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    <title><![CDATA[Discussion on The highway of the future is 273% more efficient ]]></title>
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        <title><![CDATA[Transportation could become more efficient already]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-11749-78586]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Automobile manufacturers are determined to make cars smarter (communicate) so they can travel more quickly together.  They'd prefer you put miles on your cars, wearing them out, wearing out the tires, burning fuel (or electricity), wearing out the breaks.  Built-in obsolescence is perceived necessary for the success of their industry. But there will always be road hazards such as flat tires, wind gusts and vehicle performance issues.  Also, the &quot;self diagnostics&quot; each manufacturer deploys to determine whether the cars are operating safely will have differences and have &quot;bugs&quot; which together may contribute to larger, more dangerous high speed pile-ups.There are other means to improve the driving experience, relieve and speed traffic, and increase the fuel efficiency of each passenger mile.  Essentially we get to work and back driving our 100-300 lb butts around in 1,000-5,000+ lb vehicles.  Force = mass x acceleration.  Today's means to get from home to work or to the store with what we need is really extremely inefficient.  The society, the economy that will approach solutions in new ways will outshine other economies unwilling to change.We commuters need to get from point A to point B and back with everything we need, either already there or hauled along with us to do our business.  We like flexibility - and sometimes need it, such as to run errands or to take alternate ways home in case of emergencies and disasters.  So public transportation (whether publicly funded or not) requires some tweaks.I'd suggest readers become aware of such options as http://www.solatrek.com/main.htmlthat - if deployed - could save commuters time, save miles on their vehicles, save energy, save on expensive highway expansion in congested areas - such as my Southern California, yet provide ultimate flexibility.It is a shame that China has built thousands of miles of high speed rail yet we in the US have not built one mile.  Numerous and affluent coastal residents of California are going to be shortchanged with plans to build out first high speed rail through inland San Bernadino.  An AVT-Train system (admittedly medium speed rail) along the coast, from San Diego to San Francisco would do far more to connect and revitalize California's high tech economy than anything through the central part of the state.  It would also set a wonderful example to the rest of the nation and the world as to how new technologies, rather than old technologies with a face-lift, could change society for the better by placing less burden on the planet while improving our standard of living.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-11749-78586]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[Carlos Zavala]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Tue, 11 Sep 2012 13:03:24 -0700</pubDate>
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