Automated vehicle conveyance apparatus transportation system

Abstract

The Personal Mass Transit (PMT) system utilizes a removable vehicle conveyance apparatus and method for conveying transit vehicle car-pods and their contents from one transit station to another autonomously. Vehicle conveyance apparatus are stored off-line in storage silos and other areas awaiting on-demand transit system instruction to pickup vehicles at loading points and convey them to different stations as requested by occupants or pre-programmed instructions. The PMT system further utilizes a number of transmitter-receivers nodes and control computers to manage all aspects of operation of the transportation system. Any number of different types of PMT vehicles could ride the transit system when equipped with the correct coupling points and remain under the maximum combined curb weight of any particular area or type of transit track in order to be transported on the PMT system.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]Applicant claims the benefit of priority of prior, co-pending provisional application Ser. No. 61 / 556,741, filed Nov. 7, 2011, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference.FIELD OF INVENTION[0002]The invention disclosed herein relates in general to the field of transportation, and more particularly, to the autonomous conveyance of vehicles carrying people and commerce along tracks using detachable, self-conveyed apparatus.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]Public mass transit is a good way to move a lot of people at one time. Established modes of public transportation are reliable and convenient for many daily transit riders. Except during the busiest of commute hours, seats are available and the mass transit systems run on time. If a rider wants to go somewhere, they simply walk to a bus stop or train station at a specific time, pay a transit fee, get on-board, and the transit ensues. Schedules are set at specific intervals and carriages are usually bi...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0006]The automated vehicle conveyance apparatus system is also known as Personal Mass Transit (PMT). Personal Mass Transit is an automated, on-demand, mass transit system utilizing a plurality of removable vehicle conveyance apparatus, a plurality of removable vehicle car-pods with system interfaces, a plurality of local and wide-area network tracks, a plurality of track switching systems, a plurality of computer control systems, a plurality of vehicle tracking systems, a plurality of back-up systems, a plurality of off-line conveyance apparatus storage silos, a reservation system and an all-weather track shroud with built-in solar collectors. The PMT system safely and efficiently moves people and their belongings from a departure station to a destination station in vehicle car-pods, which are temporarily coupled to a vehicle conveyance apparatus. Drivers become riders as each individual car-pod is conveyed autonomously while coupled to a vehicle conveyance apparatus along the transit track. In one embodiment of the automated vehicle conveyance transit system, riders drive a car-pod to a transit station where they are coupled to a vehicle conveyance apparatus that is suspended from an elevated transit track, where the vehicle conveyance apparatus is autonomously loaded onto the transit track network and conveyed to the destination station chosen by the rider.

[0007]In this embodiment, the car-pods are not stored on the transit track system, which lessens the environmental impact or need to secure large amounts of storage space in crowded urban areas or build-out large storage tracks. Even in suburban areas, where large amounts of transit vehicle storage space might be easier to secure, the large amounts of storage space for the car-pods is not needed. Each car-pod is only temporarily coupled to the vehicle conveyance apparatus allowing the car-pod to drive to a transit station for loading and drive away from the destination station once it is unloaded.

[0008]In one embodiment, the transit traffic using the PMT system is on-demand, because there are is not a schedule or timeline to adhere to. Commuters arrive at a transit load-point in a car-pod and are loaded onto the transit track network for automated, hands-free, transportation. This can save energy and environmental pollution by not operating unneeded buses or trains that run on pre-determined schedules. This is because each car-pod navigates the transit system as needed. In addition, the vehicle conveyance apparatus can exit the transit

Problems solved by technology

Other on-demand transit systems have been proposed, but no solution has

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