Patent ID: 6169954
Filing Date: 2001-01-02
Classification: B60K,B60L,B61B,E01D,Y02T

Abstract:
A transit system comprising: a plurality of internally powered, wheeled, transport vehicles, each individual vehicle having both manual controls enabling a user to drive the vehicle on a surface street and an on-board computer (OBC) system enabling software control of at least vehicle steering and velocity; a Master computer system enabled to establish two-way communication with the OBC on each vehicle; and a controlled roadway system having a roadway surface upon which the transport vehicle runs on its internal power on the same wheels as on surface streets; wherein, on surface streets off the controlled roadway the manual controls are active, and on the controlled roadway the software controls are active, and the Master computer system maps the controlled roadway into fixed length virtual packets traveling at a constant speed, identifies the packets uniquely, identifies all compatible transport vehicles uniquely, relates the virtual packets to corresponding vehicles and controls transport vehicles to occupy corresponding virtual packets.