Undisrupted urban and intercity rapid transit system

Abstract

A public transportation system comprises a plurality of individual, single occupancy autonomous vehicles in the form of pods 1. The pods travel along an infrastructure network including elevated and e

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 1. The present invention relates to an urban and intercity transportation system characterised by: (A) Seamless, no-stopping journeys between any boarding and alighting points within the network, (B) Electric, fully autonomous, single-occupancy vehicles travelling on elevated runways, isolated from other traffic. (C) Simplified and totally predictable traffic, free of moral dilemmas, (D) Reduced journey times to one-third compared to the average urban traffic speed today. (E) A fifth of the environmental footprint compared to journeys using single-occupancy electric cars. (F) Urban space utilisation is reduced to one-third compared to cars on roads. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 2. Existing urban transportation systems are characterised by frequent disruptions such as traffic lights, roundabouts, pedestrian crossings, construction works, accidents, and parked cars. Public transport systems like buses and trams also involve time wasted at stops. Even subways, despite operating in a 3D-separated environment, have their efficiency hampered by station stops. These disruptions significantly increase travel time. 3. Despite the lower cost of public transport compared to car ownership, only a small percentage of the population uses buses (6%) and trains(9%), while 68% are using cars for their commute. (TSGB, 14.12.2023, Chart 8, Transport Out of those cars 90% are single-occupancy (National Travel Survey, NTS0905; 30.03.2023, nts0905.ods (live.com)). making it today’s most prevalent and successful traffic trend, as people prioritise time, comfort, and privacy over affordability and eco-friendliness of public transport. The resulting traffic congestion worsens annually, leading to increased time spent in traffic and associated stress. Traffic congestion’s annual cost for the UK is £7.5 billion with a rate increase of £718 million per year. (INRIX 2023, Global Traffic Scorecard, INRIX 2023 Global Traffic Scorecard: London most congested 4. There is no existing single-occupancy vehicle alternative that meets the convenience and safety standards of solo car drivers. Current options like bicycles, motorcycles, and scooters lack safety and comfort. However, using a car capable of carrying five people at 100-120 mph to transport only one person at 10-20 mph on urban roads, comes with 80 % energy and resource waste, and 65% space waste, with a proportional impact on the commuting cost. The proposed system meets and exceeds the car users' well-being standards, while using only the exact amount of space, energy, and resources needed to get from A to B, saving 80% of the cost we are currently paying for something we do not actually use. 5. Urban road traffic complexity and unpredictability hinder the development of fully autonomous driving. The present invention simplifies its traffic and eliminates unpredictability and moral dilemmas, enabling full autonomy with readily available technology and software. 6. Current strategies to alleviate traffic congestion focus on transitioning from car-based transport to mass transit, with little success so far, due to lack of desirability. Seventy-six percent of the vehicles in traffic are cars while buses only represent 1 % (Department for Transport, Road traffic estimates 2023, Chart 5, 22.05.2024, Road traffic estimates m Great Bmasn, 2023 Traffic in Great Bntain bytvehide ty^ The proposed system is more convenient because it increases average traffic speed, enhances safety, cancels traffic / parking / charging related stress, and provides the privacy valued by commuters, PODs are available 24 / 7 / 365, at a smaller cost than that of owning a car, facilitating a smooth transition to low-eco-footprint transportation. 7. Developing a renewable energy infrastructure to support the electrification of transportation based on cars and buses, requires enormous amounts of money, land, and time. Not even high-income countries (16% of the population with a service-based economy) have the financial power and land availability to develop this renewable infrastructure by 2050. Even if they manage to do so, the rest of the countries (84% of the population with an economy based on energy-intensive industry, producing the vast majority of goods consumed by developed countries), will still be heavily reliant on fossil fuels. Local Net-Zero achievements are completely irrelevant if they aren’t globalised or are attained at the expense of exacerbating global emissions. However, simply transitioning to electric-powered vehicles does not alleviate traffic congestion and parking issues. The proposed system's smaller and more efficient vehicles and the infrastructure adapted to their sizes reduce resource usage and both public and agricultural land use. Its high energy efficiency given by its lightweight vehicles and seamless trips, reduces the need for extensive renewable energy infrastructure to