1

An Approach to Sustainable

Transportation Systems for

Africa

Akpantun, U.I, Essien, N. E., Ekong A.A., Shehu

A., Adedokun, S.A., Adewole, A.T

May 2014

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ABSTRACT

The global changes in climate, finance, cost of fossil fuels, a rapidly increasing rural-urban migrating

population along with the uniqueness of the socio-political situation in Africa, have challenged us to

seek for better solutions to sufficient and sustainable mobility at little or no cost to the

environmental or our lean budgets.

Personal Rapid Transit systems have been around for a while but recent developments have shown

its capacity to evolve and face up to these challenges.

In an attempt to project the features of Levitrans, a concept PRT system as an alternative mode of

transport targeted at Africa; this paper discusses some strategic efforts of the system in relation to

those employed in similar projects of the PRT community world-wide.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction 4

The Environment 5

Automotive Industry Efforts 5

The Concept of PRT 6

Advantages of PRT Systems 7

Requirements for PRT Systems 7

Selected PRT Projects 8

LeviTrans Project 11

Vehicles 11

Guideway 13

Station 14

Construction materials 14

Vehicle power 14

Control center 15

Level of service 15

Traffic management 16

Urban planning 17

Switching 17

Headway 18

Stabilization and Propulsion 19

Computing Resources 19

Signaling and Feedback 21

Finance 21

Skill Level Requirements 22

Recommendation 22

Conclusion 22

Bibliography 23

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INTRODUCTION

Modern guided way transportation systems have been around since the 1920s. Light and heavy rail,

Bus Rapid Transport (BRT), Monorail and Street Cars have since dominated the scene. While there

have been several proposals for mass transit, guided way systems have survived due to their

predictive yet flexible nature. This paper introduces an emerging mode or system of transportation

known as Personal rapid Transit (PRT), considering some of the common features as it applies to

personal and mass transit applications in most. A rural and urban African cities.

Due to the uniqueness of every PRT system, it is impossible to compare features since each project

adopts a variety of techniques to solve challenges of design, production and operation.

This paper can be considered a sequel to my paper “Future Challenges of Transportation Systems in

Nigeria” and uses the term PRT and Hi-Cap PRT a term coined by J. E Anderson interchangeably to

refer to the PRT systems used in high capacity (mass transit) mode of transportation. It will also

attempt to create awareness of PRT systems and how they can address the challenges of

transportation in African.

Hi-Cap PRT is the “Holy Grail” sought by innovative transit developers since the 1950s. Hi-Cap PRT

addresses a wide range of outstanding problems of our worldwide civilization that have become

more and more severe as the decades have passed. These problems include

• Increasing congestion

• Declining downtown activity

• Dependence on oil while demand exceeds production

• Air pollution

• Deaths and injuries from auto accidents

• Costs of transportation

• Excessive sprawl

• Isolation of the poor and of those unable to drive or who prefer not to drive.

• Global warming

• Terrorism (Anderson J. E., 2005)

The Transport, safety and energy regulatory authorities and legislation of countries like Germany,

Sweden, United Kingdom, Netherlands, China, Japan, South Korea and recently India have drawn up

guidelines for PRT system deployments in tandem with some of the requirements proffered by the

PRT community. However, the United States who funded several early PRT studies since the 1970s,

are sluggish to fully adopt PRT systems. “This means that a high-capacity PRT could carry as many

passengers as a rapid rail system for about one quarter the capital cost.” This was too much for the

conventional rail community. PRT was too radical for them (Anderson J. E., 2005).

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THE ENVIRONMENT

The entire concept of PRT systems is centered on carbon friendly practices. Every aspect of the

design and development process is evaluated for environmental friendliness over cost.

AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY EFFORTS

The motor car has been the most common form of personal and mass transit since the 1920s.

However, they contribute hugely to pollution due to harmful emissions mainly from tail (exhaust)

pipes causing damage not only to the environment put individuals who use them or walk and live

close to the streets. Motor car manufacturers approach this by attempting to reduce the emissions

from their engines by running them on fuels like Propane, E85 Ethanol, Biodiesel or Battery.

Recently, car engines have been developed that run on Water, Hydrogen and even Air. TATA motors

have shipped Air driven cars in India. Worthy of note is an ongoing effort to produce such cars in

Nigeria.

In 2008, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) released Air pollution Scores of motor

cars from manufacturers offering fuel economy and alternative fuel products.

The Air Pollution Score as shown in figure 1 represents the

amount of health-damaging, smog forming pollutants emitted by

a vehicle reflected by tail pipe emissions. This does not include

lifecycle or carbon footprint impact.

Figure 1. NREL Air Pollution Score

Table 1 shows air pollution score of a selection of vehicles tested with rating between average and

zero.

Vehicle Category Manufacturer Model Rating

Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Honda Civic CNG 5

Hybrid Honda Civic Hybrid 5

Toyota Camry hybrid 4

Toyota Highlander Hybrid 4WD 4

E85-Ethanol

Mercedes Benz C300 Sport 3

Grand Cherokee Limited 2WD N/A

Chevrolet Avalanche LT1 4

Nissan Armada 2WD 3

GMC Hummer H2 3

All Electric

Global Electric Motors e4

Zenn Car

5

5

Propane

Roush Industries/Ford F150 Pickup 5

Biodiesel Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland 2WD

Ford F-250 Super Duty Crew Cab 4WD

Table 1 Selected cars with average to zero-emmision rating (National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 2008)

Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) fuels are the same as our domestic cooking gas. CNG vehicles

produce fewer health threatening and greenhouse gas pollutants. Currently a commercially available

CNG known as Bio-methane is produced from renewable sources.

