Intercity SEGway

The vast majority of intercity transportation drivers of cars, trains, buses, and trucks have to stay alert for extended periods of time. Highways alone produce 200,000 accidents and 12,000 deaths each year due to drivers falling asleep. The turnover rate for truck drivers is 30% per year because the job is so demanding. Except for paid drivers, the long hours of driving is non-productive.

Our vision of SEGways connecting cities, larger towns, and other points of interest eliminates human beings controlling vehicles. Computers and guideways are infinitely better at keeping vehicles apart, in line, at constant speed of 100 mph, and close together to minimize infrastructure needs.

People on business trips riding in their own cars can be even more productive than on airplanes because they are connected to land-based communications systems and they do not have to rent a car at their destination. Sales people can be fully productive, not needing to pay attention to the road.

Leisure trips in your own car will be “leisure.” And the person who would be doing the driving can enjoy the scenery. We envision a family driving their camper or small RV onto a Smart Cart at an on-ramp within a few miles of their house at 6:00 p.m. Friday, being whisked along at 100 mph and arriving 12 hours and 1,200 miles later at the coast, a theme park, a national park, or grandma’s for the weekend, having fixed a nice dinner, watched TV, played games on the Internet, and having a good night’s sleep.

Freight in containers put on a Smart Cart at 4:00 p.m. could be picked up by a receiver 1,800 miles away by 10:00 a.m. the next morning. If the sender or receiver is a larger company, the Smart Cart would come to their loading dock with the container. So overnight express companies would not have to fly airplanes between cities under 1,500 miles apart. This would reduce night-time airport noise and airport air pollution. Trucking companies would not have to figure how to pick up three less-than-truck-load shipments at three different origins and three different destinations with one truck and pay a driver. It will be much more efficient to load one or two containers for each shipment, place them on nearby Smart Carts and have SEGway route them to an off-ramp near each destination.

Most urban guideways and most urban on- and off-ramps will be able to handle the higher top speed and sometimes longer intercity Smart Carts.

The family with the camper may have all the facilities they need to make the trip non-stop. For others, oases similar to current ones on tollways, but with on- and off-ramps, will be available at regular intervals along the SEGway.

The intercity guideways would normally be in the median of the interstate highway system, but railroad rights-of-way may be better for certain segments.

The cost for an automobile to use an intercity SEGway will be comparable to or less than driving the car, but without the hassle of driving and putting long hard mileage on the car. In addition, the time needed to complete the trip is reduced by 0.6 since the average speed is higher. And the car can be a limited range EV, as with the urban SEGway.

The cost of shipping freight will be below the cost of shipping via truck because no driver salary or complex expensive big rig is involved. The SEGway cost for shipping everything but bulk commodities should be competitive with freight railroads and certainly quicker and with higher reliability.