electrify transportation, and the financial and environmental costs associated with it. 8. in summary, the presented system has increased chances of success because it provides its customers with better conditions (faster, safer, more comfortable, less stressful, more affordable, and easier to use) than cars in urban environments, to achieve desirability, while using just the right amount of energy, resources, and land to attain it. INTRODUCTION TO THE DRAWINGS FIGURE 1: Comparison of the POD to a Sedan car, illustrating the generous space availability for the occupant and baggage. FIGURE 2: Elevated track (said “runway” hereinafter) built over existing road infrastructure, showing cars and vans parked underneath, highlighting a symbiotic coexistence of the proposed system with the existing one. FIGURE 3: Runway with transparent cover removed to reveal the PODs, and the safety gap between them. FIGURE 4: Cross-section of a single-file Runway with a POD. FIGURE 5: Cross-section of a dual-file Runway with PODs travelling in opposite directions. FIGURE 6: Bottom view of the Runway with supporting and reinforcing elements. FIGURE 7: Example network map with radial-runways, loop-runways, and fly-over junctions. FIGURE 8: Detail of the network showing stations and runway connections. FIGURE 9: Different types of stations and exit / entrance connectors. FIGURE 10: Different High-traffic station bays. FIGURE 11: Low-traffic station. FIGURE 12: Options for attaching Low-traffic stations to single-file and dual-file runways. FIGURE 13: Fly-over junction connecting dual-file radial-runways with dual-file loop-runways. FIGURE 14: Horizontal section of a fly-over junction entrance / exit. FIGURE 15: Exits and entrances to stations and slip-runways. FIGURE 16: Horizontal cross-section of exits towards stations, slip-runways, and fly-over junctions,showing their identical geometry. FIGURE 17: Horizontal cross-section of entrances from stations, slip-runways, and fly-over junctions, showing their identical geometry. FIGURE 18: PODs’ synchronisation at the entrance from stations. FIGURE 19: Evolution of public space used by transportation. DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 8. The invention pertains to an urban and intercity transportation system utilising ultralight, single-occupancy PODs (1) travelling on a dedicated infrastructure consisting of elevated runways supported by pillars (FIGURE 2 and 6), arranged in a spider-web-like network (FIGURE 7). The runways are connected through fly-over junctions with non-intersecting paths (FIGURE 13) and slip-runways (item 13 in FIGURE 8), with stations situated on secondary loops (FIGURE 9), ensuring uninterrupted traffic and seamless journeys from boarding to alighting. 9. The system achieves energy, resource, space, and time efficiency through: • Optimising the amount of space, energy, and resources used during travel. • Simplifying traffic and removing unpredictability. • Eliminating elements that disrupt traffic. • Standardising vehicles. • Standardising infrastructure components. • Transferring tasks from vehicles to static infrastructure elements. 10. FIGURE 1 illustrates the POD (1) compared to a regular Sedan car. The POD's dimensions provide ample space for the occupant and baggage while occupying only one-third of the public space used by a car. The POD's reduced weight and size result in significant energy and resource savings and considerably reduced cost. • Based on the full-scale POD prototype we built, the curb weight of the POD is 220 kg. Considering a passenger of 120 kg and his baggage of 60 kg, the gross weight reaches 400 kg. Compared to a Tesla 3 car that weighs on average 2200 kg, the vehicle in this presentation is 5.5 times lighter, with a corresponding decrease in the energy required to get the vehicle from A to B. One can argue that an electric car is designed to carry 5 people, but in 90% of the cases (National Travel Survey, NTS0905; 30.03.2023, M905.ads (dve.comll they are single-occupancy, wasting 80% more energy and 65% more space than needed. • The system also provides a POD version the same shape and size with the cockpit designed to accommodate a parent with up to 10-year-old child face-to-face or in tandem, but having the baggage storage diminished, so the gross weight will not exceed 400 kg. • Another POD version having the same size and shape has a cockpit designed to accommodate a wheelchair user. Its total weight will also be within 400 kg. • The reduced size and weight come with a corresponding drop in the resources used to manufacture the POD, which in turn has an indirect impact on the Scope 3 (value chain) emissions and environmental destruction associated with its manufacturing. • The weight reduction, along with the minimum safety gap between PODs, described later in this application (in paragraph 12), allows for a slender, space-efficient, and relatively inexpensive infrastructure. 