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A Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) is one that combines the petrol powered ICE engine with a battery

powered motor. Both ICE and battery powered motors complement each other. The battery motors

provide some or full power during idle, braking or acceleration thus conserving fuel. In turn, the

running motor keeps the battery charged so it requires no external charging.

Ethanol fuels are made from any combination of ethanol and gasoline (also known as premium

motor spirit or petrol) and can be produced domestically from starchy feedstock such as corn, yam

and cassava. Apart from using renewable sources they also offer flexible fuel alternatives giving

motorists a choice of ethanol/gasoline. E85 is a mix of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline. Propane is

non-toxic, non-contaminating to the atmosphere.

Bio-diesel is reputed to be a carbon-free, renewable fuel made from vegetable-oils, animal fats and

soya beans capable of running in older engine and cold weather. This means that the almost five

million (5,000,000) diesel cars running on U.S roads at the time are also capable of running on bio-

diesel fuels

(National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 2008)

THE CONCEPT OF PRT

PRT systems are a new paradigm in public transportation. The concept of PRT has been discussed for

decades, and extensive research and various investigations have been done to determine its

potential as an emerging transportation system for tomorrow. However, just a few of such projects

have been completed and even fewer have commercial installations to date.

Typical PRT systems carry up to six passengers in small electrically driven vehicles on a network of

narrow guide way (Buchanan, Anderson, Tegnér, Fabian, & Schweizer, 2005). Vehicles ride above, on

the side or under the usually elevated Guideway which connects small stations spaced relatively

close together. Typically PRT vehicles travel between twenty-five to fifty miles per hour (25 to 50

mph) non-stop from station to station.

In most cases, Guideway usually require support columns of two-foot diameter placed at about sixty

feet (60’) intervals. PRT stations are usually very small, with length spanning between thirty to fifty

feet (30’-50’) against the more the than two hundred (200’+) feet seen in light rail stations.

PRT researchers use the term, “Group Rapid Transit” (GRT) for larger vehicles with passenger

carrying capacities of eight or more and “People Mover” vehicles where passengers have to stand

for short distances. Mixed mode systems usually refer to a combination of PRT and GRT. These

systems promise a far greater quality of transport and comfort than any other transport system

available.

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ADVANTAGES OF PRT SYSTEMS

PRT systems offer several advantages over other modes of transport because their designers are

faced with more considerations armed with historical data and technology.

• Conservative land-use

• No fossil fuels

• Low footprint, can install in most places

• Reduced possibility of accidents and faults

• Lowest cost of design and development

• Lowest cost of production and deployment

• Lowest cost of maintenance

• Lowest carbon footprint

• Fastest time to install

• Highest reliability and dependability

• Highest level of service

• Highest Health, Safety and Security standards

• Discourages terrorism

• Lowest travel fare and freight charges

• Can replace all other modes of transit

• Integrates with all other modes of transit

• Handle high and low traffic volumes

• Best reaction time in braking (headway)

• Add beauty to urban/rural landscape

• Offer passengers the smoothest ride

• Easily scalable in installation

• Easily scalable in

• Use least technologies in manufacture

• Easy to adapt to new technologies

• Can be used in hazardous environments

• High return on investment

REQUIREMENTS FOR PRT SYSTEMS In the past decades in Africa, massive investments have helped to install, improve or expand existing

railway and road infrastructures. These efforts have obviously come short of the expected results.

For this reason any new, additional transport infrastructure must prove to have a high problem

solving potential at lower costs to the public and owner in order to be acceptable as alternative

option to current modes of transportation.

An emerging transportation system must attempt to satisfy all of the following general

requirements:

1. It must be sustainable. This means (a) significantly lower energy consumption, (b) independent of

fossil fuels, (c) greatly reduced land- use.

2. It must provide high safety standards.

3. It must have zero emission in the vicinity of the user and low noise levels.

4. Infrastructure must fit within the urban fabric and there should be little interference with present

traffic during transitional phases.

5. It must offer similar or better service than a car at affordable prices.

6. It must be cost-effective for the operator.

7. It must be accessible and usable for all parts of the society.

(Buchanan M. et al., 2005)

The Levitrans project team adopted all the above requirements and included the following specific

design requirements;

8. It must cater for low, medium and high capacity traffic; low and high speed applications

9. It must cater for compound, sub-urban, regional and international applications

10. Materials and component manufacturing processes must have very low carbon footprint.

11. It must offer reliability and dependability (a) ridership (b) availability

12. It must be affordable (a) cost much less than urban roads or highways (b) very minimal

maintenance

13. It must be scalable and adaptable (a) small system can grow to any size (b) desert, swamp,

savana

14. It must be adequately safe and secure (a) operational safety and evacuation (b) optionally

provide automatic armed security

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15. It must be independent of signaling protocols (a) adapt seamlessly to transportation signal

communication systems (b) include areas where no such technologies exist.

