ALTERNATIVE CONCEPTS FOR UNDERGROUND RAPID TRANSIT SYSTEMS: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

A study was performed for the Office of the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation to determine if construction costs and operating energy requirements of future high-performance underground rail mass-rapid-transit systems can be decreased while maintaining or improving service. The alternative design approaches studied were limited to well-established design concepts which differ from those used in the BART (San Francisco), WMATA (Washington, D.C.) and MARTA (Atlanta) systems. They include: gravity assist; over/under tunnels; over/under and short stations; various subway train propulsion configurations; and optimized operational control policies. Comparisons were made of several system designs for a specific route and patronage structure. These comparisons indicate that it is practical to significantly reduce construction costs and operational energy requirements of modern underground systems while improving service by incorporating alternative concepts. Without any attempt at optimization, savings in capital costs in excess of 24% and savings in energy as high as 70% in traction effort and 88% in braking are shown to be achievable. The Executive Summary briefly describes the purpose, approach, and results of the study.

• Corporate Authors:

  Jet Propulsion Laboratory

  California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive
  Pasadena, CA  United States  91103

  Office of the Secretary of Transportation

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590

  National Aeronautics and Space Administration

  600 Independence Avenue, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20546
• Authors:
  • Dayman, B J
  • Heft, R C
  • KURTZ, D W
  • Macie, T W
  • Stallkamp, J A
• Publication Date: 1977-3

Media Info

• Pagination: 38 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Analysis; Braking; Braking performance; Construction; Cost estimating; Costs; Energy conservation; Energy consumption; Estimates; Gravity; Level of service; Optimization; Propulsion; Rail transit stations; Rapid transit; Routes; Savings; Subways; Systems analysis; Traction; Tunneling; Urban transportation; Vehicle power plants
• Uncontrolled Terms: Construction costs; Cost analysis; Propulsion systems; Services
• Old TRIS Terms: Energy requirements; Gravity augmentation; Operating strategies; Subway construction
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Construction; Energy; Environment; Finance; Operations and Traffic Management; Passenger Transportation; Public Transportation; Railroads; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00166482
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Technical Information Service
• Report/Paper Numbers: DOT/TST-77-31 Final Rpt., P-51-520
• Contract Numbers: DOT-AS-60019, NAS7-100
• Files: NTIS, TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Oct 29 1982 12:00AM