Automated transport systems

<< Page in early stages >>

Main Page > Advanced automation > Automated infrastructure > Automated transport systems

For the automation of national, or global, infrastructure there obviously needs to be automated transportation. To take ore from the mines to material processing plants, to take processed materials to manufacturing plants and to take goods and products to their destinations, not to mention the supply of components and machinery to other automated facilites.

Then there is the issue of transporting people. Cars are very inefficient in terms of energy per passenger and they are also extremely dangerous. Due to the everyday nature we sweep under the carpet quite how risky driving really is. The annual global death toll in road accidents is an amazing 1.2 million people per year and 15 million serious injuries (source: [1] & [2]). This is the equivalent of Auckland, the most populous city in New Zealand, being nuked each year in terms of death, and every man woman and child in New York and Hong Kong being severely injured every year.

Trains are one of the most efficient forms of transport in terms of energy per unit weight moved. They are also the easiest to automate, with some already being so, such as the Docklands Light Railway in London.