16. Must be built from materials available locally

17. Vehicles components must be over ninety percent (90%) recyclable and biodegradable

18. It must be simple to deploy (a) low manpower skill levels and (b) simple construction technology

19. It must be robust and clever, employing as much artificial intelligence as feasible (a) in traffic

management (b) propulsion (c) navigation (d) security (e) safety

20. It must be driverless and capable of operating without human intervention

21. It must cater for socio-economic peculiarities of the target community

22. It must be portable as possible with ability to be redeployed with all components intact.

23. It must integrate easily into rural and urban communities of all sizes

SELECTED PRT PROJECTS Several PRT projects have been started since the 1970s. While most of these projects were

discontinued, recent improvement in technology and awareness in the urban planning and

transportation industry have led some latter projects to a commercial success. A selection of them is

listed in this section.

Morgantown PRT

Morgantown PRT is a 1970 project funded by the U.S government. Its only application is at West

Virginia University, Morgantown and runs between their two campuses through the city center and

transports over 28,000 students. The Guideway is made from concrete and steel and hosts a three-

phase electric power rail at 575 volt alternating current (575 VAC) which is then rectified to feed a

52KW direct electric motor propelling each five thousand, three hundred and fifty kilogram

(5,350Kg) vehicle.

In 2006 fiscal year, it suffered 259 shutdowns (65hours, 42 minutes), of which 159 were caused by

vehicle related problems out of a total of 3,640 hours and 15 minutes of scheduled running time.

However, the overall availability of service was (98%) which exceeds the original design specification

of 96.5% availability. By December 2012, Morgantown PRT has delivered over one hundred and ten

million (110,000,000) oil-free, injury-free passenger miles since starting service in 1975 (Wikimedia

Foundation Inc., 2014)

Morgantown PRT System Inside a Morgantown PRT cabin Morgantown PRT vehicle

Figure 2. Pictures from Morgantown PRT project

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SKYWEB EXPRESS Skyweb Express from Taxi-2000 has benefited from several decades of experience and forms the

basis on which many others are built. The lead designer, J.E Anderson has made a tremendous

contribution to the PRT community and several projects are based on his work. Skyweb Express

sports only one type of vehicle, a PRT with a single bench-style seat for three adults. The 815Kg PRT

vehicle is capable of headway of 1.1 seconds.

Skyweb Express model PRT system J. E. Anderson at Taxi-200 Bench-style seating arrangement

Figure 3. Skyweb Express PRT system Courtesy of Taxi 2000

ULTRA PRT

Ultra started out in January 1995 at University of Bristol. Ultra PRT Ltd, University of Bristol

companies, offers one type of vehicle with bench-style seating. Each can carry three or four adults.

Ultra’s first commercial launch was in 2010 at Terminal 5 of London’s Heathrow airport. By February

2012, the average time from journey request to start is only eight seconds (8 sec), compared to a

typical five to ten minute (5-10 min) wait for the shuttle bus (Lowson, 2012).

Ultra PRT Vehicle Ultra Control Center Ultra maintenance facility Ultra PRT Cabin

Figure 4. Ultra PRT system Courtesy of Ultra

Global

VECTUS PRT Vectus PRT project was started in Upssala, Sweden in 2002 before evolving into Vectus Ltd. VECTUS

currently offers two types of vehicle the PRT and GRT. The standard ‘PRT’ vehicle carries between six

and eight seated passengers, plus an additional six standees. The ‘GRT’ is a 50-60 passenger version

with a variable mix of both seated and standing passengers.

In 2006, Vectus completed their four hundred meter (400m) test track which continued a non-stop

operation through several winter seasons proving its resilience through winter. At fifty kilometers

per hour (50km/hr), headway values range from three to four seconds (3-4 sec) on their six-

passenger PRT and down to ten seconds (10 sec) on a larger vehicle. (Gustafsson , Jörgen et al.,

2008). Vectus’ first commercial PRT network was launched on May 13, 2013 at Suncheon bay Echo

Park and Wildlife, Suncheon Wetlands, South Korea.

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Vectus old style PRT vehicle Vectus new style PRT vehicle Vectus All-steel Guideway Bench-Style Seating

Figure 5. Vectus PRT system Courtesy of Vectus

Ltd

2GETTHERE

2Getthere is an experienced company from the Netherlands offering full PRT and PRT-like systems.

2Getthere PRT vehicle Cabin Bench-Style Seating Cybercab PRT luxury interior

Figure 6. 2Getthere PRT System Courtesy of 2Getthere

2Getthere have successful commercial applications in Masdar City, UAE; Rivium Business park and

Schipol Airport, Amsterdam.

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V. LEVITRANS PROJECT

The LeviTrans project started in response to the economic, technological and social challenges of the

fast growing urban population in Africa. As an environmentally friendly turnkey solution, it can be

deployed anywhere in the world without any modification.

CURRENT STATUS

Due to the multi-disciplinary nature of such a project, the project team is made up of several

members from different professional backgrounds. The project is currently not adequately funded

and as such work is slow as members have to keep other jobs. However, the current Guideway,

propulsion, brake designs to be adopted are complete turnkey solutions from technology partners.

Other concepts are mature and are at various stages of design. The next logical steps would be to

complete initial cabin interior designs, communications and simulation software tests before

building a test track to conduct performance and compliance tests.

