"People Cars" successfully tested in Missouri

The much anticipated Personal Transportation Vehicles (or "People Cars", as they have been nicknamed by the general public) have proved to be a successful and truly efficient transportation system in western Missouri. When the idea of personal computer-controlled rail transport was introduced, towns across the US applied to be the first to test out the new system; however, Daveston, Missouri was selected due to its small population of 2,800 people. "It was such a relaxed town that if anything with PTVs went wrong, it wouldn't be too much of a problem since it's possible to walk from one end of the town to the other in a few minutes," says Kendra Hopkins, a member of the search committee that chose Daveston.

The purpose of the PTV system is to create safe and speedy transportation that can totally replace cars. Eric Fosterman described the vehicles to Your News: "Every person has their own, individual rail car that is about seven feet in length. Once he or she sits down, there is a lap bar and a plexiglass sheild that come down to ensure that the rider stays in place. There's a touch screen in front of the seat, and that's the only control that the rider uses; he or she selects her destination by either selecting a point on the map or using voice control to give an address. That's all that the rider has to do; the vehicle does the rest."

Once the vehicle has been programmed, it sends its route request to the central server. The server compares this route with the requests from other PTVs and lays out a schedule so that the vehicle does not collide with any others.

The rail system itself is simple: rollercoaster-like tracks are built along streets and employ switches to direct cars from one track to another. On main streets there are two tracks for each direction of travel, while on residential-access paths only one track is needed. Four-way switches are placed at intersections, while three-way switches access residences and stores. Some curves that are often travelled have an auto-bank feature: using the oncoming vehicle's speed, air-pressured pumps adjust the flexible but rigid track appropriately.

The vehicles are propelled using LIMs, or Linear Induction Motors, which have been used for over a century but never been practically applied to transportation. Properly timed magnetic fields can make a vehicle travel at anywhere from five to fifty miles an hour.

The citizens of Daveston have recieved the PTVs with great enthusiasm. "It's incredibly quiet, yet extremely effecient and fast. I don't know why the rest of America hasn't already made the switch from cars to PTVs. We should have done this fifty years ago," mayor Karl Preston states. Younger kids love it too. "It's so awesome riding a roller coaster to school every day. I love putting my Vehicle Speed and Ride Intensity on the highest they can go," middle-schooler Daniel Langston blogs. "We've totally eliminated all risk of car crashes or mechanical failures," teen Kinsey Jones comments, "or at least I hope we have."

-Your News correspondent Robert C. - January 16, 2110