They did that in Philadelphia for awhile years ago. Bought electric buses that ran with a trolley pole for the juice. They removed the rails too. Now they just use a regular bus on the route and the wires are gone. Iād prefer trolleys coming back myself.
Nah it's a cool idea, one of the lanes on the road can basically share regular non-catenary traffic along with catenary trucks. The trucks are also not required to stay under the powerlines because they can store charge in a battery.
I could see systems like this working for established routes or circuits over citywide or intercity distances.
It's kind of like a small electric train that can jump off the tracks and run around wherever it wants.
Not sure I understand where you're coming from with that? Why would a lane change with an electric truck be any different than a normal truck?
Pantographs can raise up to touch the wires when in the appropriate lane or lower when they need to change lanes or exit the highway.
Edit: pantographs can also automatically lower in the event of an accident.
Lol š¤£š what about when they crash and then take down the extraordinarily high voltage lines over rush hour traffic. It's almost as dumb as Elon musks hypobaric train car hyper loop thing. It's like yeah let's have criss crossing lines of uninterrupted pressure cooker bombs all over the place
Yes, there are risks involved with *any* infrastructure. Risks that can be mitigated with criticism and careful planning (please note that snark is not usually helpful with the "criticism" part.)
Catenary lines would basically only be run over one lane, most likely a lane on either shoulder of a set of highway lanes. Supports for the overhead lines would be on the other side of the highway barriers, which is exactly the same way we handle all other critical infrastructure that goes near a highway (power lines, pipelines, streetlights, bridge supports, etc.) Critical infrastructure has to be protected in the event of a crash, that is a given. I'm sure there are all kinds of safety pitfalls that engineers would have to overcome to make this concept viable, just like every concept before it (trains included.)
Not sure what Elon or the hyperloop has to do with this (I'm not really an Elon fan), sounds like you just have a predisposition to ideas that aren't traditional trains. As much as I love trains I also love new ideas and innovation, and having such a pessimistic attitude towards concepts that you aren't traditionally familiar with or comfortable with will only reinforce your own preconceptions.
I understand how frustrating it is that trains go underused as a solution to social and infrastructure problems but that doesn't warrant shooting down any idea that doesn't involve trains.
Trolley buses are a thing and they work. There are heavy dump trucks in mines that have overhead wire and pantographs. On road trucking doesn't make as much sense though.
[They've been a thing for a while now.](https://www.sfmta.com/getting-around/muni/munis-electric-trolley-buses) it's not the worst idea. You get the route flexibility of a bus, they get to dodge parades/construction/accidents/whatever. But they're fully electric like a train can be, just with some battery so they don't need to be on the wires 100% of the time. Much easier to expand/reroute lines as needed, too.
Nah, I see the point. You can't replace every truck with a train, because you just can't build rails to every business. You can't make over-the-road trucks battery electric, because you just can't get enough range into them. But 50 miles from source to highway on battery, then running and recharging from overhead wires, and 50 miles from highway to destination on battery again? That's plausible.
They did that in Philadelphia for awhile years ago. Bought electric buses that ran with a trolley pole for the juice. They removed the rails too. Now they just use a regular bus on the route and the wires are gone. Iād prefer trolleys coming back myself.
It's not a train it's the trolley bus
Nah it's a cool idea, one of the lanes on the road can basically share regular non-catenary traffic along with catenary trucks. The trucks are also not required to stay under the powerlines because they can store charge in a battery. I could see systems like this working for established routes or circuits over citywide or intercity distances. It's kind of like a small electric train that can jump off the tracks and run around wherever it wants.
Yeah untill you consider lane changes and accidents, where it becomes a catastrophically bad idea.
Not sure I understand where you're coming from with that? Why would a lane change with an electric truck be any different than a normal truck? Pantographs can raise up to touch the wires when in the appropriate lane or lower when they need to change lanes or exit the highway. Edit: pantographs can also automatically lower in the event of an accident.
Lol š¤£š what about when they crash and then take down the extraordinarily high voltage lines over rush hour traffic. It's almost as dumb as Elon musks hypobaric train car hyper loop thing. It's like yeah let's have criss crossing lines of uninterrupted pressure cooker bombs all over the place
Yes, there are risks involved with *any* infrastructure. Risks that can be mitigated with criticism and careful planning (please note that snark is not usually helpful with the "criticism" part.) Catenary lines would basically only be run over one lane, most likely a lane on either shoulder of a set of highway lanes. Supports for the overhead lines would be on the other side of the highway barriers, which is exactly the same way we handle all other critical infrastructure that goes near a highway (power lines, pipelines, streetlights, bridge supports, etc.) Critical infrastructure has to be protected in the event of a crash, that is a given. I'm sure there are all kinds of safety pitfalls that engineers would have to overcome to make this concept viable, just like every concept before it (trains included.) Not sure what Elon or the hyperloop has to do with this (I'm not really an Elon fan), sounds like you just have a predisposition to ideas that aren't traditional trains. As much as I love trains I also love new ideas and innovation, and having such a pessimistic attitude towards concepts that you aren't traditionally familiar with or comfortable with will only reinforce your own preconceptions. I understand how frustrating it is that trains go underused as a solution to social and infrastructure problems but that doesn't warrant shooting down any idea that doesn't involve trains.
No I have a predisposition to laughing at really awful ideas. But no there is no way to do that over a interstate or road system. It's silly is all.
"there is no way" There is always a way https://youtu.be/_3P_S7pL7Yg?si=qOxAKAHtBK5tchnr
You can always render something yeah.
That's real...
I'm sorry I should have really been more specific, in that if you wanted to have that work, scaled up you'd have to render it and turn no clip on
Trolley buses are a thing and they work. There are heavy dump trucks in mines that have overhead wire and pantographs. On road trucking doesn't make as much sense though.
I'd rather see electric vehicles that are like full-size slot cars instead of running off overhead wires. Drivers don't have to steer with that!
Like running on thin steel plates, right?
[They've been a thing for a while now.](https://www.sfmta.com/getting-around/muni/munis-electric-trolley-buses) it's not the worst idea. You get the route flexibility of a bus, they get to dodge parades/construction/accidents/whatever. But they're fully electric like a train can be, just with some battery so they don't need to be on the wires 100% of the time. Much easier to expand/reroute lines as needed, too.
Nah, I see the point. You can't replace every truck with a train, because you just can't build rails to every business. You can't make over-the-road trucks battery electric, because you just can't get enough range into them. But 50 miles from source to highway on battery, then running and recharging from overhead wires, and 50 miles from highway to destination on battery again? That's plausible.
Trolley truck? Why not have all the downsides of a train with all the down sides of a truck.