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1 Project Title Tango Ultra-Narrow Commuter Car Sharing 2. Potential 1 Project Title Tango Ultra-narrow Commuter Car Sharing 2. Potential Implementer - the agency expected to be responsible for completing the project Commuter Cars Corp. 3. Brief Description – include all the work that is to be accomplished as well as the limits of the project (e.g., rail line extension from Geneva to Elburn) The Tango, ultra-narrow, vehicle, possibly the safest vehicle in existence, due to maneuverability and crash protection combined, needs to be built to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS), in order to be used in a car share program. Studies funded by CalTrans, and executed by UC Berkeley and Booz-Allen-Hamilton, show that freeway lane capacity can be increased from the present 2,000 Vehicles Per Hour (VPH) to 4,400 VPH, just as they would be with motorcycles. The Tango however, would be at least as safe for crash protection as a standard car, and have half the chance of hitting another car or pedestrian as it has the fastest recorded speed through the Consumer Reports Emergency Lane Change Maneuver (Moose Test) as well as having a faster response time than a motorcycle, as it does not have to countersteer. It weighs as much as a midsize sedan and has the same rollover threshold as a Porsche 911. It uses previously unused portions of the freeway, as it naturally straddles the ruts left by cars and trucks. Renting Tangos or Narrow Commuter Vehicles (NCVs) to commuters can be many times more cost effective than building more infrastructure. They are also more fun to drive than cars, and in the future, can be made to be self-driving. Self driving cars may very well create less ownership and reduce parking due to increased duty cycle per car, however, congestion can only be mitigated by vehicles that can fit comfortably in half a lane as does the Tango. 4. Estimate of Costs – include the costs of engineering, right-of-way-acquisition, and constructing the project $116-million will either purchase 4,000 Tangos to be rented out by the minute, hour, day, month, or year to be offered to specific commuters during the heaviest traffic flow, or fund the rental system by Commuter Cars, or for a transit authority to manage. It may be found to be cost neutral after a time, as commuters realize that it’s the most sensible way to get from home to work and back, or from home to transit and back. Parking capacity in park-and-ride lots can be increased by 350-400% 5. Attach a Project Map – while not required, it may be useful for understanding the location of the project The program works for any freeways or roadways, and also increases city parking and unclogs city streets as a side effect. 6. Contact Information - in case clarification or further information is needed on the project Rick Woodbury, President/Founder: Commuter Cars Corp. 715 E Sprague Ave., Suite 70, Spokane Washington Office: 509-624-0762 Cell: 509-979-1815 [email protected] Website: http://www.commutercars.com 7. Connection to Project – do you represent an agency/organization and what is that agency's relationship to the proposed project Commuter Cars Corp would either produce the entire project including rental system, or just product the vehicles, or partner with a major manufacturer to produce the vehicles, and or rental system, similar to Car2Go by Daimler. Skytech Transportation Problem Statement “Our nation’s freight transportation system is a vast, complex network of highways, local roads, railways. Each day, the system move 55 million tons of goods worth more than $49 billions, over the course of a year. Even so, growing population, increasing demand for goods, sudden changes in commodities and movement patterns , the need to remain competitive in an increasingly complex global marketplace, and aging transportation infrastructure have placed our freight system under serious strain. At the same time, the level of investment in and dedication to addressing freight-specific transportation needs has not kept pace with our growing economy, further adding to this strain. **** Recognizing these increasing challenges, to specify goals to increase economic competitiveness, efficiency, and productivity of the network; reduce congestion; enhance the safety, security, and resilience of freight movement and reduce environmental impacts. **** Expected Growth in Freight Tonnage. The U.S. economy is expected to double in size over the next 30 years. By 2045, the nation’s population is projected to increase to 389 million people, compared to 321 million in 2015. Americans will increasingly live in congested urban and suburban areas, with fewer than 10 percent living in rural areas by 2040. To support our projected population and economic growth, freight movements across all modes are expected to grow by roughly 42 percent by the year 2040. For example, container traffic at ports will increase steadily as the volume of imports and exports transported by our freight system more than doubles over this