Home Traffic Congestion QwikLane Solution Business Case About
Guideways
 
   

The QwikLane roadway is erected over the rights of way of existing freeways, roads and streets. By using standardized, prefabricated, 60 foot long road sections supported on pre-installed, standard columns, a simple mechanized erection process (setting each new section from previously laid sections) requires a fraction of the time and cost of normal freeway construction and does not disrupt traffic in the road below.


   

Since all vehicles using the roadway will have nearly identical wheel spacing and follow a single traffic path within very close tolerance, a full roadbed is not necessary. Two rectangular tubular tracks support the vehicle wheels and a mesh net fills the void between the tracks. The tracks can be given a rough, hard surface of tungsten carbide or some other such material to minimize wear and provide traction.

The steel curbs bounding the roadway serve two purposes. They can physically guide the vehicle wheels in the unlikely event of a control system failure, and they provide the lateral position reference for the vehicle guidance system to keep the vehicle centered on the tracks or guide it to an off ramp.

   
The primary structural member of the roadway is a 4-foot diameter steel tube that provides strong rigid support, a conduit for utilities and a means for maintenance personnel access along the roadway.

With the vehicles always at a single constant speed, the turns are banked for precisely coordinated maneuvers (that is, with the gravity vector vertical in vehicle coordinates). This permits smaller turn radii without passenger discomfort and by eliminating lateral forces, skids and tire wear are minimized.