SkyTran suddenly started gaining traction after Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani invested and acquired the majority of its stakes. But what is SkyTran?
SkyTran is something that will solve one of the biggest urban problems – road traffic. It’s time-consuming and reduces the efficiency of the whole city.
Every automobile company is talking about the autonomous driverless cars and electric cars. Good for them. But is it really solving the problem?
It’s simple.
People in urban areas want to reach their destinations quickly. But public transport systems are broken and crowded. Meanwhile, private vehicles are not only expensive but traffic issues are serious.
This is the reason why I found SkyTran promising and worth talking about!
What Exactly Is The Concept of SkyTran?
SkyTran is an American company that is developing personal high-speed mobility pods that will connect the major spots in a city. Even NASA is helping this company.
I will explain you in simpler language.
SkyTran will create railings at some height over the roads (similar to Mono Rails in Mumbai) and high-speed pods will move through those railings.
However, traditional railings are not used here. Magnetic levitation technology is used to run the pods. It means that pods will float using magnetic energy. This will ensure high speed.
These pods will have a maximum speed of 155 miles per hour.
Check this video –
It’s so easy to use that you don’t even need to own a car. Order a pod for yourself from the app and select your pick-up point as well as destination.
It’s just like ordering an Uber or Ola.
[Also Read | How Google Maps Work]
1] It’s Extremely Cheap –
It costs hundreds of millions of dollars to lay a kilometer of railways. But let’s talk about India where we implement things at cheaper rates.
According to Time of India, laying a 1 km high-speed train track costs around 100-140 crore Rupees in India.
Another report from Indian Express says that the estimated cost of Mumbai Metro is about Rs 350 crore per kilometer.
And guess the cost SkyTran?
The company says that it costs around $13 million per kilometer. That’s less than Rs 100 crores and it’s super cheap for the convenience!
2] No Limitations of Expansion
Roadways have a limit at horizontal level. Of course, we can create more flyovers and bridges but that gets costly and inconvenient.
How about laying multiple such tracks on the same pillars by going vertically upward? That is limitless.
This will end up leaving more free space on the ground which we can utilize for several other things.
3] Negligible Accidents and Risks
Even if we bring driverless cars, they can still become riskier while operating with other manual vehicles. Indian roads are no less than walls of death.
Since SkyTran will operate autonomously without any human intervention, it is bound to get safer. On top of that, pods are traveling on a track dedicated to them. No animals, no overtakers, and no stupid drivers!
Since AI will manage all the pods, distance and speed will be calculated and adjusted accordingly.
Also, it will save much fuel as it won’t consume fossil fuels and give the same experience of a car.
[You might like: Can Mobile Phones cause Fire at Fuel Stations?]
4] Fast Yet Convenient
In transport, either it’s about convenience or high-speed.
Public transports like trains or metros are often high-speed systems where you don’t really need to drive or do anything. But it costs you the inconvenience of crowds.
On the other hand, private vehicles require you to drive. Even if you hire a driver, you will still face traffic issues.
SkyTran is the hybrid model of these two things.
SkyTran pods comfortably fit 2 people and carry them all around the city.
5] Better Than Elon Musk’s Hyperloop
It’s not really right to compare SkyTran and Hyperloop because they serve entirely different purposes.
SkyTran is more about urban mobility traveling at 250 kmph while Hyperloop transports you from one to city to another at an average speed above 1000 kmph.
However, implementing SkyTran is much easier, cost-effective as well as environment friendly.
Overall, the whole concept is promising and worth considering after looking at the pathetic conditions of our cities.
Looking at the advancements of Mukesh Ambani, future looks good in India if they get successful in the existing countries.
No one, literally no one likes to spend countless hours in a traffic jam. It not only costs time but it affects mental health and consumes more resources.
Let me know what you think about this concept.
P2