COST-EFFECTIVENESS

Guideway and Vehicle weights are drastically reduced due to fewer components and light-weight

materials. We learned from the experience of others that system costs scale down in proportion to

the gross weight of the vehicle – “everything scales with vehicle weight” (Anderson J. E., 2005). Table

2. compares selected vehicle and guideway design specifications of some PRT projects.

PRT Vehicle First Run Guideway Gross Passenger

(Year) Width (m) Depth (m) Mass (Kg) Capacity

Morgantown PRT 1972 3.00 1.80 5,350.0 20

Raytheon PRT 2000 1995 2.00 2.00 3,000 10

Taxi 2000 PRT 2003 0.89 0.99 815 3

Ultra PRT 2011 2.10 0.45 - 6

Vectus PRT 2007 1.40 - - 6

Levicraft PRT N/A 1.22 0.60 Below 650 4

Table 2. Comparison of some PRT Vehicle/Guideway design specifications - not avaialable

VEHICLES

LeviTrans’ concept vehicle is known as Levicraft. Vehicle types include Personal (PRT), Group (GRT),

Freight (FRT) and the high speed, high capacity Interstate (IRT). Levicrafts comes in a variety of

configurations to suit the diverse religo-socio-economic uniqueness of the African communities.

Standard features include remote or autonomous operation, modern cabin styling, windshield

wiper, rain-proof air-vents or air-conditioning, emergency doors, flaps and stop buttons, onboard

video and trip status feedback, wireless internet, television and private music kiosks.

Seating configuration can be automobile-style or bench-style in composite fabric or leather

depending on customer request. Large windows encourage panoramic viewing of the landscape

from within the cabin. A set of magnetic rails, linear induction motors and brakes are carefully

tucked away under the vehicle frame, completely hidden from normal view.

The larger vehicles allow for economic and luxury cabins in the sections. On board bars, restaurants

and recreation sections can be incorporated.

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LEVICRAFT PRT

The Levicraft PRT has a passenger carrying capacity of four persons. Passengers can only carry hand

luggage’s.

PRT Specifications

Crew: 4 persons

Length: 8 feet

Width : 4.5 feet

Height :6.0 feet

Weight: < 650Kg

Headway:1-3 Sec

Speed: 60Km/hr

Levicraft, a concept PRT vehical Automobile or bench style seating

Figure 7. Concept Levicraft PRT Specifications and concept design

LEVICRAFT FRT

Levicraft Freight Rapid transit (FRT) complements the PRT by carrying goods and passenger luggage

on the network. Unlike the PRT, two or more FRT vehicles can be automatically linked to increase

their carrying capacity. FRT specifications will depend on the application-specific requirements of the

customer. On passenger networks FRTs can have a maximum of three sixteen foot sections.

However, for freight-only networks this can stretch to forty feet per section with no minimum in the

number of linked sections.

LEVICRAFT GRT

Levicraft GRT is a slightly larger passenger carrying vehicle that share Guideway with PRTs. They can

automatically combined into trains to increase or decrease their passenger carrying capacity

depending on the prevailing or on-demand traffic condition.

GRT Specifications

Crew: 16 - 64 persons

End-section length:8.0 feet

Width: 5.5 feet

Height :6.5 feet

End-section-weight: 650Kg

Mid-section length:12 feet

Mid-section weight:< 2,000Kg

Headway: 1-3 seconds

Speed: 60Km/hr

Figure 8. Concept Levicraft GRT Specifications and concept design

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LEVICRAFT IRT

Levicraft Interstate Rapid Transit (IRT) is will cover interstate and international routes. Like the GRTs

they offer dynamic linking into trains. Due to their application, higher speeds and larger passenger

capacity the PRT Guideway footprint is scaled upwards while the core technology remains

unchanged.

IRT Specifications

Crew: 64 – 1,600 persons

End section-Length: 16

feet

Width : 12 feet

Height :7.0 feet

Headway:1-3 seconds

Mid-section-Length : 14

feet

Mid-Section-Weight: N/A

Max. link-time: N/A

Speed: > 300Km/hr

Figure 9. Concept Levicraft IRT Specifications and concept design

GUIDEWAY

The LeviTrans Guideway is made of straight sections constructed off-site. Optional section lengths of

nine and forty feet scale with applications and reduce cost. Table . shows various Guideway

construction and railing setups used by some PRT systems.

PRT System Vehicle Guideway Power Power

Drive System Drive Surface Material Power Source Capacity

Taxi 2000 PRT LIM/Steel Steel Concrete/Steel Yes 500VDC

Ultra PRT LIM/Rubber* Concrete/Asphalt Concrete/Steel No Battery -

2Getthere PRT LIM/Rubber* Asphalt Concrete No Battery -

Vectus PRT LIM/DD**/Steel Steel Concrete/Steel No Battery 500VDC

Levicraft PRT LIM/Magnets Magnets Concrete/Fly Ash No Battery 24VDC

*Rubber wheels **DD Direct drive motor

Table 3. Comparison of LeviTrans Vehicle and Guideway specifications with select tested PRT Systems

Elevation height is dependent on the type of grade level traffic. Normal elevation heights are two to

four feet from grade level. In this case wire meshes are used to limit access to the Guideway. For

human underpass, elevations are a minimum of nine feet high to encourage incorporation into

buildings. When the Guideway is crossing over street level traffic, elevation height is a minimum of

sixteen feet. This is approximately the same clearance as under road bridges, to allow road traffic,

pedestrians underneath.