11. FIGURE 2 The PODs travel on elevated and enclosed tracks (2) called “runways” hereinafter, supported by pillars (3) spaced 12 metres apart, allowing for parking or recharging of two cars between pillars. The minimum elevation of the runways is 2.9 metres, to be able to accommodate vans underneath. The height can be increased to 5.6 m by using longer pillars, where it passes over roads with heavy traffic. Given the 1.4 m runway width, it is easy and inexpensive to enclose the track. This comes at an extra cost added to the infrastructure, but with several advantages: • It saves the surrounding communities from the dust, noise, and visual intrusion caused by the traffic • It protects the traffic from the elements and makes several devices supposed to deal with them unnecessary, further reducing the POD s weight. • It allows for solar cells to be placed on the top and side walls of the infrastructure to partially cover the system’s energy needs 12. FIGURE 3 shows the same infrastructure with the transparent cover removed to show PODs travelling on the runway, maintaining a safety gap between them. The gap is managed by the Adaptive Cruise Control embedded in every POD. The adaptive Cruise Control measures the distance to the vehicle or any obstacle ahead 20 times per second and it reacts instantaneously, as opposed to humans in cars who have a perception delay of about % of a second, followed by a reaction delay of another % seconds, making the PODs 30 times safer in terms of avoiding collisions. That in conjunction with the fact that all the vehicles in the system are unmanned can safely reduce the safety gap to one second, as opposed to the two-second gap in the road environment. Halving the gap almost doubles the runway’s capacity. 13. FIGURE 4 depicts the cross-section of a single-file runway (2) supported by pillars (3), supports (4), and reinforcement bars (5). The runway, made of composite material and reinforced with post-tensioned steel cables running through the longitudinal holes (7), features removable and recyclable tracks (6) and a transparent curved polycarbonate panel (9) allowing users to see the town from above. A runway discontinuity sensor cable runs through the longitudinal hole (8). 14. FIGURE 5 illustrates a dual-file runway with parallel traffic in opposite directions, supported by a single row of pillars (3), with a solar panel array (10) on top. 15. FIGURE 6 shows the runway (2) from underneath with supporting elements (3, 4, and 5). The diagram at the bottom shows how the runway sectors are reinforced to keep them safe even if one of the pillars is damaged. Pillars are filled with reinforced concrete up to 1.5 m from the ground, to withstand a possible impact with a car. The concrete elevation reinforcements are connected to those in the pillar’s foundation. Three post-tensioned steel cables (7A) are connected to the concrete elevation of the first pillar by means of tensioning devices, then passed through three of the six holes (7 in FIGURE 4), over the length of the first and second runway sectors and connected to the third pillar’s foundation, consolidating the two sectors into a single bridge supported by 3 pillars. Similarly, from the second pillar, the other three post-tensioned steel cables (7B) pass through the remaining holes consolidating the second and the third sectors and are connected to the fourth pillar. With this intertwined configuration, even if a pillar is shattered by an impact, the runway will be supported by the adjacent ones. Each cable has a tensile strength of 2.4 tons, altogether 14.4 tons, which is plenty to support the 400 kg POD and the approximately 1 -1.4 tons of the runway sector. The sensor-cable 8 in FIGURE 4 will sense the problem immediately and will stop the traffic through the damaged sector. 16. FIGURE 7 The network comprises two-way high-speed radial-runways (11) grade-separated by the slower loop-runways (12) connected by slip-runways (13 in FIGURE 8) and fly-over junctions (14). The traffic on radial-runways unfolds at 60-70 mph, while loop-runways operate at 40-50 mph. 17. FIGURE 8 depicts a detailed view of the network, with stations (15) located within a five-minute walk or % mile from any point. Stations are placed on secondary loops to avoid disrupting main runway traffic. Traffic can unfold both through dual-file and single-file runways, depending on the traffic demand and space availability in the area. 18. FIGURE 9 High-traffic stations (15A) can be located in various public spaces with higher space availability, like school yards, retail or business parks, stadiums, train stations, airports, but also inside buildings like hospitals, malls, office buildings, etc, and support multiple boarding points, allowing simultaneous boarding of passengers. FIGURE 10 shows a portion of such a station with standardised bays that can be added as demand increases. One such bay placed within a mall car park can save 5-6 car parking spots. Placed inside airport car parks where cars’ dwell time is considerably longer it can replace 40-50 car parking bays. PODs enter the station through the entrance (16), from the slip-runway that connects the station to the main-runway. They continue going on the access corridor (17) until they find a free bay, where they enter (1E) and stop on the pivoting platform (23). The door opens by sliding sideways along with a platform bearing the seat with the passenger. (1D). The passenger gets off the POD and uses