were above the Golden Gate! Wouldn't that solution be better than forcing passengers (some with kids) to climb onto an unsheltered walkway on a stormy night -- maybe half-a-mile from a station?
*The only fire on the Disney World monorail, to my knowledge, started in a rubber tire. and spread due to combustibles directly above. With steel wheels, and virtually everything fireproof, we think we have a good case.
