Magtube

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Title: Magtube
Author: Magtube, 5735 Hollister Ave., Suite B, Goleta CA 93117, USA (ewhite@magtube.com).
Source: http://www.magtube.com/
Copyright: Magtube
Date: Cached October 2004

Magtube: Freight transportation for the 21st century and beyond...

The Need.

Transportation is 11% of the U.S. GDP - a trillion dollars a year - with more than half devoted to freight. Electronic commerce and expanding international trade demands faster, more reliable, less expensive transport than ever before. But energy costs are rising. Highway, railway, and airport congestion has gone from bad to worse with the heightened need for security. Environmental degradation seems insurmountable. Government and industry experts are straining to provide improvements but railroads, trucks and aircraft are mature technologies with fundamental barriers to improvement.

The Solution.

At Magtube we have found a better way. We are building a new type of network - the Mag Netä - to transport magnetically levitated freight capsules. Installed underground, the Mag Net will provide a level of speed, safety, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness not currently possible for mail, priority packages, perishables, and light freight of all types. Delivery times will be measured in minutes or hours instead of days. Think of it as an Internet for packages.

Economic Impact.

The Mag Net will streamline crucial infrastructure elements to reduce congestion, transit times, and costs while improving reliability. Construction costs will be a fraction of conventional Maglev, high speed rail, or highways. Shipping costs will be lower than air freight, truck or railroad. The potential for high ROI will permit private ownership, decreasing highway damage and congestion at no cost to the government. The same design can be used around the globe, providing even greater benefits for countries with poorly developed transport.

Environmental and Safety Effects.

Potential energy savings exceed 8 billion gallons of diesel fuel per year in the U.S. alone, with a 72 million metric ton decrease in CO2 emissions. Pollution and noise emitted by freight carriers will plummet, as will injuries and deaths due to traffic accidents involving heavy trucks.

Security.

Our capsules will travel out of sight underground, protected by a vacuum, a steel wall, and several feet of earth. Essentially untouchable. Their movement will be computer controlled with their precise location always known to Magtube - and no one else. Small capsule size will facilitate screening by inspectors and/or scanning machines at secure loading terminals. Thorough automated searches for contraband will be fast and cheap with minimal delays.

Fundamental transportation breakthroughs are exceedingly rare, but have far-reaching consequences. Funded by one of the most successful venture capital companies in the country Magtube is working to provide revolutionary improvements. An independent evaluation performed by the distinguished scientists of the Calstart-WestStart Technical Advisory Committee states: "...this system has the opportunity to produce enormous societal benefits."