the exit / entrance (20) to leave the bay, and then the pedestrian path (19) to leave the station. Once freed up the POD’s door shuts and the UVC lamps embedded in the POD ceiling perform a 3-minute disinfection of the cockpit so that no viruses or germs left behind by the previous customer will be transmitted to the next one. Boarding passengers will use the same exit / entrance (20) to get on the POD. Once the passenger sits and fastens the seat belt, the door closes, the pivoting platform (23) turns 90 degrees (1C) and the POD leaves the station through the access corridor (17) then the station exit (18) onto the slip runway and finally onto the main runway. The first two bays (1F) and (1G) on the right are for wheelchair users. PODs for wheelchair users have exactly the same shape and size, only the cockpit and sliding door are adapted so that the wheelchair is securely fastened during the trip. The passenger exits the bay through the exit (23) then the platform pivots the POD 180 degrees making it available for a new customer which boards using the entrance (19). After boarding, the platform turns the POD right 45 degrees and sets off. There’s a beacon (24 and 25) at each bay’s entrance that only turns green (24) when the POD is ready for boarding, with the cockpit disinfected. Otherwise, it is red (25), preventing people alighting from intersecting with those wanting to board. That in conjunction with the fact that vehicles aren’t shared and disinfected PODs are always available, so there’s no waiting in stations, minimises the risk of disease spreading. 19. FIGURE 9 Low-traffic stations (15B) are suitable for locations where space availability is limited. They are only 2.4 m wide, adjacent to the main runway, and only two people can board at a time. PODs are available 24 / 7 / 365 in the station and the boarding only takes 30-40 seconds. PODs enter through the station entrance (26) in FIGURE 11 and stop in the Alighting sector (27). Passengers get off the POD and head towards the exit (30) using the Pedestrian corridor (28), and the Stairs (29). Once freed up PODs move automatically into the Charging / Disinfecting sector (31). Boarding customers access the station through the entrance (32), stairs (33) and the pedestrian corridor (34) into the boarding platform (35). Once seated and seat belt fastened, the door closes and the POD sets off through the station exit (36), and onto the main runway. The disease-spreading avoidance in low-traffic stations is even higher than in the case of high-traffic stations. Boarding passengers can not intersect passengers leaving the station. If the Alighting sector is fully occupied and the system communicates that there are PODs to arrive, The first PODs in the Boarding sector, automatically set off empty and relocate into a buffer storage at the next junction, to make room for the coming POD(s). Depending on the area’s traffic demand the low-traffic stations can be attached to one-way runways (15B.1, in FIGURE 12), on one side of a two-way runway (15B.2), or both sides of a two-way runway (15B.3) 20. Slip runways (13 in FIGURE 8) facilitate the transfer of PODs between single-file and dual-file runways and vice-versa. 21. Fly-over interchanges (37 in FIGURE 13) enable seamless transfer between dual-file runways. All fly-over interchanges throughout the network have precisely the same size and shape. The standardised size and shape simplify the manufacturing and installation as well as the autonomous driver’s task. Each runway entering the interchange using the entrance / exit modules (38), splits into 3 runways of the same size, providing a 300% space increase inside the interchange, as opposed to a road roundabout in which the space of the roads entering it combined is reduced by approximately 70%. The space increase allows for a slight speed reduction inside the junction, without affecting the overall speed of the system. One of the 3 runways goes left (37A), the next goes right (37B) and the third goes straight ahead (37C) without intersecting or weaving. Compared to its road fly-over counterpart with the same functionality, due to its reduced runway width from 3.6 m to 1.4 m and the clearance between two layers of traffic decreased from 5.05 m to 1.8 m, the interchange diameter drops from 162 m to 40 m and its height from 22.5 m to 5.4 m, having the same diameter of a regular roundabout but significantly enhanced capacity (from a 70% space reduction to a 300% space increase). Thanks to the enclosed runways and to all PODs being electric and lightweight, the junction noisiness is not an issue either. 22. All exits from the main runway and entrances onto the main runway have standardised geometry throughout the system, simplifying manufacturing, installation, and autonomous driving tasks. FIGURE 14 presents the exit / entrance module (38) towards and from the fly-over interchange (37 in FIGURE 13) FIGURE 15 presents the exit (39) towards a low-traffic station, the exit (40) towards a slip-runway or a high-traffic station, the entrance (41) from a low-traffic station and the entrance (42) from a slip runway or a high-traffic station. The way these features are integrated into the system is presented in FIGURE 9. FIGURE 16 shows the tracks the PODs follow when they exit towards a station (39), a slip-runway (40) and a fly-over interchange (40A), having identical geometries. FIGURE 17 shows the entrances from a station (41), a slip-runway (42)and a fly-over interchange (42A), having identical geometries. 