DESC0025117

Mobility is a basic human need, but in its current state, surface transportation has huge unintended global consequences. The transportation sector is the largest source of greenhouse gases (GHGs), one of the largest users of energy, a leading cause of deaths and injuries, costs the US economy $179B annually due to traffic congestion, and lacks resilience to weather-related events. Swift Rails is developing an on-demand, autonomous, green-energy powered transit technology that simultaneously solves these problems by taking riders directly from their origin to their destination station on rails elevated 12' to 15' above the ground, safely passing over traffic, pedestrians, bicyclists, and animals below. It is more convenient, comfortable, and faster than conventional transit as well as affordable for communities, while being financially self-sustaining. The goal of the proposed SBIR Phase I application is to assess and demonstrate the energy efficiency of the vehicles developed by Swift Rails. Activities will include simulation-based estimation of the energy efficiency of the vehicles, followed by the testing and validation of the energy efficiency on a test track. The successful outcomes of this study will lead to extensive field trials in Phase II to validate the energy efficiency and further improve the technology in this area. Swift Rails will therefore present an economically superior solution to connect urban areas with an ultra-light rail capillary network that feeds transit arterials. The major beneficiaries of Swift Railsĺ technology will include cities, transit agencies, large campuses (universities, industries, hospitals, etc.), tourist areas, large parks, and Greenways in the US. At full-scale implementation, Swift Rails estimated annual benefits will include 2.4 billion tons (gigatons) of carbon reduction, 10 million traffic-related injuries -including 380,000 deaths- avoided. This breakthrough mode of transportation will have substantial beneficial impact on worker productivity and health, the economy and environment, the quality of the air that we breathe, and the livability of our cities by changing how riders get to and from work and other destinations.