Battles in the Desert in Search of Multipurpose Transport

The latest news from the world of transport. The company, formerly known as Hyperloop One, changed its name to Virgin Hyperloop One before receiving investment from odious Richard Branson. The paint on the signboard, updated after the merger, has not dried out yet, as the company announced another new partnership. This time with DP World to create a new “ultra-fast cargo system” with “global ambitions”. It is reported by a number of websites, for example, electrek.co.

DP World is one of the world’s largest port operators; it is actively investing in the company sympathizing with the project in Dubai port. It goes on for about two years by now; however, the words “Hyperloop” and “reality” have hardly come close in Dubai. Why? Let everyone formulate the answer on his/her own; as for us, we believe it is important to emphasize the trend that exists in this project ― the strife for versatility of solutions, even at the level of theory. After all, everything looks logical at the level of plans: the proposal of a Hyperloop-system (partially underwater) between the seaport and container warehouses would release valuable port areas.

These ideas duplicate the essence of Skyway transport: the need to merge various solutions to create a universal transport for all types of transported objects at all possible areas. SkyWay General designer Anatoly Yunitskiy has promoted this visionary idea for many years.

Despite a higher maximum speed, Hyperloop gets outplayed by SkyWay at short distances (c) cleantechnica.com

Apparently, that is why an elevated multi-functional transport system, which is several times less costly than conventional rail transport systems, can become a great leap in the development of logistics in the UAE, according to the local edition Khaleej Times. The unmanned unibus, which is already riding in EcoTechnoPark, may mean that passengers will no longer have to waste time waiting for the next train or metro. In comparison to the current transport services, such as Dubai metro, which copes well with long-distance transportation, unibus is “easier and more accessible”. It can be easily integrated into the city infrastructure and provide transport services between Emirates.

In addition, here is another example of multitasking performance and a new role of one of the modes of transport. The Airbus Aerial business, “son” of the famous Airbus Corp., used a drone to map out and survey the runway at Atlanta airport, the busiest airport in the world. According to Unmanned Aerial, it was a demo flight. On analyzing the results of this experiment, the airport administration intends to take a decision on the feasibility to use unmanned aerial vehicles to evaluate the state of the airfield infrastructure.

Like water in the desert, the world needs a new integrated transport approach today. It needs a basis ― a technology that can unite, link together dozens of tasks and challenges. At present, such technology is SkyWay transport, which has already shown the vision of urban, freight, high-speed transport, container ships, as well as drones, electric vehicles, fencing security modules and, in the future, the General Transport System.