23. The standardisation of pillars, supports, exits, entrances, and interchanges allows for infinitely expandable and configurable networks, using a relatively small number of component types. All components are precast, easy to assemble, and reconfigurable. 24. The infrastructure components are produced through pultrusion. The pultrusion machine is relatively small, lightweight, easy to assemble and disassemble and requires relatively low energy to operate. It comprises the fibreglass and resin feeders, the machine itself and a long modular table. Once exiting the machine the components are pulled along the table and cut when they reach the standard size. The whole pultrusion system can be loaded on a lorry and assembled near the infrastructure installation site, saving transportation costs, hurdles and traffic disruption. From here, the majority of the infrastructure components can reach the installation site using special rails fitted on top of the already installed infrastructure. 25.The simplified traffic in the present invention eliminates oncoming traffic, lane changes, side-parked cars, human factors, and unpredictability. All stations are on secondary loops. Exits are always to the left and at the same turning angle of only 12 degrees. Vehicles are standardised and communicate using the same Al language. Transceivers embedded in the infrastructure dictate the PODs' speed and behaviour, eliminating the need for traffic signs. Passengers can not influence the POD’s speed or behaviour. (Same as they can’t influence the speed of the bus or subway nowadays.) The meteorological conditions’ impact is minimised by the enclosed runways and the defrosting grids embedded in the tracks (6 in FIGURE 4) that switch on automatically when the temperature outside drops below one degree Celsius. The only collision risk is where PODs exiting from stations, slip-runways or fly-over junctions merge onto the main runways’ traffic. The process is similar to the way cars coming from a slip road merge into the motorway traffic, having approximately the same speed, and requiring minimal speed corrections. The difference is that in the case of the current invention, the synchronising task is performed by transceivers operating on electromagnetic waves travelling at the speed of light, sensing the signals and reacting in real-time, even through the runway walls. FIGURE 18 presents a portion of the network, where main traffic unfolds at 60 mph passing by a low-traffic station. Synchronising the PODs to prevent collisions or significant traffic slowdowns is achieved through a simple algorithm: The POD on the main runway (43) starts emitting an electromagnetic signal when it passes the cue “ON”. The signal is perceived by the POD in the station (44) which will stand still until the POD 43 passes the cue “OFF”, and stops emitting. At this moment POD 44 sets off, accelerating to about 40-50 mph when it merges the main traffic. The “OFF” cue’s position is calculated so that the POD 44 merges the traffic right behind POD 43, and until the POD 44 reaches 60 mph the distance between them is 26 m (a one-second gap at 60mph). Any vehicles behind POD 44 will be slightly slowed down by their Adaptive Cruise Controls if they are too close. A slight variation of the same algorithm is applied where vehicles exiting high-traffic stations or fly-over junctions merge into the main traffic. As these entrances’ geometry is the same throughout the system, there’s no need for multiple or more sophisticated algorithms. 26. The reduced intricacy explained in the previous paragraph makes the autonomous driving task 90% less complex than on urban roads. It is achievable using exclusively readily available technology: a Sat-Nav dedicated to the presented system, an Adaptive Cruise Control, a Lane-Keeping-Assist controlling the torque-vectoring of the in-wheel motors, and several transceivers. 27. POD’s navigation is controlled by a Sat-Nav in conjunction with the Lane Keeping Assist, which at its turn controls the torque-vectoring steering. By default PODs keep a steady distance of 20 cm to the right wall of the runway. The task is performed by a proximity sensor that measures the distance between the POD and the wall 60 times per second. If the distance drops below 20 cm, the sensor emits an electric signal that reduces the rotational speed of the in-wheel motor at the left until the 20 cm distance is restored. If the distance increases the proximity sensor commands the left wheel to accelerate slightly until it gets back to 20 cm. Given the distance reading frequency and the instantaneous reaction, the speed variations aren’t sensed by the passenger. When the POD has to enter a station, a slip-runway, or a fly-over junction, the Sat Nav switches the steady-distance keeping from the right wall to the right wall of the runway (similarly as a car Sat-Nav suggests verbally to the driver to “turn next left”). The POD follows the left wall until it merges back the main traffic, when the Sat Nav switches again to the right wall. 28. The absence of human error, responsible for 84% of road accidents, combined with simplified traffic, allows for a corresponding reduction in traffic accidents. 