Network Objectives:

 

The Allender POD Transportation Network uses thousands of small single passenger pods traveling in a tube network to provide passengers with on-demand, non-stop transport to any other station on the network. Because the network provides a large grid of stations, the passenger is much less likely to need any connecting transportation.

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The POD is specifically engineered to emulate many of the attributes of private car travel, and avoid the cattle-car shortcomings of standard mass transit.

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The POD Network spreads the commuter load over a network of tubes, whereas mass transportation must concentrate passengers along a few corridors in large (standing room only) buses and light rail trains (LRT).

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The tube network consists of a web of one-way tubes with tube switching junctions for routing. The primary motive force is provided by a series of air fans/compressors moving air at 35 MPH in the tubes.

 

The advantages are:

 

• Passenger loads are spread out over the network because the systems serves the entire community rather than just a few arterial routes. Riders can live and work where they want (or can afford) rather than along the few developed rapid transit routes.

• The travel can be made at the time the passenger chooses rather than at scheduled times.

• The network speed is better than most LRT and buses, plus the total transport time can be substantially reduced because routes are direct with no station stops or transfer wait times required.

• Traffic can be automatically rerouted through the network should traffic over-loads or system failures occur.

• The cost per mile for each passenger appears to be much cheaper than bus or LRT. The cost of moving the pods in the tube will be only modestly effected by the volume of pods being moved. The network speed of 35 MPH keeps the power consumption much lower than what would be required for higher speeds, because the power required is proportional to the speed to the third power; therefore, doubling the speed requires 8 times the HP. Conversely, halving the speed drops the power needs by a factor of 8.

• Pods not currently needed to meet load demand, are stored at each station until the system calls them back into service; therefore, extra capacity is not being pushed around the system during off-peak periods.

• Because the Allender uses elevated air space, in a contained tube, there are no disastrous railway intersection or roadway crashes that take many lives and cost millions of dollars every year.

• The Allender tube has a small 7-foot diameter profile and when installed in a network configuration would consist of only one tube above the street except for tube junctions and station ramps. The support structures could be spaced at 40 feet in the street parking lane, such that no parking is lost and driving lanes are not affected. In contrast, most new urban mass transit systems displace currently used roadways and parking strips, because new right-of-way are too costly and litigious. This necessity, greatly reduces the net gain in passengers per hour on the right-of-way and greatly frustrates the present users of the displace facilities.

• The Allender could be blended in with any existing mass transit system to give commuters a link to and from the mass transit stations without having to coordinate with connecting schedules at both ends. The Allender would provide these connections on a demand basis.

• The Allender has a low cost per passenger-mile, plus the passenger will be able to avoid much more expensive connecting transportation to and from the mass transit stations. It is possible that a well designed system would be financially self-sustaining from fares.

• Energy wasting and CO2 producing traffic queue lines are eliminated.

• Because the Allender is a network that covers an entire city or district, it will find more political support. The location of rails and the relatively few stations for LRT currently require political compromises which can cause costly system alterations when routes and station locations are chosen to satisfy these political pressures.