September 15, 2007
To Whom It May Concern
As a retired faculty member from the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Washington (Seattle), I have, for the past decade, managed a website that provides a comprehensive survey of innovative transit systems being developed around the world. It now attracts thousands of daily visitors from around the globe.
Based on my background and up-to-date knowledge of innovations in the transportation field, I want to call your attention to one of these systems that I think needs urgent attention.. I can assure you that the Project 21 Monobeam was unique in the world in the 1990s and remains so today. I believe that every effort needs to be made to develop it to the level that is market-ready.
I regard it with high esteem and think that you would find it to be very helpful in dealing effectively with the rapidly growing and debilitating urban transportation congestion and pollution problems in our cities. Because it can provide two-way travel on one monobeam, it can fit into urban settings much more easily that conventional rail and monorail systems. Due to its compact design, it can also probably be built for far less cost and with much less construction disruption. Its excellent environmental attributes stem from its minimal use of electricity for propulsion, zero air pollution in the city and very low noise impacts. Project 21 is easily switched from one track to another, making it especially useful for providing high levels of mobility in both urban and suburban applications. All of these attributes are critical to the success of an urban mass transit system.
The Project 21 Monobeam concept was initially demonstrated in 1996 with a ¼ scale operating model and was judged, at that time, to be the most promising form of elevated mass transit for the future.. This assertion is supported by the testimonials of Dr. MacCready, Dr. Vuchic, and Dr. Keith as shown at Larry Edward's website: http://project21monobeam.com/ An important point made is that this Monobeam system "could vault the US from urban mass transit laggard to primacy in the world."
I have not seen any other mass transit solution that shows more promise during the past decade. Its features are currently well-described and illustrated at two websites: http://project21monobeam.com/ and http://faculty.washington.edu/jbs/itrans/project21.htm
Larry Edwards, the inventor of Project 21, has explained to me that he favors mounting a full-scale development program in the U.S. without using Federal funding. I believe that his monobeam system could assist a variety of cities around the world that wish to reduce the negative effects of traffic congestion and pollution. Moreover, the U.S. could benefit greatly from manufacturing and exporting such a valuable product.
I believe that the rapid development of a successful monobeam transit technology could provide some significant relief to numerous cities that currently face intractable, debilitating and growth-limiting congestion delay and air/noise problems with minimal cost and energy requirements. Considerable engineering work has been done, making a near-term development and testing project both feasible and desirable. Your support of such an effort would be greatly appreciated by all who wish to make our cities both greener and more livable while combating global warming trends.
S/Jerry Schneider
Professor Emeritus, U of Washington, Seattle
Innovative Transportation Technologies
http://faculty.washington.edu/jbs/itrans
copy.jpg)