The most common failures of an automated transit system are not the electronics but rather the

mechanical elements of the vehicle, the station doors, the guideway and the trackwork. Of all of

these elements, the most crippling system outages tend to be caused by trackwork problems, which

result in major mechanical failures along extended lengths of guideway as a moving vehicle catches

and damages pieces of the trackwork. (OKI, 2001)

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STATIONS

PRT stations are usually elevated, freestanding structures whose length are dependent upon the

number of berths (positions of boarding), which in turn is dependent upon the projected amount of

traffic through the station.

Simulations have shown that the typical station in a downtown environment will need three berths,

making the station about 30 feet long. Station width can be as narrow as ten feet (10’, not including

Guideway) on the upper level and even narrower at the bottom. The small station size and footprint

allows PRT stations to be flexibly sited (M. Casangia, L. Guala, 2011).

Levitrans currently offers three types of stations, Micro, Mini and Mega. The Micro and Mini stations

are made of light weight modular knock-down structures made from steel, carbon fiber and Indian

hemp materials, enabling them to be portable to cope with changing community traffic. A small

station and Guideway footprint enable them to be seamlessly incorporated into buildings such as

schools, shopping malls and local markets, offices, factories, hotels and places of worship.

The Mega stations will be elaborate structures built from concrete or fly-ash and steel. A depot is a

structure where large number of PRT and GRT section vehicles are parked and charged. Mini and

Mega stations may incorporate a depot or have one built nearby to reduce vehicle travel time to

other stations.

CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS

The world of composite materials is fast evolving, we have variety of choices today like fiber glass,

carbon fiber, bio-composites, and most recently, thin film technologies to mention but a few. The

manufacturing technology for most of these composite material technologies is alien to Africa. The

Levitrans’ approach to the choice of material that requires simple available technology that require

an almost emission-free manufacturing processes. This resulted in the choice of bio-composites as

the premium choice of material for the vehicle frame and body, cabin upholstery, workplace

furniture, control center computer and other equipment casings, dashboards, chairs, tables and

workplaces.

However, for the Guideway, concrete and fly-ash variant are the materials of choice. Minimal use of

steel for gear sections and bolts were considered.

VEHICLE POWER

Many PRT systems like Skyweb Express use power rails on the Guideway to power their vehicles.

While this is a very efficient way of powering a network of many vehicles, others like Ultra, Vectus

PRT and 2Getthere PRT vehicles use on-board fuel cells or batteries as a primary and only source of

electric power. In contrast, Levicrafts use on-board 24VDC batteries as a backup source of electric

power. Primary sources of power are based on air and magnetism to drive air-conditioning, and

vehicle electronics. Due to the zero-friction between the rails on the vehicle and the Guideway, high

power values are achievable with little motor power.

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CONTROL CENTER

LeviTrans uses the term “Home” for its Command or Control Center. In-vehicle, route and station

video and traffic signals are fed back here for analysis where problems related to vehicle network,

crime detection and overall system performance are handled. It could also host the main depot

where a large number of vehicles are parked, serviced and charged.

LEVEL OF SERVICE

Level of Service (LOS) provided by Levicraft PRT system is expected to be quite high. They are

designed and engineered to compete in terms of speed, comfort, convenience, and safety at little or

no costs to the operator or the passengers.

SAFETY AND SECURITY

PRT systems are said to be one of the safest modes of transportation. Worthy of note is

Morgantown PRT which by 2012 has completed over one hundred million miles (100,000,000 miles)

of travel without any accident. The LeviTrans system adopted the EU safety standard

50126/IEC62278 "Railway applications – specification and demonstration of reliability, availability,

maintainability and safety (RAMS)”.

ACCIDENTS

No accidents have been reported for known PRT systems, even on their test tracks. LeviTrans

employs a variety of proven techniques to avoid accidents. Adequate traffic signaling and proximity

sensors will be installed at the station and vehicle doors and on the track. The autonomous Levicraft

vehicles communicate position and speed data to others on the Guideway and accelerate or brake to

adapt to the current traffic condition. In the event of any vehicle failures other vehicles within range

adjust their operational parameters accordingly to avoid any collision.

LeviTrans is based on MagLev as with other similar applications like Transrapid and will remain on

the Guideway even in the event of a head-on collision (Akpantun U.I, 2013).

EVACUATION

The evacuation mechanism includes two emergency exit doors that can be automatically and

manually operated. Patrol vehicles positioned at the stations will aid rapid dispatch of personnel to

the scene of failure in order to extract the failed vehicle from the track. Passenger journey can be

continued by boarding an empty replacement vehicle even at the scene of the incident.

SECURITY

Security is the least talked about issue around PRT circles. This might be fine in developed countries

but in Africa the deployment of armed personnel in or around the vehicles would seem ideal

However, an optional Vision Controlled Armed Response (VCAR) can be incorporated into vehicle

design using certified hardware from leading contractors.

