How energy efficient is SkyTran?
A combination of small, light-weight vehicles, magnetic levitation, and electric propulsion collaborate to make SkyTran extremely efficient. Simply put, at 60 mph the electricity for SkyTran would cost less than 1 cent per mile (at current electricity costs of 11 cents per kWhr). By comparison, buying gas for a 30-MPG car at $2/gallon costs more than 7 times as much. Although proponents claim that mass transit costs significantly less than cars [1], entrepreneur and transit iconoclast Brad Templeton points out that “Several of the [mass-transit] modes, such as buses, as well as the light rail and subway systems of most towns, consume more energy per passenger-mile than cars do, when averaged out.