29. PODs are recharged after every trip, and during the off-peak time, making it possible to reduce their range to 60 miles, which is however, 3 fold the average commute today, and 4-5 times smaller than the range an electric car must have (250-300 miles) to be competitive on the market. The range reduction comes with a drop in battery weight, triggering a reduction in emissions to generate the energy to propel the POD and in the environmental destruction associated with its manufacturing. 30. The vehicle's weight is further reduced by the decreased impact likelihood (requiring a less robust structure), absence of meteorological challenges, and the absence of transmission mechanism owed to the in-wheel motors controlled through torque vectoring. 31. Energy consumption and associated emissions are further reduced by the absence of traffic disruptions, removing the need for repeated accelerations / decelerations that make energy consumption peak during road trips. 32. The overall environmental impact of a trip using the present invention is 80% smaller than that using a single-occupancy electric car. The overall impact is further reduced 6-8 fold compared to a single-occupancy electric car, as each POD serves multiple passengers daily. 33. Similar elements or concepts to those that make up the system in the present invention have been created and tried before but never put together in this configuration. • There have been many Single-occupancy vehicles created so far, but they were released in an unwelcoming environment - roads - that are intended for large, heavy and powerful vehicles whereas small ones seem fragile and unsafe, hence the lack of public traction. Also, narrow vehicles on roads can topple over in sharp turns at high speeds. The network in the present invention is made up of runways dedicated solely to its traffic with no interference with other types of vehicles, in which the sharpest turn is 12 degrees. • There are elevated transport infrastructures all around us but all of them must withstand at least the weight of several cars (1.5-2.81 each) bumper-to-bumper, if not buses (181), Lorries (25-401) or even trains (45+ t). The present invention’s infrastructure must only withstand 0.4 t because PODs never get closer than 13 m from one another, even in the unlikely event that traffic comes to a halt, while the span between the pillars that support it is 12 m. This feature increases safety, saves resources for manufacturing the infrastructure components, and reduces implementation costs, making it easy to implement and scale, even in low-income countries, contributing to a global, rather than local mitigation of Climate Change and environmental degradation. • There are also dedicated elevated infrastructures carrying PODs for example at Heathrow Airport. However, they are designed to carry six people, and if there are fewer occupants they operate wasting energy and space. Their gross weight is 1300 kg. Their tracks are in the form of a loop and vehicles are restricted to move inside that loop. The current invention uses single-occupancy PODs that only set off when they are 100% occupied. Their weight is 3.25 times smaller than Heathrow PODs, with a corresponding drop in energy use and infrastructure robustness. They operate on a spider-web-like network, with loop-runways connected to radial-runways, in which PODs can move from one runway to another having the same versatility as cars on roads, but being faster and safer. • Another elevated transport infrastructure that is also enclosed is the Hyperloop. This system aims to cover long distances in a short time, travelling at 760 mph through a vacuumed tunnel. It requires significant technological advancements to reach that speed, keep passengers safe, and keep the tunnel vacuumed. Its vehicles are multi-occupancy, stations are at great distances from each other, and passengers must stop in the stations even if they don’t have to alight. The present invention is aimed at urban environments, where stations need to be within walking distance of each other. However, PODs only enter a station if the passenger has to get off. The speed range (40-70 mph) doesn’t require yet-to-be-discovered technologies or vacuumed tunnels. • Cars also enjoy the advantages of spider-web-like networks (roads) providing greater flexibility compared to fixed bus, tram, or subway routes. However, their journeys are disrupted by roundabouts, traffic lights, pedestrian crossings, side-parked cars, bus stops, etc. Disruptions slow down the traffic and therefore require more space to be allocated (wider or alternative roads), to accommodate the traffic. The traffic in the present invention’s network is characterised by seamlessness (absence of disruption), which increases the average traffic speed and implicitly the network's capacity allowing for a reduction, rather than an increase in allocated