Overview
This will be a network of one way Eways for lightweight ‘Ecars’ using the margins between the fence-lines either side of major road and rail routes and elevated across open land. For the road sections of door-to-door journeys Ecars would use their internal short-range batteries and when on the Eways will pick up power for recharge and high-speed traction and be automatically controlled.
Lynn’s Review
Tony, a member of our group, who has worked as a system engineer, including Flight Simulation, opened a door into one of his areas of interest when he made his presentation to Science at Fishbourne this month. He outlined his research into the big problem of congestion on our roadways and his idea for a possible solution.
Tony explored the relationship between wealth, transport and opportunity. The ability to travel quickly (most people prefer a 30 minute commute) brings the higher possibility of employment and social exchange.
GDP growth rose with the arrival of the car. Access to a car gives twice as much opportunity for social engagement; four times greater job opportunity, and it offers a cheaper mode of transport than bus or train. The lowest income families, without a car, will spend 20% of their income on transport.
The problem arises when more and more cars appear on the roads; they account for 75% of all road traffic.
I asked AI how many people were waiting for a driving test at the moment:
“At the end of September 2025, 668,128 people had a practical driving test booked in Britain.”
So, more congestion, on our roadways to come, year by year.
As congestion increases, so the speed of traffic slows and the benefit of the 30 minute speedy commute to work moves further away. Tony’s research pointed to traffic in 2050 moving at the speed of a bicycle, but he says that the car will still be worth having.
The government have a view to reduce demand, limiting car use by various means, such as 15 minute cities; congestion charging; building road barriers to limit car use; financial controls on parking; increasing lanes for cycle routes and encouraging the use of public transport etc. These measures will generally continue to predominantly affect those on low income.
Tony has researched an idea which he believes could offer: door to door travel; have minimal environmental impact; increase opportunity and be economically viable and sustainable.
The concept is to build single lane; toll based; Eways. These would be routed along existing road/rail margins and would consist of elevated roadways built on a simple colonnade system which would have minimal land use. There would be on/off junctions in every Parish.
Helical screw piling would enable fast installation and removal and the track sections would have WPT- wireless power, transferred through woven, wire cables.
60% of all car journeys are made by just one person and so the Ecar used on the Eway would be a 2 seater with a short range battery which would charge on the Eway. It could possibly have pedal assist too. The cost of such a vehicle could be compared with that of a motor-bike at around £8000, making it more achievable for those on low income.
Eway ramps for Supermarkets could use Ecargo, autonomous variants.
Energy for the Eway might use LAS – Liquid Air Storage from Wind Power, so being completely renewable.
Tony proposes that getting public acceptance would be the first step to getting his idea off the ground and he recognises that there are many questions still to ask; more ideas and discussion are needed.
For this reason, he is interested in presenting his idea to University Students, perhaps as part of their Innovation programme. It would certainly encourage creative thinking.
Tony proposes beginning with Digital Twins: “Virtual, dynamic replicas of physical buildings, bridges, or infrastructure that use real-time data from sensors and other technologies to monitor, analyse, and optimize projects.” From there he would hope to progress to trials, possibly at Goodwood, followed by uptake on the commercial route from Southampton to Brighton.
Two Eway routes have a possible cost of £100 million compared to road improvements of £280 million.
I really enjoyed Tony’s talk and it stimulated much discussion amongst us in our coffee break.
Tony is obviously highly creative. I think this gives him the label as an innovative thinker, and highlights the need for more people with a passionate interest to look to the future.
On checking the status of innovation in Great Britain online, I got this response from AI.
“Great Britain remains a powerhouse of innovative thinking and creative output, driven by its world-class universities and a robust venture capital ecosystem. However, it is not the overall leader in global rankings and must focus on translating its research excellence into higher productivity and increased patent activity to compete with the very top innovators.”
Possibly, Tony’s end- product may not be reached, or it may be modified and find uptake, but the initial idea, the communication, research and spark for future progress, sets new ideas in motion and that is where innovation happens.