Bike Rail
Human-powered transport in the sun and under the stars.	Human scaled Eco-mechanical Rail guides steering Fun! (work in progress) WindCheetah Adirondack Guard Rail	Personal Rapid Transit People-Powered Personal Rapid Transit Supra Car Advance Transport Systems ULTra Austin Citizens for Personal Rapid Transit SkyTran
Advocacy You are strongly urged to advocate an elevated bikeway and semi-powered bike rail system for New York City as sensible personal and mass transport for the people of this city to travel above ground in the sun and under the stars dramatically demonstrating that New York is willing and able to spearhead the first real initiative to stop global warming. The first elevated bikeways can be built on the medians of Broadway and Park Avenue and down Fifth Avenue virtually overnight with minimal cost and impact on traffic– since automobiles are sacrosanct in this town – using modular trusses and catwalks. A well-designed recumbent bike rail system would provide cost effective, convenient, comfortable, and energy efficient personal and mass transport since it does not require that a half-ton or more of steel and glass be moved with each traveling person.  Such a distributed on-demand system will easily accommodate the elderly and handicapped and be adapted to long distance travel. As the precursor to automobiles and airplanes bicycles have been around for well over 200 years designing and building an elevated bike rail and bikeway system should not require breakthrough technology, highly advanced engineering, or exotic expertise but merely good design. Key Design Requirements Key design requirements include that they be easy to put up and take down, and be as close to human scale as possible making these systems highly adaptable to local conditions providing considerable aesthetic advantages (with profiles many times lower than all other modes of transportation except perhaps those hidden underground) and enhanced application as well as ease of implementation, modification, and maintenance.	Another very important design issue is that this system be readily accessible to the elderly and handicapped especially those who are not comfortable or able to use conventional bicycle transport so that personally owned transport by certain individuals may be designed to conform to the system. The major reason for elevating these systems is to allow personal transport to work despite cars but there are other important attributes as well such as for tourism, or just being fun, and solving problems with snow removal and floods, and especially when it comes to traveling distances greater than 5 miles every day.  In those areas where cars are not a problem it will usually be much easier to run at ground level, although elevated sections greatly mitigate transport and pedestrian conflicts.  They could also easily piggy back existing high speed car routes here in New York City such as the Brooklyn Queens Expressway, Van Wyck Expressway, or the Belt Parkway.  Over the median on Broadway in Manhattan has been suggested to provide the least impact to local congestion and the community and it is the intent that it be perceived by many as a major enhancement.  Embedding these systems within trees whenever possible would moderate weather effects and greatly enhance aesthetics and the travel experience. Bike Rail is at an embryonic stage and challenges exist.  As a direct application of mature bicycle technology, design issues should not be huge and insights are solicited in a driving initiative to stop global warming, a problem of unprecedented scale and urgency. The New York Metropolitan region houses 21 million people, has a gross regional product of about $1 trillion United States dollars on scale with the economies of Canada and Brazil and consuming about half the equivalent United States production of petroleum is a very important place to start.	Key Design Points Human powered Piggybacks existing transport Lowest emissions and energy usage Encourages exercise Helps cool city by not requiring heat island surfaces Optional electric powering and intelligent electronics Rail system keeps vehicle upright and guides steering: Just pedal! Elevated to eliminate interference with cars and pedestrians Low cost, very cost effective, minimum materials Easy to put up and take down Fast, easy, and fun Yelling 'Fire' On a Hot Planet State of The Planet 2006 True Cost of Driving On Broadway Auto-Free New York Words Warmer Temperatures Mean More Infections Climate and Society at the Earth Institute ClintonAdvancedResearchProjectsEnergyAct.mht Jeff Sachs on Sustainable Development Great Warming Film Promo First Sketch Toy Wagon
Recumbent Bicycles	Light-Weight Modular Trusses	Smart Bike Design
Brief History WindCheetah joystick easily adapts to rail steering Speed Bike Gallery Video Gold Rush Recumbent Racer Orange-Yellow Recumbent Racer International Human Powered Vehicle Association: Trikes Recumbent Bike CAD	Space Frame Trusses James Thomas Engineering Green Trusses Bridge Truss Designer LabView Insight Model Monorail XRail Square Structural Steel Quantity FerroCement PrestressedConcrete	Gotham Municipal Smart Bike Design Competition Automatic Transmission Continuous Transmission Flight of the Gossamer Condor Paul MacCready Smithsonian David Gordon Wilson AutoDesk Corridor Model
Updated: Monday, January 02, 2006