space. • On urban roads a traffic speed increase comes with an increase in traffic accidents and noisiness. The current invention increases the average speed more than 3-fold compared to urban roads due to traffic seamlessness while reducing accidents by approximately 85% by excluding the “human factor” from the equation, and decreasing noisiness by enclosing the runways. • Full autonomy is not a new notion. However, for a road environment, despite the billions spent on research so far and the fact that all tangible and visible issues have been solved, fully autonomous vehicles are still a distant dream due to unpredictability, moral dilemmas, the need to replace all non-autonomous vehicles with autonomous ones and get all vehicle makes speak the same Al language. The present invention achieves full autonomy by simplifying the traffic environment, standardising vehicles and junctions, and removing unpredictability and moral dilemmas to the point it is achieved using only readily available tech. • The currently considered sustainable alternatives to cars - buses, trams, bicycles, and walking, are slower. Providing dedicated lanes for these alternatives generally comes at the expense of narrowing the road space used by cars. Today, buses represent only 1% of the vehicles in the UK, transporting only 6% of the commuters. The dedicated and elevated track for the present invention occupies a space that is currently grossly underused, (FIGURE 19) it has an increased traffic speed, absorbing a significant part of the traffic, leaving the road space decongested for those using shared vehicles. • Current strategies are struggling to determine a transition from unsustainable car-based commuting to a more sustainable one based on public transport through expensive incentives (subsidising buses to keep fares low), on the one hand, and unpopular disincentives (restricting cars access in central areas, insufficient and expensive parking spots) on the other hand. Multimodal commuting makes lives complicated and stressful and increases time wasted in traffic. The proposed solution’s strategy is to determine a smooth, natural and voluntary transition based on own accord, well-being enhancement, and increased mobility. 34. Although the present disclosure has been described with reference to specific embodiments, it will be recognized that the disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described, but can be practised with modification and alteration within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative sense rather than a restrictive sense. Unless otherwise specifically stated, the terms and expressions have been used herein as terms of description and not terms of limitation. There is no intention to use the terms or expressions to exclude any equivalent of features shown and described or portions thereof and this disclosure should be defined in accordance with the claims that follow.

Claims

1. A public transportation system comprising a plurality of individual, single-occupancy, fully autonomous PODs, travelling on a spiderweb-like infrastructure characterised by:- Elevated and enclosed runways supported by pillars,- Slip-runways and fly-over junctions connecting said runways,- Stations situated on secondary loops so as not to hinder the traffic,- An infinitely configurable and expandable network.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the PODs travel between any two points in the network without making any intermediate stops, thereby providing uninterrupted journeys.

3. The system of claim 1, in which traffic complexity is reduced to the point where vehicles attain full autonomy using only readily available technology: adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assist, sat-nav and transceivers.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the PODs maintain a minimum safety gap between them, controlled by the adaptive cruise control, that is greater than the span between two consecutive pillars, to ensure safe operation and prevent overloading of the infrastructure.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the energy consumption per trip is reduced to one-fifth of that of a single-occupancy electric car, through optimised vehicle and runway size and seamless traffic.

6. The system of claim 1 and 5, wherein the environmental footprint of each trip is reduced to one-quarter of that using an electric car, through reduced energy consumption and efficient infrastructure use.

7. The system of claim 1 and 5, wherein the urban space required for the infrastructure is reduced to one-third compared to traditional road-based car travel while maintaining the same transportation capacity measured in people / minute.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the fly-over junctions, runway components and station elements are standardised in size and shape, simplifying manufacturing, installation and system reconfiguration.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the traffic is managed by transceivers embedded in the infrastructure, dictating POD speed and behaviour, thereby eliminating the need for traditional traffic signs.

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