Transportation Technology Handbook

In today’s world, engineers and scientists are constantly searching for greener, more efficient transportation solutions that can alleviate congestion and link far-away destinations. New developments are showing up every day thanks to government research, private investors, and firms around the world. This page is a resource for advanced transportation concepts and research from authoritative sources on the Internet.

Automated People Movers

• Automated People Movers Standards Committee: Home page of the research organization dedicated to developing standards for Automated People Mover systems throughout the United States.
• About Automated People Movers: An overview of the potential uses and benefits of Automated People Movers.
• APM Users’ Group: A professional organization offering news and information from the standpoint of owners and operators of Automated People Movers.
• Personal Rapid Transit Info: Extremely large, detailed resource page from the University of Washington offering information on APM systems, APMs in development around the world, APM news and history, APM companies, and more. Also has information on monorails, maglev systems, and experimental vehicles.
• Advanced Transit Association: An international non-profit organization focused on promoting the use of APMs and other advanced transit concepts to create stronger communities.
• Get on Board: Personal Rapid Transit: Informational page discussing the benefits of APM-style systems for urban travel and providing international links and information on the development of individual systems.

Monorails

• The Monorail Society Offers a comprehensive website providing news and information about monorail development and proposed monorail systems around the world.
• Everything About Monorails: Extensive Frequently Asked Questions piece on monorails and their operation. Written by a Walt Disney World monorail conductor.
• History of the Monorail: Article including an interview with the then-head of the Monorail Society (linked above) seeking answers as to why monorails are not used more extensively in the United States.
• Monorail Vs. Light Rail: A comparison of the pros and cons of monorails versus light rail transport, grounded in a North American perspective. From the non-profit Light Rail Now! initiative.
• What’s Wrong With Monorails?: Analysis of large-scale monorail systems from a technical perspective, including illustrations.

Suspended Vehicle Technologies

• Shanghai Maglev: Official website of the Shanghai Maglev Train, the world’s first commercial high-speed maglev line.
• International Maglev Board: An international association for research and implementation of maglev transportation technologies.
• Pennsylvania Maglev Project: Official website for a proposed 54-mile maglev train connecting Pittsburgh International Airport with stops in Pittsburgh, Monroeville and Greensburg.
• Maglev Development Project: Information on maglev development and research projects at Old Dominion University.
• The Future of Rail in the Southwest: A scholarly article from Harvard comparing a proposed maglev system and a more traditional alternative (“DesertXpress”) in creating a high-speed rail link between California and Nevada.
• UK Ultraspeed: Basic information on a proposed maglev line connecting London to Glasgow that would, according to estimates, cut travel time between the two destinations by fifty percent.

Dual-Mode Transportation Concepts

• Metropolitan Transportation System of the Future: Nonprofit website aimed at informing commuters about dual-mode vehicles, and offering information on their development and use.
• RUF Dual Mode Transportation System: A dual-mode vehicle system developed in Denmark. Includes design information, FAQs, news, and events.
• Center for Energy, Environment, and Transportation Innovation: Offers news and information on a variety of subjects relating to high-technology transportation, including an extensive collection of articles pertaining to dual-mode electric cars.
• TriTrack Dual Mode Electric Car: Information, events, and animations pertaining to the experimental TriTrack electric car under development by a firm in Texas.

Automated Freight Systems

• Capsule Pipeline Library: Index of informative resources on automated freight, including overviews, companies, research past and present, and descriptions of potential automated freight systems.
• Freight and Pipeline Publications: Electronic texts on automated freight from the Texas Transportation Institute.
• A Technology Push Toward Sustainable Urban Freight: Scholarly article from the European Transport Conference discussing the implementation of automated freight systems.
• ”Financing and Deploying Automated Freight Systems”: An article that appeared in the 2005 book The Future of Automated Freight Transport: Concepts, Design and Implementation.
• Freight Transport at Carfree Cities: Links to information on alternative freight transport around the world from Carfree Cities, a website proposing urban design and development changes to mitigate the problems of automobile use and traffic congestion. Also offers information on light rail, monorail, and other forms of alternative transportation.

Planning and Deployment of Transportation Technologies

• Transportation Technology Development and Demonstration: Research project information pertaining to dual use vehicles and a variety of other subjects from the National Transportation Center in Knoxville, Tennessee.
• Argonne National Laboratory Transportation Technology Center: A huge variety of news and information on transportation-related projects from this government-funded research concern.
• Transportation Technology at Idaho National Lab: Advanced vehicle research and testing from another “national lab” under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy.
• Center for Technology Development: Documentation and descriptions of transportation projects underway at Virginia Technical Transportation Institute.
• DOT’s Vision for Transportation Research: Transportation research information and resources from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
• Advanced Vehicle Team at Penn State: Information on Penn State’s participation in the advanced vehicle technology competitions sponsored by the Department of Energy and Argonne National Laboratory. Vehicle designs, information, and links to other participants around the country.