M. Rail and Bus

M1. Slightly increasing subway train lengths

Four-car subway trains are generally exactly the same length as subway station platforms.

If the last two cars of a five car subway train were constructed as a single reticulated car, patrons would be able to board the fourth car from the subway station platform and walk back into the fifth car, where the extra seating would presumably reduce overcrowding. Patrons would still have to walk forward to the fourth car in order to exit onto the station platform, but at least they'd have more travel space during transit. The fourth car, which stops at the end of the platform, would carry two extra entrance doors to handle the extra foot traffic. The doors furthest to the rear of the train, next to the far edge of the station platform, should be designated as exit only doors for faster patron foot traffic off of the train. Increasing the number of subway cars on each train from four to five should increase passenger capacity per train by 25%.

Adding a second reticulated car on the front end of the train would increase each train's capacity by 50%. We don't know precisely how extra long a train might be built – 3 meters beyond each station's end or 30 meters – while still allowing for proper passenger exiting and entering at every station.

I've seen an automated protocol where extra-long trains allow passengers on the train's front end to get off at certain stations and passengers on the train's back end to get off at certain other stations. To me that type of exclusion would be a bit too complex for the sleepiest patrons or for nonlocal first time riders.

M2. Off-hours trains

I've heard a recommendation that our local commuter rail system needs a short 1-car train or a 1/2 car-length micro-train to cover off-hours rail transit needs. These same short trains should be appropriate in the daytime for sparsely used rail routes in the daytime, say, longer intercity routes over freight lines during rush hours only. In sum, the short train rolling stock could be employed during many hours of the day.

M3. Double elevator doors at subway stops

This isn't my invention but it makes sense. Paris and Seoul prevent passengers from falling in front of subway trains. They use a double elevator door system. Once the train has pulled into the station and has stopped, both sets of doors open.

[http://koreabizwire.com/seouls-subway-system-attracts-international-plaudits/90081]

M4. New cowcatchers that can save individual trespassing kids

Freight and commuter trains (and autos also) should be designed not to run people over. A cowcatcher with flexible prongs would, when a person is laying on a railroad track, impel the person's body upward with the goal of securing the person within an airbag device mounted on the front of the train until the train can slow to a stop. The human cowcatcher would be deployed by the engineer at need.

M5. Cowcatchers that can safely push minivans and buses off of railroad tracks

A much more rugged cowcatcher system would slide under, lift and move a minivan sideways off of a railroad track to the left or to the right of the railroad track, at the train driver's judgment, depositing the minivan on the side of a railroad track facing a general direction where the vehicle's final momentum would roll it slightly away from the tracks. This could save the lives of the vehicle's occupants.

M6. Electric train engines-battery cars

Trains are known for their energy efficiency at moving large amounts of mass long distances. Given a supply of affordable and somewhat heavy batteries, say, lead-acid batteries similar to car batteries but far larger, an electric train engine could be married to one or more battery cars, just as each old locomotive was once married to a coal car for supplying the locomotive's steam boiler with fuel. We especially might not need to electrify lightly used commuter rail lines for passenger trains.

Steeper, less expensive mountain rail lines to get individual freight cars over a steep pass could be built when strong electric engines can make it up the steeper rail lines with at least one freight car in tow. Dual tracks with mountain cogs and engines with dual track cog wheels can be designed for these steep rail sections. Regenerative braking is useful on steep downslopes.

Railroads can evolve to have driving wheels and regenerative braking systems on most individual railroad cars. The "engine" would then evolve down to a passenger cabin and control room for the train crew. By having small batteries built into individual cars, entire trains wouldn't have to stop and then back up on sidings to drop off or pick up cars. The cars themselves would come out from their sidings and attach to the train. Self-moving cars would also simplify the moving of cars from the middle of the train onto a siding, and individual freight cars on a siding could move up to a single loading dock as needed. As a rule, battery cars would be periodically attached onto the train next to the newer cars with driving wheels. Sets of battery cars would all be swapped out for recharging after long hauls across a prairie or after short hauls up a mountain slope, as needed. Older rolling stock could still coexist on trains with the newer self-moving freight cars.

Battery cars on shorter commuter lines can be quickly swapped out and recharged at each terminus. For longer commuter lines the battery cars need to be detatched from their trains and sent onto sidings. It's possible for battery cars to have their own small motors and for railroad switches to be automated, in which case the battery car swap operation can take place promptly without moving the entire train back and forth on the tracks.

M7. Passenger trains are priority trains

Intercity passenger rail trains shouldn't have to wait hours while freight trains hog the tracks slowly switching cars. Passenger trains should be priority trains. A private railroad company carrying passenger trains should pay a stiff penalty for each minute of passenger train delay regardless of cause.

- Buses -

M8. Traffic signal preemption for buses

Buses should be allowed to make their way through rush hour traffic faster than private cars. A few urban traffic lights are already connected to GPS systems carried within emergency vehicles. Whenever a fire engine approaches an intersection at rush hour, traffic signals should drain away all lines of vehicles stopped on the road in the direction of the fire engine's travel. Traffic lights should perform the same service for approaching buses equipped with GPS systems.

M9. Battery pack swapping for campus shuttle buses

Shuttle buses should have replaceable battery packs. Every hour, a shuttle bus could drive its front end into a battery bay, drop its spent battery pack off, back out on auxiliary power, drive into a second battery bay, attach a fresh battery pack, and drive off for another hour of transit.

An automobile battery swapping system was tried in Israel, and they found that individual drivers tended to damage their temporary battery packs. When a transit system owns all of the batteries, the hired drivers are less likely to wantonly damage the batteries.

M10. Reduce bus patron waiting time outdoors

In a snowstorm, every bus stop should have an electronic sign saying how late the next GPS-tracked bus is actually going to be. Patrons on foot need to connect quickly with busses in the snow, in bitter cold, at night and in the new heat. When a bus isn't coming soon, patrons are better off under shelter within convenience stores. A sign that blinks or flashes when the bus is less than two minutes away would help. Train stations already have signs announcing when a train is approaching.

M11. Buses times connecting well with trains

Airlines have learned to sometimes hold connecting flights and to scramble to get passengers onto their connecting flights.

The main goal of sending a bus to a commuter rail station is to make sure that rail passengers catch their specific infrequently scheduled train. Therefore this type of incoming bus must always arrive on time. The longer the wait between trains, the greater the need to arrive on time.

Especially during rush hour traffic, such time-critical buses need several short pauses built into their travel itineraries so that they can always pick up their passengers at the same minute for a particular stop, despite the vagarities of traffic. The pauses insure that a bus can almost always deliver its passengers comfortably on time to one specific commuter train. Outbound buses must, within limits, always wait for specific commuter trains to pull into the station. The same mandatory waiting for interconnection procedure would be useful between multiple buses that all meet to transfer passengers late at night, on holiday schedules or on infrequent exurban routes.

Conversely, it sometimes makes sense to have a commuter train wait one or two minutes for a particular bus to arrive at a station. If two different entities are running the bus and train services, it makes sense for one entity to pay the other entity for waiting one to perhaps five minutes for a connection.

A thru bus running a longer distance route means that at least a portion of all bus patrons can stay on the same warm bus to get to their destination without waiting outdoors for a transfer. Just as important, these patrons can be certain that they won't be late for a transfer to a second bus, that they won't be stranded. The more infrequent the bus service, the higher the danger if a patron is stranded by a failed bus connection.