Mission

Our mission is to build a national consensus for a modernized national intercity transportation system. The purpose of this site is to start a national dialogue and present some preliminary ideas suggesting how the nation might move forward with the design and implementation. This site is intended to serve as an initial starting point for visionary leaders to become familiar with the concept. I hope this site will attract the attention of government, industry, universities, and visionary leaders. When fully implemented, this system should do for intercity transportation what Amazon has done for packet delivery. That would be to revolutionize the movement of people and goods between cities. Basically to blend the efficiency of rail with the flexibility of automobiles while improving speed and safety. An added benefit would be a major shift toward the use of electrical energy in the transportation segment.

Goals

Create public awareness about the possibilities.
Adopt a series of interfaces that will guide the development of an inter city transportation system.
Involve the Federal government. Governments roll would be one of leadership and enablement, not regulation. Government should assist with acquiring right of way and perhaps tax incentives to facilitate the investment required by private industry to implement various aspects of the system. The federal government must resist the desire to pick winners and losers. Government would be on the hook for right-of-way enhancements but should be able to recover the investment by getting more bang for the buck with their highway dollars.
Involve State governments. Be great to see the governors take a roll in the development and testing. There would have to be buy in before they would commit to converting existing infrastructure into managed right of way. High density corridors are a natural place to start.
Involve key visionary players. Industries roll would be to develop and operate the various components. Build sleds, vehicles, yard and hub areas, right of way segments, right of way management software, hub management software, etc. I can imagine the Amazon logistics team developing hub management systems to manage the assembly of vehicles into chains and merging the chains onto right of way segments. I see the likes of GE and Westinghouse building the equipment to power the right-of-ways with dependable electrical power. I see Tesla engineers being first to implement the required interfaces in enough of their Teslas to demonstrate feasibility. I see visionary politicians jumping on the idea and making it part of their campaign.

Critical Success Factors

American Exceptionalism needs to be allowed to flourish, not be stifled.
Business should be allowed to implement and operate the system.
Public figures in government and media must buy in and help spread the word.
Government must take a facilitating roll, not one of ownership or control.
Critical interfaces must remain in the public domain.
Stake holders in the existing infrastructure must be willing to move forward and not sabotage the progress.
Key businesses see the profit potential and begin adapting their thinking and modifying their designs to implement required interfaces.
A change in public thinking needs to occur before the electric grid can be expanded to supply the power required with reliable energy. See Do The Math