Day: February 13, 2018

There have been several attempts at a high speed rail in the United States. However, there has not been any significant movement beyond the study phase. The proposed magnetic levitation (maglev) running along the so-called Northeast corridor could be the one to make it happen.

The Baltimore-Washington, D.C. Route

The latest proposed high speed rail is the Boston-New York-Washington route, also called the Northeast corridor. There are several reasons making this a primary candidate. It is relatively long enough that a drive can take 4.5 hours from Washington to New York without any traffic bottlenecks. The current Amtrak Acela rail service takes 3 hours to run the same route, while a high speed train takes only an hour or less. This is the promise of The Northeast Maglev (TNEM). Founded in 2011, it is a private company which aims to build a high speed rail service between New York and Washington, D.C. Along the way, it will be developing a Washington, D.C, to Baltimore route which will take commuters between 15 minutes to travel from end to end. This will later be extended to New York.

TNEM has announced three routes which are being studied. TNEM will be using maglev trains which can travel up to 300 miles per hour. Showing its commitment to the project, TNEM has already set up its headquarters in Baltimore. It has also garnered support from the governor of Maryland, Larry Hogan who started advocating a maglev route after riding one on a trip to Asia.

It is expected to take at least another two years before government agencies would choose one of the proposed routes.

There have been some dissenting opinions about the project, chiefly from Maryland residents, as it may disrupt the neighborhoods it will pass through due to the noise. To prevent the noise, or to better dampen against the possible noise, project planners are designing tunnels running 90 feet below the ground. There are still some project opponents who opine that even if the train was underground, residents living above the route would still be affected.

MagLev and Hyperloop in Competition

TNEM is not alone in trying to develop the Boston-New York-Washington route, as well as the shorter Baltimore-Washington, D.C. route. The same route is also being studied by Elon Musk’s Boring Company for the possible construction of a hyperloop.

The hyperloop and the TNEM both work on the same basic propulsion method. Maglev or magnetic levitation is a mode of transportation where a vehicle is lifted off the track, or levitates off the track with the use of magnets. The vehicle levitates a short distance atop the track, and a different set of magnets would provide propulsion, and pushing it forward. The train levitates above the track and there is no friction between the train and the track. This allows the train to travel faster, at speeds up to 300 miles per hour.

One difference between a maglev and a hyperloop is the use of pods or smaller vehicles with a small number of passengers on the hyperloop, whereas a maglev high speed train would use cabs which look like regular trains. Another difference is the use of partial vacuum tunnel by the hyperloop. At higher speeds, a big part of the energy used by a maglev is used to push it against wind resistance. The faster it goes, the more energy is expended to make it move. The hyperloop can go at a much faster 600 miles per hour because there is little air resistance in a hyperloop tunnel.

A private Japanese company, Central Japan Railway, will be collaborating with TNEM on their project. Central Japan Railway developed a maglev route between Tokyo and Nagoya, Japan, which costs $50 billion to construct. The high cost of the construction was due in large part to the tunneling. Tunnels were used because at the high speed maglev trains were traveling, it was necessary to create a straight track from point to point.

The Baltimore-Washington route is expected to cost upwards of $10 billion – a worthwhile investment considering the bold impact maglev has made in Japan, China, and South Korea. More bold ideas are needed to help alleviate the problem of mass transportation in mega cities all over the world.

 

When the electronic logging devices or ELD order was first petitioned to the United States Department of Transportation, experts and officials were quick to say that the rule would create a bold impact on the trucking industry. Quite surprisingly, the supposedly positive order is now causing a negative effect on the truckers and small businesses.

The ELD rule is the brainchild of Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration or FMCSA, an agency that controls the trucking industry in the United States. The idea of electronic logging devices is nothing new. It was created back in 1971 when buses and trucks were compelled to be equipped with tachographs.

FMSCA has a lot of great ideas for the usage of ELD, from bringing the logging record system into the modern age to allowing drivers a much-needed rest after their scheduled service. But the real aim of the Government agency is to help lessen fatigue-related crashes by drivers who change their paper logs, trying to hide the real number of hours they have driven. This is usually beyond what a specific regulation allows.

In spite of all the good intentions thrown at the ELD rule, there will always be that one sector that would feel neglected. That is why even at the start of issuing the mandate, there were organizations that firmly stood against it.

One of those organizations is the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA), an international trade organization. Up until now, the organization continues to fight the ELD order, saying that they will be against it no matter what. OOIDA is worried that the carriers will harass drivers to still drive even though they’re already tired.

Before the implementation of the rule, 30 organizations joined forces in order to delay it. These organizations cater to different industries–from the world of livestock to the pyrotechnics industry.

In the case of the truck drivers themselves, they are more concerned with their so-called privacy, which is a Fourth Amendment Right. The ELD monitors the following:

• Miles driven
• Vehicle movement
• Engine hours
• Information of the location

According to David Wangler, the President of TMW Systems and Trimble Transportation Enterprise, “This is really not a technology issue at all, it’s about removing the flexibility and freedom of the job. There are a lot of jobs you can do for more money than driving a truck, but the freedom is why people do it. Now, they feel more freedom is being taken away.”

A lot of drivers, if not all, don’t want to be micromanaged and be tracked electronically.

Drivers are also concerned about the ‘detention time’, knowing that they will be paid for the time that they’re moving and not the time that they’re waiting for the loads. Meaning if truckers are required to work for 40 hours and they waited for 20 hours for their loads, then they will only get half the supposed payment.

Reports say that 65% of lost revenue can be blamed on detention time.

Truck drivers are not the only ones who are negatively affected by the ELD mandate. Small businesses also share the same dilemma. Small firms will have a hard time affording the new electronic logging devices for their trucks.

The ELD mandate is something fresh, accurate, and definitely bold. But what if the sector that this rule is protecting is experiencing negative outcomes? Should it be that authorities need to take time to consider and iron out the rule? It is hard to compromise, but if it will make things better for both parties then why not?