Stuck in traffic is the worst form of killing time. Despite the mass construction of bridges, subways and tunnels around the world particularly in the last few decades, this is one of those problems that just won’t seem to go away.
So how do we get past it? SkyTran’s answer is simply, ‘by moving above it’…
Skytran, a NASA Space Act company, hopes to offer a futuristic solution to daily travel. The UFO-looking pods being designed by the company will transport passengers 20 feet above the ground. It’s like a monorail system that would hover above roads and travel at speeds of up to 150 mph.
SkyTran CEO Jerry Sanders revealed that engineers have been working on this revolutionary idea for decades now. The efficiency of the technology is such, that skyTran would use about the same amount of electricity as two hair dryers. And it’s totally sustainable, because instead of a traditional electric charge as an energy source, skyTran would use gigantic magnets to hang and operate these 300-pound pods on a rail network. NASA further added, that the proposed skyTran would cost about $13 million to build per mile.
Even though this game-changing new technology may feel too futuristic to manifest in real-life, a skyTran test station is actually scheduled to open at Israel Aerospace Industries as soon as next month. Sanders estimates that the technology could even set foot into the US, by late 2018.