Govt working on policy to pave way for SkyTran, Hyperloop, EVs

The government is working on a multi-pronged strategy to solve urban transportation and environmental issues, according to an official at Niti Ayog. This includes a new policy to encourage use of electric vehicles for public transport while testing new concepts like Hyperloop and SkyTran.“We are working on a policy to promote use of electric vehicles in public transport. We may even have a sunset clause which will lay down a deadline for the phase-out of diesel vehicles from public transport,” the official said.The official said some cities in India – like Rohtang in Himachal Pradesh – had already begun testing use of only electric vehicles for public transport.“We have shortlisted five cities in two states – Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh – for testing use of electric vehicles in public transport,” the official said, naming Bengaluru, Mysore, Amravati, Kakinada and Vishakhapatanam as candidates where the concept would be first implemented. Only one or two of these cities will be initially chosen.The official said taxi aggregators like Uber and Ola had also agreed to have only electric vehicle fleet wherever the government decides to implement the plan.He said another concept the government and Niti Ayog were studying was a proposal by US company SkyTran. Supported by NASA, SkyTran is a California-based enterprise that has patented a high-speed, elevated mass rapid transport system that employs the well-known magnetic levitation (maglev) technology. The SkyTran system, currently being constructed in Israel, will take passengers in a network of computer-controlled, 2-person ‘jet-like’ vehicles at speeds of up to 150 miles per hour.  “The cost of setting up a 1 km SkyTran network will be Rs 100 crore. The US company has agreed to fund this on its own and will implement a 2 km-5 km pilot project near Gurgaon,” the official said.Hyperloop, seemingly a fantastical idea, has also got an in-principle approval from the Railways. The technology, currently being championed by US-based Hyperloop One, aims to carry people in magnetically levitated pods through low-pressure tubes at extremely high speeds. It claims it will be able to carry passengers on a 1,100-km-long Mumbai-Chennai route in as little as 50 minutes.The official said the railways had agreed to commission a feasibility study to explore implementing hyperloop on one of the routes.