PASSENGER COMFORT

Passenger comfort is important to the design of this system. Most PRT vehicles will be equipped with

air conditioning, heating, and ventilation systems. Most modern PRT vehicles offer bench style

seating with passengers facing each other while others offer seating arrangements where the

passengers face the direction of traffic like in an automobile. Levicraft designs are primarily based on

aircraft style comfort with options of bench-style or automobile-style seating configurations.

Economic and Luxury variants have also been incorporated to suit the social status of passengers.

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The luxury PRT and GRT/IRT section variants have refrigerators stocked with temperature-controlled

water and drinks to encourage hourly private hires for meetings, interviews, city-wide and landscape

tours.

Typical Economy class cabin Typical Luxury class cabin

Figure 10. Economic and luxury styled sections courtesy of Transrapid GMBH

TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT

Motor traffic congestion and long passenger queues characterize transportation in most of the fast

growing African metropolitan highways and airports. With the recent achievements in simulation

software, more accurate simulations and predictions of ridership and vehicle traffic can be made.

PRT systems have been proven to handle these situations better. Levitrans approaches this by

adapting artificial intelligence (AI) models to vehicle traffic and ridership management, integrating

and supporting existing transport modes.

RELIABILITY & DEPENDABILITY

While most PRT systems focus on delivering their technologies as is, Levitrans relies on feedback

from its ridership and seamlessly adapts to future needs. Signaling modules use AI models to

constantly feed a central computer with traffic data in order to generate personal, group and system

traffic behavior patterns for analysis and predictable traffic requirements of the network. This will

enable the system to quickly adapt to predictable and ordinarily unpredictable traffic conditions.

A measure of dependability in a conventional transit system would be rather expensive because

traffic of data must be obtained over time. Dependability (J. Edward Anderson, 2009) can be defined

as;

DEPENDABILITY = (1 – Person-Hours of delay)/(Person-Hours of operation).

He also agrees that because every vehicle knows every trip destination, the reliability and

dependability of a PRT system can be known both during operation and in advance at development

stages.

MAINTENANCE

Maintenance of technology is a serious issue when deploying technologies in Africa, especially in

Nigeria. Most PRT designs keep maintenance to a minimum. LeviTrans’ mechanically driven

components will use magnetic levitation thus needing minimal maintenance. On the Guideway, dust

removal is the only task and is automatically carried out by a Levicraft maintenance vehicle.

AVAILABILITY

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Other Guideway systems like monorail, subway trains and BRT are also scheduled. However, they do

not operate with the changing passenger traffic. In Africa for example, passengers have to cope with

long waits and queues at the station or stops in order for them to meet up to the schedule.

As an always available system, vehicles wait for passengers. Depots (vehicle store/park) are not

centrally located but incorporated in and around Mini and Mega stations or convenient locations

along the Guideway. Depots are automated for parking, charging and deploying vehicles.

TICKETING

In Africa and Nigeria in particular, buying tickets can be very demanding. Typical sources of

bottlenecks include fraudulent malpractices, sharp rise human or vehicle traffic, inability of the

ticketing system to handle high volumes of passengers, or outright communication failure.

Levitrans uses simple but secure ticketing technology. Fixed-cost monthly or yearly travel cards will

encourage ticket reuse and passenger ridership. Radio-frequency identification (RFid) enabled Travel

cards and berth gates will manage rush hour traffic at the ticketing booths and vehicle berths. In

larger stations, crowd management AI models built into the ticketing and vehicle schedule software

modules will provide video and travel analytics. These analytics will enhance the flow of passenger

traffic in and out of the station, crime detection and most emergency situations

URBAN PLANNING

African urban cities planners persistently design their cities towards western models. Most of these

models assume the automobile as the primary mode of transit. Overtime these cities face the same

inevitable bottlenecks such as congestion, pollution, and erratic land use. Guided-way transit

systems like trains, trams and monorail are also incorporated to curb some of these bottlenecks.

Road blocks, demolition of buildings and construction of new roads form part of the remedy.

Recent developments in Nigeria have federal and state authorities challenged with introducing

Guided way systems. (See Future Challenges of Transportation Systems in Nigeria, Akpantun U.I).

Regardless of the nature of these challenges, awareness of truly sustainable solutions is primary. PRT

systems are fast being incorporated in new and existing city landscapes. Some new sustainable cities

are fast emerging.

Masdar City, UAE

Masdar City is the latest of a small number of highly planned, specialized, research and technology-

intensive municipalities that incorporate a living environment, similar to KAUST, Saudi Arabia or

Tsukuba Science City, Japan (Wikimedia Foundation Inc., 2014). Its expected population will be

about 50,000 people and 1,500 businesses. Most businesses will be commercial and manufacturing

facilities adopting environmentally friendly products. As a result, more than 60,000 workers are

expected to commute to the city daily. 2Getthere PRT has already been commissioned at Masdar

city.

LeviTrans incorporates the concept of Guideway Aquaponics (GAQ). This introduces sustainable, fish

and vegetable (symbiotic) farming ubiquitously integrated into the Guideway and station to

augment the splendor of rural and urban landscape while providing food for the people in an

efficient and carbon friendly way.

SWITCHING

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Switching is a Guideway technique where a vehicle changes track in the same direction on the

Guideway. LeviTrans uses a simple but unique switching mechanism by rolling over the Guideway

section according to the request from a switching vehicle. To reduce the weight of this section to

about one-tenth, a combination of Carbon Fibre and Alkaloid Activated Cement (AAC) materials will

be used to replace Concrete without compromising any material strength.

