Imagineering America’s Transportation System

Wayne Davis, Professor, Department of General Engineering, UIUC

Numerous criticisms have been raised against the current highway system, ranging from its insatiable, ever-increasing demand for hydrocarbon fuels to its potential contribution to global warming. On the other hand, numerous reasons have been advanced for its retention and expansion, ranging from the cost of its replacement to the need to serve America’s widely distributed population. This presentation proposes a new transportation that builds upon rather than replacing the current transportation systems. IIt also exploits symbiotic potentials between the transportation and other service infrastructures. In particular, the proposed transportation network provides a new national power grid which also includes a network of windmills spanning the continental United States. The system would transfer any highway vehicle between any two locations within the continental United States in less than 24 hours. The system would be designed, manufactured and constructed to maximize its inherent modularity. It will also be designed to be changed. Regarding the economics, the system’s cost would be minimal when compared to the potential for sustainable growth.

Slides