Autoshuttle: Concept and Commercial Example Line

The transport system AUTOSHUTTLE integrates roadand track guided traffic using and combining the specific advantagesof each of these means of transportation. Conventionalroad vehicles are transported including their passengersand freight in individual cabins. The operational concept ofA UTOSHUTTLE provides operation of the cabins without intermediatestops at almost constant travelling speed. During thejourney convoys with low aerodynamic drag are formed in orderto lower the energy consumption and increase traffic capacity.Approaching a station only those cabins that have reachedtheir destination leave the convoy on a passive switch and decelerateon a brake track, while other cabins close the gap in theconvoy and travel on at the usual cruising speed. This paper describesthe planning and economical aspects of a proposedcommercia/line along the motorway A3 in Germany betweenthe cities of Duisburg and Cologne as a typical example formany other applications.