Podcars: Using networking ideas to transport people.

Google Tech Talks November 20, 2008 ABSTRACT Podcars are car sized vehicles on guideways elevated over streets. Podcar systems have network topology where each pod is routed the fastest way from origin to destination. High capacity is achieved through short inter-vehicle distances. The direct travel to any destination results in high mean travel speeds, rivaled only by a car in uncongested streets. Podcars use electricity directly off the grid and are very energy efficient. The talk will give a broad description of the technology and the market situation and present a sample network for the Googleplex. Speaker: Bengt Gustafsson Bengt Gustafsson, CEO of Beamways, a Swedish startup developing a Podcar system. Bengt's background is in the software industry where he has developed novel user interface generators, language interpreters and database engines.