Electronic circuits on this section constantly communicate with on-coming vehicles flagging them to

speed-up if the following vehicle requires a track switch or slow down or stop if it requires switching.

This gives ample time to perform the Roll-Over. The Roll-Over mechanism allows switching between

tracks in the up, down, left and right directions. No known Guideway system can currently perform

such switching operations. A hybrid Solar/Battery/Electricity system powers the switching section.

HEADWAY

Headway is a measure of the distance or time between vehicles in a transit system. The precise

definition varies depending on the application, but it is most commonly measured as the distance

from the tip of one vehicle to the tip of the next one behind it, expressed as the time it will take for

the trailing vehicle to cover that distance. A "shorter" headway signifies a more frequent service.

Freight trains might have headways measured in parts of an hour, metro systems operate with

headways on the order of 1 to 5 minutes, and vehicles on a freeway can have as little as 2 seconds

headway between them. Headway is a key input in calculating the overall route capacity of any

transit system. A system that requires large headways has more empty space than passenger

capacity, which lowers the total number of passengers or cargo quantity being transported for a

given length of line (railroad or highway, for instance).

Figure 11. Illustration of vehicle headway Adapted from (Anderson J. E.,

2009)

Many Hi-Cap PRT designs use variants of a strategy known as Asynchronous Point-Follower

mechanism to calculate headway. By asynchronous we mean that no signal clocking is necessary to

keep the beat or tempo, vehicle speed and position is calculated on demand, in real time. According

to Anderson J.E, 2009, “The strategy I recommend is a “point follower” because the vehicles closely

follow speeds and positions that are calculated as functions of real time and are commanded by

wayside computers”.

Some systems like Skyweb Express employ wayside computers to do headway calculations and

submit the results to the vehicles for action. This suggests that several of such computers are

installed at intervals along the Guideway. One would assume that a failure of one wayside computer

would cause vehicles in that range to lack traffic data.

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In contrast, LeviTrans operates an asynchronous-point-follower variant that completely gives every

Levicraft vehicles the autonomy to perform these calculations on-board and even communicates this

information to others within range.

STABILIZATION AND PROPULSION

Known MagLev systems like Transrapid and JR MagLev are totally driven by electromagnetic circuits

on the track and vehicle. Transrapid and othe systems achieve stabilization by attraction (JR system

uses repulsion) and linear propulsion by a combination of attraction and repulsion.

As part of the core strategy, LeviTrans uses the repulsion of permanent magnets on the track and

vehicle for stabilization and propulsion as such there is no need for neither electricity nor complex

stabilization and propulsion control modeling.

While other PRT systems use electromagnetic circuits or wheels, Levicraft incorporates a linear

inductor motor (LIM) which accelerates and decelerates the vehicle without friction.

BRAKING

The concept of braking combines magnetic deceleration (frictionless) with mechanical braking

(friction) thus eliminating jerking experienced in wheeled systems and reducing headway

considerably. The Brakes are based on LIM attached to brake shoes made of rubber and hemp.

LIM braking is constant as commanded, independent of friction, grade, or wind and we can depend

on a LIM-operated vehicle to stop as quickly as a failed vehicle independent of the friction of the

running surface (J. Edward Anderson, Ph.D., 2009).

There may be no need for mechanical brakes for most applications. However for mass transit the

dual braking mechanism is just adequate.

COMPUTING RESOURCES

In recent times, the computer revolution has contributed to the success of PRT systems more than

any other form of transportation. The design, development and operation of every aspect and

component of a PRT system such as vehicle and Guideway design, material testing and traffic

simulation can be done using inexpensive computer hardware and software. This saves time and

costs as it enables project teams to ascertain most results before committing procurement funds for

production. Vehicle communication and control, Control Center and Communications Controllers,

ticketing and security devices also use inexpensive computer hardware. However, all software but

Personal Computer and Server operating systems are proprietary.

SIMULATION

The ability to simulate every aspect of PRT systems has brought it to world focus. Using a basic

personal computer or a mac systematic and traffic tests and accurate results can be obtained using

commonly available software. Few decades ago, one would have to build working models and

operate them for some time to achieve the same quality of results. There are a myriad of simulation

programs available but no commercially available program was designed exclusively for PRT systems.

Like other PRT projects, Levitrans will develop its own unique simulation software or adapt a close

relative.

CONTROL SYSTEMS

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Control systems are found in performance critical equipment and provide the accuracy required in

their operation. In this context, control systems refer to mechanical devices controlled by electronic

circuits and software providing data analysis.

In 1984, Boeing Aerospace Company embarked on a federally funded “Advanced Group Rapid

Transit (AGRT) Program. While there was no specific definition for control system given to the team

at the time, they worked with the assumption “that it was as if the vital relay that determines the

safety of a modern rapid rail system had a mean time to failure (MTBF) of one million years. So the

design criterion for AGRT was set as a control system MTBF of one million years for unsafe failures”

(J. Edward Anderson, Ph.D., 2009). The results from this project formed the basis of Anderson’s and

others work on PRT.

The Boeing 1984 Mean Time between failures (MTBF) estimate in years (R. C. Milnor & R. S.

