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Technical Paper

PAU System A New Concept to Achieve Sustainability in Passenger Transportation

2000-03-06
2000-01-0018
The current transportation system is generally regarded as unsustainable. The significant contribution of the transport sector to the degradation of urban air quality, threat of climate change, dependence on nonrenewable resources, and negative societal effects all lead to this conclusion. Strategies that have been proposed to try to solve the transportation problem include Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) as well as economic and other incentives for more sustainable travel modes, vehicles, and patterns. Unfortunately, the most promising strategies involve losses of the comfort, convenience, and personalized service benefits currently provided by passenger cars. This paper presents a technology-based concept for a sustainable passenger transportation system of the future. The building block of the system is a small, electrically propelled pod. We call this the Personal Automobile Unit (PAU). By itself, the PAU would be suitable for local trips on low-speed roadways.
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