A presentation conducted by Dr Trevor Chorvat, Independent Researcher, Wollongong, NSW, Australia Presented on Thursday the 3rd of October 2013. There are many paradigms that could shape this century’s infrastructure in Australia, and indeed the world. This paper outlines one feasible pathway to fill a glaring gap in public transport within our cities, and do this while addressing a number of pressing social, environmental and economic needs including providing transport users an alternative to the car and truck, reduce congestion in cities, promote renewable energy sources, return ‘people space’ to cities and suburbs, and make it a healthier and happier space to name a few. The pathway outlined in this paper involves using a fully-automated small-vehicle system called Gazelle. The system uses linear motors for propulsion and an air cushion for frictionless levitation of the vehicle. Contact-less electromagnetic switching allows the vehicles to be routed across the track network. It is self-sufficient in renewable energy. Use of vertical space facilitates safe automation and allows continued use of most ground vehicles.

1. ENDORSING PARTNERS
A feasible pathway for
Australia’s next
infrastructure paradigm
The following are confirmed contributors to the business and policy dialogue in Sydney:
•
Rick Sawers (National Australia Bank)
•
Nick Greiner (Chairman (Infrastructure NSW)
Monday, 30th September 2013: Business & policy Dialogue
Tuesday 1 October to Thursday,
Dialogue
3rd
October: Academic and Policy
Presented by: Dr Trevor Chorvat, Independent Researcher, Wollongong,
NSW, Australia
www.isngi.org
www.isngi.org

2. ZOOMA – A FEASIBLE PATHWAY FOR
AUSTRALIA’S NEXT INFRASTRUCTURE
PARADIGM
Fully automated transport for people and goods
Dr Trevor Chorvat ( tc@genling.com )
Independent Researcher, Wollongong, NSW, Australia
and
Dr Keith Bramma
Bureau of Transport Statistics, Sydney, Australia
ISNGI, AUSTRALIA 2013
3 October, 2013
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3. OBJECTIVE
•
To show that the proposed solution – Zooma – is
• a feasible paradigm-shift pathway
• warrants funding to a stage where Zooma can be examined on its merits in
any global city’s metropolitan urban transport and land use planning strategy
•
Structure of presentation
• the energy and transport context in which Zooma fits
• explain what Zooma is
• compare Zooma to other modes
• apply Zooma to Sydney to illustrate feasibility
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3 October, 2013
page 3

4. ENERGY AND TRANSPORT CONTEXT
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electric cars
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driverless
cars
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ISNGI, AUSTRALIA 2013
① Energy sources from non-renewable to renewable
② Fossil-fuel use from extensive to zero
③ Concentrated linear routing to distributed parallel routing
④ Access proximity of transport from area-to-area to point-to-point
⑤ Shared use of transport vehicles from limited to extensive
⑥ Digital integration into transport from limited to deep
⑦ Vehicle control from manual to automated
⑧ Use of transport-dedicated people time from high to low
⑨ Land dedicated to transport from high to low
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5. WHAT IS ZOOMA ?
•
Zooma consists of:
• a new transport mode called Gazelle
• a functional interface called the Super Postal Service
•
Gazelle is:
• an elevated tube in every street, access lifts every 60 metres (200 feet)
• small light vehicles (plats) carrying 4 or 6 passengers, or 2 pallets of freight
• plats glide on an air cushion and propelled by a linear motor
• self-reliant on renewable energy (solar panels), with 1 month energy storage
• energy efficient and fully automated
•
Super Postal Service is:
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software that is accessed via a smart-phone app, computer, internet
•
a suite of transport and logistic functions that orchestrate Gazelle
•
responsibility and care of passengers and freight
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6. IS ZOOMA ENERGY EFFICIENT ?
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7. GAZELLE ENERGY USE
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8. WILL ZOOMA WORK IN PRACTICE ?
• Examine Zooma for
• volume feasibility
• pricing feasibility
• economic feasibility
• Mid-sized global city — Sydney
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9. MID-SIZED GLOBAL CITY — SYDNEY
• Population — 4.6 million
• Private vehicle numbers — 2.6 million
• Passenger transport
• Average weekday trips — 16.5 million
• Average trip length — 11 km ( 7 miles )
• Dominant mode — road 68% of average weekday travel
• Freight transport
• Average weekday task — 13 million tonne-km
• Road network — 21,000 kilometres
ISNGI, AUSTRALIA 2013
(9 million ton-miles)
(13,000 miles)
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10. CAN ZOOMA FULFILL THIS TRANSPORT TASK ?
•
Zooma sized to cope with 2050 volumes for Sydney (pop 7.3 mil)
• 23 million passenger trips per day
• 50 million tonne-kilometres of freight per workday
(34 million ton-miles)
• Zooma’s peak capacity — 4.6 million passenger trips per hour
• How?
• Use of distributed parallel track network
• Global optimised routing
• High occupancy rate — near 100%
• High average speed — 80 km/hr ( 50 mph )
• High volume track can be bi-directional
• More network capacity can be attained by using more plats — up to a point
• Dynamic pricing to spread traffic load in a globally co-ordinated way so
congestion is avoided
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11. CAN ZOOMA COMPETE ?
$0.90
Externality and Subsidy
$0.80
Other Private Costs
$0.70
$0.60
Fares or Fuel Cost
$0.50
$0.40
$0.30
$0.20
$0.10
$-
Gazelle
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Cars
Trains
Buses
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12. IS ZOOMA ECONOMICALLY FEASIBLE ?
• Benefits do not include
• automated transport
• digital integration (ITCT)
• agglomeration benefits
31
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13. GAZELLE INFRASTRUCTURE COSTS
Based on a 21,000 kilometre city network — Sydney
Item
Solar panels
Flywheel Energy Storage
Ultra-capacitor Energy Storage
Linear Motor
Electricity distribution (cables)
Track Structure
Track Enclosure
Switches/Merges
Electrical power switching & control
Air Compressors
Access Points
Plats (vehicles)
Service Centres
Air Quality Points
Computer centres
A$ billion
15
12
16
21
7
19
17
2
9
2
20
3
1
4
4
Total Network Cost (A$billion)
152
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A$7.5 million per kilometre
(A$12 million per mile)
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14. CONCLUSION
• The proposed solution – Zooma – is a feasible paradigm-shift pathway
• fully-automated transport
• digitally integrated
• self-reliant in renewable energy
• carries both passengers and freight
• congestion-free
• price competitive
• economically feasible
• Zooma needs funding support from any interested parties!
• prove the novel compressor concept
• develop Zooma to prototype stage
• refine feasibility analysis
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