Page 29 - Tropic Magazine Issue 32

TROPIC • SPECIAL FEATURE

Driverless shuttles,
USA
St Petersburg in Tampa Bay, Florida,
is leading the world in introducing
autonomous shuttles – that is,
vehicles without drivers or steering
wheels. They rely on GPS, radar and
light sensors to navigate among
intersections and cars.

Pros: Great for airport drop-offs
and pickups
No labour costs
Can use road network and take
multiple passengers exactly where
they need to be

Cons: Are they safe? 3
Is the technology really there yet? Trackless trams,
1
Unable to take mass passengers China
Hydrogen-powered No jobs once in operation A cross between a train, tram and bus,
Coradia, France and trackless trams with rubber wheels
Germany can operate on roads and are fuelled
The first train in the world to be by electric batteries.
powered by hydrogen, the Coradia They’ve been running in Zhuzhou in
iLint first began operating in Germany, the Hunan province of China for four
with the two-car units now also years now.
transporting passengers in northern
France. Italy has also placed an order. Pros: Great for smaller populations
Cheap to construct at $6-$8 million
Pros: Environmentally sustainable per kilometre
Can run on existing tracks Get to speeds up to 70km/hr
Cheap to run Cons: They do take up some road
Cons: Adequate safety measures space but are narrow and can
are required because hydrogen can slide into stations with millimetre
ignite easily 2 accuracy.

Mi Teleferico, Bolivia
This cable car public transport system Keep in mind ...
has been a game changer in Bolivia, A successful transport
efficiently transporting people within
the La Paz–El Alto metropolitan area network would include a
and to the outskirts, including up combination of options.
mountains. Watch this space because
public transport is set to
Pros: Less expensive to build when become a hot topic as
compared to tram systems Cairns Regional Council
It takes transport into the air, freeing embarks on its Cairns
up space below 2050 Growth Strategy.
Great for tourists, who’d have views to
the Coral Sea Send us your thoughts via
Suits lineal geography of Cairns tropicnow.com.au
We have the expertise to operate
them thanks to Skyrail
1. Credit: Alstom
Cons: Still not exactly cheap, 2. Credit: Keolis
costing about $23 million a kilometre 3. Credit: citymonitor.ai

29 • tropicnow.com.au