Washington, 1984) was as follows:

MTBUF MTBSI MTBF

Duplex: 400 million

0.6 0.6

Triplex:

140 million 1900 0.4

Dual-Duplex:

200 million 1400 0.3

MTBUF = Mean Time Between Unsafe Failures

MTBSI = Mean Time Between Service Interruptions

MTBF = Mean Time Between Failures of each unit

According to J. Edward Anderson, Ph.D., 2009, this simply means that in a system of 1000 vehicles,

the failure rate within the system would of course be 1/1000 times the above values.

Today, microcontrollers are more robust and fault tolerant than their 1970s or 1980s ancestors.

Their ability to be programmed by robust software routines enables them provide a remarkable

detection and recovery from inherent failures. Results today would far exceed the 1984 Boeing

report.

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SIGNALING AND FEEDBACK

Inadequate signaling has been the cause of Guideway accidents since the early days of the train. PRT

systems like those from Ultra incorporate in-car video and traffic feedback to the control center

using communications infrastructure such as 802.11 (Wi-Fi). Feedback or signaling communications

as offered by Skyweb express and Vectus is incorporated into the Guideway. In these cases, the

central control center, way-side computers are responsible for signaling decisions for the whole

network.

Levitrans uses a different standards-compliant approach known as Autonomous Vehicle Signaling

Protocol (AVSP). Vehicles are internally programmed to behave like an autonomous community

thereby communicating only with those within range. Feedback to the central control center is done

through intermediate Communications Controller towers located on the Guideway about one to two

kilometers (1Km ~ 2Km) range of each other. However, the transmission of video feedback is on

demand in cases of faults, crime detection or other emergencies.

In the event of any vehicle failure, other nearby vehicles adjusts their operational conditions such as

speed and route to suit the prevailing traffic conditions (See Headway). This autonomous behavior

makes the system resilient in the event of software attacks on the Communications Controller or

Control Center.

FINANCE

Project Financing may not be considered a part of technical design. However, some experience is

important to the success of any project in Africa.

FUNDING

Levitrans implementation favors any flavor of the Public Private Partnership (PPP) project financing

model except Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) variants. In Africa, the latter model usually leaves

the host community with dilapidated, obsolete or at best deprecated technologies after the

contracted period of operation, usually twenty-five or more years. The paper “Future Challenges of

Transportation Systems in Nigeria”, Akpantun U.I. 2010; gives an overview of recent attempts made

in Nigeria.

The PPP model allows local and foreign participation due to the simple technologies used. Parts of

the system like the control center and the Guideway may will owned by the government but

operated and maintained by certified private companies. The vehicles, ticketing will be owned and

operated by any combination of local and foreign partnerships. Since maintenance of equipment will

be minimal and mostly automated, local companies are the choice. The LeviTrans team shall be

responsible for software maintenance for the entire life cycle.

Design and development of the LeviTrans PRT is managed and part funded by Sandwin Nigeria

Limited who also provided some of the support technologies for this project to date.

ACCOUNTABILITY

The LeviTrans system project when implemented is quoted by kilometer. Any member of the public

can ascertain the cost of deployment by determining the total length of the Guideway. A complete

project reporting system is built into the project management system which automatically posts

publicly-domain reports to the internet as they are updated. This way, the community can have

some confidence in the system they are about to invest and make use of.

SKILL LEVEL REQUIREMENTS

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Development of a transit system capable of addressing the real problems of urban civilization

has required the inventor to start from a clean sheet of paper. The inventor must consider

transit in an interdisciplinary way as a field of requirements and characteristics, setting aside

known characteristics of existing transit systems that were introduced over a century ago.

Developing criteria for a new urban transportation system involves much more than engineering.

The system engineer may take the lead, but must work closely with architects, planners,

geographers, economists, sociologists, psychologists, political scientists, public officials, and

interested citizens. (J. Edward Anderson, 2005)

APPLICATION OF LEVITRANS SYSTEM

Levitrans is suited for the following application scenarios;

• transportation of high volume of passengers and goods with disparate

traffic volumes

• easy transportation of heavy goods like rocks, containers

• transportation of passengers and goods in a quiet, serene

environment

• environmental conditions are harsh for humans to operate

transportation locally Concept LeviTrans PRT Taxi

• need for low cost, high strength and light weight biodegradable vehicle bodies. There is a current

effort to produce zero-e automobile cars by fitting wheels and compressed air engine into a modified

Levicraft PRT design

Typical locations include;

• Campuses

• Entertainment and Shopping malls

• Urban City centers

• Remote Rural areas

• Government complexes

• Religious Camps

• Hospitals

• Golf and Holiday Resorts

• Airports

• Business and industrial parks

• Large Corporations

• Mineral Mines

• Wharfs

• Large farms

RECOMMENDATION

Levicraft is a worthy transport system to adopt into our transportation system. African

governments and organizations associated with transportation and safety should adopt

standards for PRT operations in their countries. The PRT project involves people from all

works of life as such our universities, governments and industry professionals should readily

get involved.

CONCLUSION

The development of this system so far was not such a daunting task. We have learned a lot

overtime and the required skills are continually being acquired. The African youth has a role

to play in tomorrow’s science and technology development and PRT is a worthy way to

contribute.

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