At the moment you can either drive to work or take the train. But what if your commute involved parking on a train and avoiding the congestion?
Road vs. Rail
Many commuters have to combine a number of different methods of transport in order to get into work each morning, but usually this involves using them consecutively.
A report from The Atlantic has revealed that one inventor is proposing an idea which would see a fresh approach to commuting, effectively creating public transport for drivers.
Anware Farooq has conceived of a system known as Rapid Commute whereby those who have to drive long distances each morning and enjoy the door-to-door convenience of using a car can avoid congestion.
In essence, this would involve creating large trains onto which cars can be driven and parked, before the whole thing rolls off down the tracks to its destination and the drivers just filter off at the other end.
Of course in the UK this concept has already been partly put into action thanks to the Channel Tunnel, but not many people are actually making the commute to France each day, which is why Farooq’s approach seems a little more practical.
The inventor makes the point that public transport for cars is also in action in other areas, such as when cars are ferried across lakes or rivers when it is not feasible to use a bridge.
Global Uses
Farooq argues that developed Western countries would not be the only ones able to benefit from the Rapid Commute system. In fact it might be even better suited to developing nations where transport infrastructures are still being implemented.
There are some obvious problems with the idea, including the fact that the concept would require a lot of investment to execute and might not necessarily solve problems of congestion without creating a few of its own in the process.
It is also unlikely that environmental campaigners would be particularly happy with a solution that perpetuates the use of cars as opposed to the promotion of standard public transport, which is generally held to be greener.
But collecting drivers together in one place and ferrying them across landlocked areas on the back of a train certainly has its charms. It would be the on-rail equivalent to the service provided car transporter companies, albeit with each vehicle still containing its passenger.
Would you want to drive your car onto a train each morning, or does this scheme sound a little too much like wishful thinking?
Tim Sanderson has a penchant for motoring and has recommended
www.transcars.co.uk/ on a number of occasions when business acquaintances needed car transportation.