According to Tomtom, the average morning peak traffic speed in our major cities varies between 9 and 20 mph. I chose the speed in Manchester for our case study. The average occupancy on roads is 1.2 people/vehicle. According to road regulations, a gap of two seconds must be maintained to the vehicle ahead. For 14 mph this gap is 12.5 m.
The key characteristic of Nymbel’s traffic is seamlessness, thanks to the complete absence of roundabouts, traffic lights, pedestrian crossings and side-parked vehicles. Seamlessness is also made possible by two system components that can not be disclosed publicly on IP backgrounds.
The absence of disruption and interaction with alternative traffic, in conjunction with the simplification of the traffic environment and interactions between vehicles, allows for an increase in speed, as follows:
- 50 mph for urban ring tracks
- 60-70 mph for urban radial tracks
- 80-100 mph for intercity tracks
With the speed increase also comes an increase in capacity, which is further enhanced by the safety gap reduction from 2 seconds (on roads) to 1 second in Nymbel system. This is made possible by the fact that the distance between vehicles is kept by an Adaptive Cruise Control that detects the vehicle ahead and reacts approximately 90 times faster than humans, and it is never tired, distracted, or tipsy.
Although the track width is only a fifth of that of the road (7.5m/1.4m), it transports the same number of people per hour (rather than cars/hour), while passengers are happy not only because their time in traffic drops to a third, but also due to the absence of any kind of stress (traffic, parking, recharging, multi-modal) related to their journey. All while a Nymbel monthly pass is about a quarter of the monthly car ownership cost.
The reduced size and weight of the vehicles and their infrastructure have a significant impact on the overall cost of the implementation, as well as on the profitability of the business.
Roads
Comments
The average 4-lane urban road building cost is £10-13 million per mile, and its width measures 15.4 m.
The Nymbel 2-way track with the same transport capacity (expressed in people/hour) costs £10 million per mile to implement and that includes 106 vehicles/mile (£8000 each). The total width is 2.8 m and occupies a space that’s currently grossly underused.
Same task, same capacity, 5.5x less public space.
It is mainly financed and funded by local or governmental budgets formed by taxation (Public Money)
It is financed and funded through traditional or green borrowing, revenues and environmental credits. Public money is welcome but optional.
Given its overall efficiency and simplicity, Nymbel is not just self-sufficient and profitable but also regenerative. It pays taxes rather than sucking subsidies, allowing for the local and governmental budgets to be redirected towards other crises mitigation efforts.
Building one mile of a 4-lane urban road takes anywhere between 6 months and 2 years, and causes a lot of noise, dust and traffic disruption. It also requires heavy machinery and dozens of workers.
Implementing a mile of 2-way Nymbel track takes one month, 6 people, two 3.5t lorries, and a light crane to complete. All components are precast, highly standardised, go together like Lego bricks and are reinforced with post-tensioned cables. Alternative traffic can unfold almost unhindered during installation.
Time and scalability are key in addressing climate change effectively.