Driverless Shipping Above Texas Interstates Could Improve Safety, Congestion

Interstate highway travel could be getting a little smoother in coming years.

That’s if a Texas Transportation Institute plan to move some 18-wheeler freight above the roadway proves feasible.

Dr. Stephen Roop, Senior Reseach Scientist for TTI on the A&M campus said the system, called Freight Shuttle, is track-based.

He said it’s it’s not like rail freight in that only one container is transported at a time.

The system could address two areas of congestion: border crossings, where removing the driver from the process would allow 100% of cargo to be X-Rayed, and corridors, such as along interstates.

Dr. Roop said a full-scale test track should be available for demonstration by the end of the year.

The all-electric system could operate elevated above interstates in the existing right of way.

Similar to rail systems, the wheels would travel steel-on-steel to reduce rolling resistance.

Dr. Roop said that could help reduce the cost to about $0.10 per mile—about one-seventh the cost of transportation on rubber tires over traditional roadways.


TTI information: http://tti.tamu.edu/freight-shuttle/

TTI Freight Shuttle information sheet (PDF): http://tti.tamu.edu/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Freight_Shuttle.pdf

Freight Shuttle website: http://freightshuttle.com/

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