Challenge Overview
HeroX organized this three-phased challenge hoping to help us think about the infrastructure: We’ve all heard it. We all know it. But what are we doing about it?
The challenge has three phases: Complain, Dream and Build. My friend, Anthony, and I entered the competition and were one of the winning groups in the first two phases and we will be competing as one of the five finalists in Las Vegas in March 2017. Met at a running club at UCBerkeley, we were really excited to find out our mutual interest in transportation and urban planning. Both wanting to do something about the current infrastructure system, we were extremely excited and grateful that HeroX and AEM provided this platform for us to voice our dream and give a token input on this topic.
The challenge has three phases: Complain, Dream and Build. My friend, Anthony, and I entered the competition and were one of the winning groups in the first two phases and we will be competing as one of the five finalists in Las Vegas in March 2017. Met at a running club at UCBerkeley, we were really excited to find out our mutual interest in transportation and urban planning. Both wanting to do something about the current infrastructure system, we were extremely excited and grateful that HeroX and AEM provided this platform for us to voice our dream and give a token input on this topic.
Phase I: Complain
In this phase, we identified the issue with bus network: they are powerful mass transit tools, but bus systems are needlessly complex. Can making them more like trains help?
We walked through some unpleasant experience when trying to ride a bus and what part of the experience that made riders most unpleasant, also contrasted with some possible remedies.
We walked through some unpleasant experience when trying to ride a bus and what part of the experience that made riders most unpleasant, also contrasted with some possible remedies.
Phase II: Dream
In this phase, we diverged from the issues we identified in the complain phase. Instead, we took a closer look into some possibilities into how to integrate airports into our cities to make the experience of air travel a lot easier. In our mind, air travel is the future: the best cities in 2050 need hyper-connected airports seamlessly integrated into the city’s transportation fabric.
This was realized through small, autonomous driving pods that carries you from your neighborhood directly to your boarding gate at the airports. No more time wasted arriving-at-the-airport-2-hours-early, no more waiting in security check lines and no more anxiety associated with public transit or traffic. Yes, it can be this great!
This was realized through small, autonomous driving pods that carries you from your neighborhood directly to your boarding gate at the airports. No more time wasted arriving-at-the-airport-2-hours-early, no more waiting in security check lines and no more anxiety associated with public transit or traffic. Yes, it can be this great!
Phase III: Build
In this phase, we came up with a solution that is a hybrid between interstate system and high speed rail, Hyperlane. Hyperlane is a dedicated autonomous vehicle only road system that snaps onto pre-existing interstate, that allows for 120 mph without congestion. The dedicated, high-speed lane uses dynamically-adjusted entry price based on demand to manage capacity and ensure there is never congestion. With Hyperlane, we want to create a travel experience that has both the consistency of rail travel, and the ad-hoc, on-demand travel of cars and buses. We also hope this will be a platform that sparkles innovation for right-sized solution.