European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 23, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                By Barbara Moffet National geographic travelling from new York to los Angeles in the future could be a Breeze Only a 21 minute subway All that would be needed is a very Long with the air pumped out to eliminate electromagnets could pull trains through As fast As we might slow it Down to or Miles an hour for a More comfortable but it would still take Only an with stops in Chicago and says a proponent of the professor Frank Davidson of the Massachusetts Institute of engineers have the knowhow to build such a supersonic Davidson while acknowledging a financial stumbling Block tunnelling across the advocates of a different technology High Speed rail Arent in the Mph but there just As theirs is another of the ideas some some Many very costly that abound in America for next Century at least a dozen schemes for High Speed trains they go at least 125 Mph Are on track in the several companies vying for contracts to build some political leaders who have presided Over the decline of conventional trains Are sounding High Speed rail is going to take this country into its third declared Federal Railroad administrator John Riley last its inconceivable that the United states will remain the one nation to be left a Seattle travel Agency is looking further it plans to Otter Tours of space before the year starting with a 48orbit whirl on the two or three decades the Agency Hopes to sponsor Moon landings for by 2030 or a vehicle might Dock at a space where people could stay for three to five Days for scientific forecasts who says his travel Agency has received thousands of queries from would be space some ideas for the future have been around the Block Marvin president of forecasting International of believes the dirigible return for pleasure Paul Brown of the department of Energy thinks the electric car will finally get cranked after Battery technology is Gas prices Are bound to Rise again and make the electric car look he heres what is Down the Road for transportation in the United states automobiles a Century without cars not very the automobile is not quite As Hardy As the but its pretty its Likely to be Here after were predicts James Womack of the Massachusetts Institute of who is coauthor of the future of the but in Many 21stcentury cars will look and feel in the we celebrated the Power of with Long hoods that and today its the wonder of with electronic diodes and the future car will emphasize the human his safety and suggests Jerry director of design for Nissan design International car designers say increased concern about fuel savings will make cars More aerodynamic smooth vehicles whose surfaces will blend almost though they May not be much future cars will go the Way of some Beer Light As plastics and other new materials take Over for heat tolerant originally developed for space will be used in Turbine and other unconventional opening up a Range of alternative before a computer will be watching Over the engine and other systems smoothing gear anticipating diagnosing mechanical radar systems linked to brakes will head off car manufacturers and an inboard infrared device May highlight darkened a video display for navigation maps As Well As will be As Standard As the dashboard the car will be an investment in communications says Oliver Page 14 the stars and stripes executive Engineer for general the car itself will become a biomechanical Extension of the says Hirshberg of As a Driver slides his key into the the reprogrammed pedals and controls will adjust to his enhancing if Hes too drunk to the ignition May not respond at if he dozes off while a ski sensitive steering wheel will detect lapse in attention and set off an but All of that May be unnecessary when the drive less car Rolls out of the Only a concept this future car would use artificial vision to take the Drivers at least for simple you could Tell take the kids to choir and when you drive around for a while i want some free suggests Womack of mass transit if certain dreams for the future come there will be subways and streetcars serving cities that now have As Well As people movers and arts personal rapid some automobile commuters will leave the driving to a computer As an automated Roadway guides cars to in the biggest mass transit Boom since the Early cities across the land Are laying the groundwork for their transportation about 50 cities have plans for mass transit systems in the but How far  get is says Bonnie Whyte of the Urban mass transportation one of the most ambitious plans is for the traffic choked los Angeles area a 150mile rail system that would serve Square if financing is construction of the system should run Well into the 21st by the year Dallas Hopes to boast one of the nations largest rail 140 Miles of Street level Light supplemented with the Dallas known As is to be financed totally with a 1 percent sales Light rail is attracting planners thwarted by High costs of conventional heavy rail which Are often electrically powered by overhead Light rail guide ways can run on the eliminating costly some transit dont applaud the return to such As the one operating in san i cant see the fascination with the says John a Harvard University transportation its a expensive bus that cant run freely on the the people a shuttle once thought to be Ideal for Short runs around downtown is looking shaky Federal funds to support it Are drying hoping to ride a Monorail people mover into the next has run into construction snags and vast Cost overruns in its future mass transit lies in personal rapid some experts in one As Many As three commuters going to the same place would enter an unattached punch in a code for their and be whisked along a honeycomb of with no stops for other mass transit will have to be More flexible for the dispersed populations of the who will do less elderly citizens sometimes called the transportation handicapped will boost demand for Public without a developed mass transit Large numbers of people not Well enough to drive will be says Jerry former chairman of the advanced transit the ultimate in mass transit would be automated which would electronically couple vehicles and the Road to control Speed and the distance Between automated roads theoretically would move cars More increasing a roads and would eliminate Driver its Clear the technology can be says National geographic business travellers May Fly into the future on planes like Sta ship developed by Beech aircraft its body is made of lightweight the plane combines technologies that will Mark some of the next generations rear mounted engines reduce propeller noise in passenger compartment and while tip sails on wings work like boat sails for added Small wings near the nose make the plane safer at Low Allan Hendrix of the California department of which is researching the we already have compute controlled trains at the same time the Federal government is trying to phase out it is giving Money to states to study High Speed rail some systems could be in operation by despite construction costs projected in the most states Are looking to private sources for among the most Active plans Are in Florida a  Pennsylvania Philadelphia to new York City to Montreal via and segments of a five state plan that could whisk passengers from Philadelphia to Chicago in six various technologies Are under including the revolutionary French Tiv which has broken Speed records at 236 and the a train without wheels that glides Over a levitated by in High Speed rail is seen As an answer to a predicted transportation crunch the state is expected to swell by 5 to 7 million residents by our highways and airways just wont accommodate and we must think of the tourists says commuting to a Central and increasing numbers of Carl Huff of the Florida High Speed rail transportation authorized by the Florida commission is seeking an Independent consortium to build a tourist Landing at the Miami Airport would be zapped by rail right to Disney Huff eventually wed see whole town built around the train system one town for the next for and the third for people  need a car at air planes they will be More with wings in unexpected such As alongside the and propeller like fans at the optical fibres will do everything from signalling Landing gear to drop to telling the flight attendant Shes flight arrivals could be More reliable As a result of sophisticated a report on americas aviation released in March by the science adviser to president sets this goal a congestion free aeronautical interstate offering Superior air transportation at half its current the next generation of passenger planes should be at least More fuel among expected innovations plastic like composites to replace aluminium reducing weight As much As 20 and an advanced propeller system that could slash fuel the report to the president also urges development of a super supersonic plane that could reach asian trading partners such As Japan and China in Only four to five hours with no fuel sometime next that probably will the concorde will be technologically obsolete by says Roger Fleming of the air transport the new supersonic air plane will probably push it like future air planes will be Al electronic the hydraulically powered flight control for will be replaced by compute managed but some internal communications will go laser optical fibres carrying the information needed to operate the with a fraction of the weight of air travel is expected to multiply by and increased congestion May turn today underused airports into but some travellers May bypass the Airport and take off from a parking lot or rooftop in a tilt Rotor a plane that will ascend like a helicopter and then tilt its Rotor Blades Forward for High Speed in Hopes of making the skies a sweeping modernization of the air traffic control integrating new computers and surveillance is in the one expected result pilots on a collision course would be instructed immediately by computer on the Best evasive in aircraft designer Moulton Taylor looks toward the hoping that someone will finance his a car that sprouts wings and developed his version of the flying car 25 years but the idea has never gotten off the at least not Long enough to catch August 1985 the stars and stripes Page 15