Transportation planners have a new idea about how to take on congestion as Dallas-Fort Worth’s population grows: elevated autonomous cable cars that riders can hail on demand.
Five North Texas cities — Dallas, Arlington, Plano, Frisco and DeSoto — are vying to become the first in the U.S. to pilot the novel transportation system known as Whoosh. The system consists of electric vehicles that resemble conventional aerial gondolas but use autonomous technology to move along an elevated network of fixed cables and rails. The concept comes fromThe company has been working with the North Central Texas Council of Governments to identify potential sites.
Like buses, Whoosh vehicles would have predetermined stops on the ground, with the system initially covering about a three-mile radius — more stops could be added later. But unlike buses or trains, the on-demand nature means it would bypass all the existing stops to take riders directly to their designated one. Since it’s elevated, it also bypasses, rather than competing with, road traffic.
While each potential site has unique needs, Whoosh is a good fit for mid-density areas like the edges of a downtown — places that lack good last-mile transit solutions. “The core of downtown is probably pretty well served by other modes, but there’s a whole lot places outside of downtown Dallas and Fort Worth that doesn’t have good solutions,” said Jeral Poskey, Swyft Cities CEO.Swyft Cities chose North Texas because of an NCTCOG program that looks to attract new transit technology to the region and connect them with local governments.