period. **** Underinvestment in the Freight System. Numerous studies have identified the need for more and better directed investment in freight infrastructure. Freight projects can be costly to undertake. There are seldom public-sector funds dedicated to them and they do not compete well with non-freight projects because of the manner in which public investments are evaluated. But when it comes to freight projects, especially those with national-level impacts, this approach presents a number of challenges such as fragmented decision-making. **** In 2013, 3,964 people were killed in crashes involving large trucks. **** Increased Global Economic Competition. Our economy is increasingly reliant on international trade. Ports must address congestion, dimensional, and equipment- shortage challenges generated by bigger, new-generation container ships, notable incidents of congestion (particularly at ports) have occurred over the last several years. **** Mexico quadrupled from approximately $100 billion to $400 billion per year. Additionally, we have recently experienced a surge in domestic energy production and increased domestic manufacturing and assembly work. Ensuring that these products can efficiently reach both domestic and international markets is critical to the long-term success of these industry and the U.S.A., or North America. **** Application and Deployment of New Technologies. Advanced automation will increase productivity in the freight industry and change the skill sets needed to work in freight, requiring skilled workers to maintain and operate new technologies. Technology will also automate and expedite inspection processes, improving safety and lowering costs. Growth in autonomous vehicle technologies may soon transform freight transportation, allowing for increased throughput and more reliable trips on existing capacity. **** Projections of these trends are subject to significant amounts of uncertainty. New technologies and products may be developed and deployed more quickly than expected; geopolitical events and recessions may suddenly alter growth, trade, and production patterns; and adverse effects of climate change on our coastal cities may arrive. The ability of modern supply chain management to respond dynamically to building congestion at one location by using less congested ports or changing freight distribution patterns can alter projections of location-specific delays. “ The foregoing quotes are outtakes from: National Freight Strategic Plan (DRAFT) Posted: 12/03/2015 ID: DOT-OST-2015-0248-0001. Draft for Public Comment. U.S. Department of Transportation Available at https://www.transportation.gov/freight The Question is how do we solve all these problems with the infrastructure? The solution in my mind is that we combine passenger carriage, so we can get public support for the project, with freight carriage, so that we can pay for the system. This is the way to introduce the public to modern commuter system which will be faster, more reliable, and cleaner at a lower cost to the public, and add a high tech freight system to help supplement our existing highways, ports and rail systems in the congested Metropolitan areas. How do we do this? Let’s look at the City of Chicago, and the metropolitan area. Chicago is the Rail and Truck Capital of the United States. You could reduce congestion on Chicago’s roadways, increase safety to all traffic, cut air pollution and particulate matter emissions, and reduce road maintenance by taking 8,000 to 10,000 trucks per day off the roads. This was the conclusion of Chicago Area Transportation Study (C.A.T.E.S.) 10 years ago. You could to this by shifting all of the cross town truck loads between the national cross- country rail systems away from the Chicago area highways and onto a dedicated transit system which does not travel on the highway and piggybacking passenger carriage to this same system. The beauty of the system is that because the freight will pay the way, you could have a return on the public investment. What are we talking about? I am looking at all the movements between the East Coast Rail Roads and the West Coast Rail Roads, we call them cross towns. The history and geography of commerce has put the streets of Chicago in the middle of much of the country’s freight transportation. Anti-monopoly regulations have prohibited any single railroad from carrying freight across the country on a direct rail line from one coast to the other. Both the eastbound rail traffic and the westbound rail traffic terminate in the City of Chicago, 5 miles apart We did a study at Illinois Institute of Technology regarding cross towns between the Burlington Northern & Santa Fe (BNSF) Kenzie Ave ramp and the 47th street NS ramp. The distance between the two is only about 5 miles but the burden on the Chicago highways to move all the freight across town is enormous. It is relatively easy to get a shipping container on a rail car from either coast to Chicago and it can be done in about 3 days.
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