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In a recent online poll we asked what are
the priorities for transport investment as
we move out of lockdown?
21 July 2020 / www.theengineer.co.uk
Readers were divided on
the signifi cance of the fi rst
commercial manned space
launch from US soil
What an absolute waste of money
and technology when there are so
many issues to resolve on this planet
fi rst! Simply an ego trip for one of the
wealthiest and therefore least
accountable individuals on the
planet. The sooner he goes to Mars
and stays there the be er! He’ll only
be happy when he has control of the
space surrounding the Earth ..
whether it be with rockets blasting off
every 5 minutes or satellites fi lling
the night sky. Well done Elon – to hell
with everyone else eh?
Retired engineer
It is a good start, but let’s not get
ahead of ourselves, it has taken more
than 50 years to do what was done
before, and until they have shown
that they can get them back down to
earth, and they do that many time, it
is important to then go to the moon,
which is a much shorter distance
than Mars, or any other planets.
John Patrick E ridge
COVID-19 means we need our cars,
vans & lorries. So lets dual those single
carriageway A roads to left-behind parts of
Britain. I am a fan of the “Big Dig” in Boston,
USA. I would build a version for London
(underground motorways).
I see Krakow airport is planning a new
2800m runway. I think that is a good length
for secondary airports that have a few long
haul fl ights. Extending the runway at Luton
and Bristol to 2800m would be my vote.
In lockdown, I read the Skunk Works book.
It is interesting that for the Mach 3 spy
plane that became oxcart/A12/SR-71, they
fi rst looked at Hydrogen fuel. I also dug out
a mid 1970s copy of “Aviation & Marine”
that had a technical article on the benefi ts
of hydrogen fuel for sub & supersonic jets.
Electric airliners will have a very short
range, so hydrogen is probably a be er bet.
I note that ACA (Aviation Clean Air) are
pushing their bipolar ionization method of
killing viruses in airliner cabins. Might be
one way of making passengers feel safe, so
they return to fl ying.
JohnHartley
Seems to me that all the transport
‘problems’ we have, or had, existed before
COVID-19. The problem was, and is, lack
of a proper thought out transport strategy
and a severe lack of investment in the
right areas. The COVID chaos hasn’t
changed that fundamental problem,
however: we now have even less money for
investment and strategies, where they
exist, are being hijacked by CV-19
distractions. You cannot transport large
numbers of people in a public transport
system and have personal isolation – it’s
not feasible or aff ordable !
I’m, personally, not convinced that the
rush to ba ery driven EV is the correct
solution and maybe Hydrogen based
transport is a be er alternative – more
study, less hype maybe ?
However, reality also says that the role
of oil in our transport solutions is never
going to disappear, we just need to manage
be er how and where it is used.
It also seems that the existing digital
infrastructure has coped pre y well, the
only long standing issue is still providing
the capability into the shires. Maybe, divert
investment into fi bre and 4G everywhere
before we disappear down the 5G rabbit
hole ? ‘We’ also need to recognise that
‘working from home’ is essentially a
middle classed, technologically biased
pastime that is not applicable to a large
proportion of the population, e.g. the
unskilled and those involved in ‘physical’
engineering (mechanical, chemical, …)
so maybe we need more emphasis on the
layout of the workplace ?
Another Steve
The largest problem with our
transport system is that we have
developed a structure where everybody
clusters into the centre of major towns
and cities to go to work. We should be
looking to decentralise as much as
possible, with balanced employment
within easy reach of where people live. It
will take a very long time to change things
because of employers and staff are
accustomed to recruiting and travelling
over large areas, but with a real will at all
levels it could be done.
Richard C
Another great step in Elon’s
quest to go to Mars, all the companies
and technology he owns has one
single purpose, to go to Mars. Will be
great to see it in my lifetime!!
Tom Foreman
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