Research on areas of interest, shortcomings, improvements, and images

            The areas that I would like to improve on or further research would be the cabin, safety of the cabin and railways, and station innovation.

Cabin:

            The current full-scale model of the cabin is still unfinished; it currently needs a coating of paint. Sanding the rough and uneven parts needs to be done before painting can be done. Possibly after finishing the work on the current model, a functioning model could be started. This would include making another outer shell with hollow inside. The inside could have the seats that would be in the position functioning for sitting and handicap purposes. The structure of the cabin could also use other materials other than wood, to make the cabin lighter for moving to different exhibitions. The doorway for the cabin also needs to be established, whether it is double sliding doors or a single door that could be used as a ramp.

Figure 1: VTA bus ramp

Safety:

            The current pod systems like the Cabintaxi in Hagan, Germany has the establishing top speeds of 18-22 mph. This is less than half of the speed that the Superway would like to travel. The Cabintaxi speeds were tested with riders that were able to sit cooperatively. Safety for the riders and railways is a major concern for every transportation system. In long distance travel there was the suggestion of having seatbelts, which could extend to wheelchair riders by putting restraints on the wheels so that they do not move during the time the cabin is moving, as shown in figure 2.

Figure 2: Wheelchair hooks for safety

Station:

            The location and site position of the stations for the Superway needs to be decided. When the station is at the level of the track, then the cabin does not need to be lowered, as shown in figure 3. There is the possibility that the cabin will be lowered from the train to ground level for stations. This would require the station platform to be raised higher than ground to make the floor of the cabin level to the platform, as in figure 4. Another situation could be the floor of the cabin meeting ground. Or there is the possibility of the ramp-door taking place of the platform for ease of access to the cabin, figure 5. These options are all wheelchair accessible.

Figure 3: The Link ferris wheel in Las Vegas, NV. Example track level platform

Figure 4: VTA raised platform

Figure 5: Ramp connection for entry and exit