Light Rail: Let's stop following and start leading

By Mark Forsythe The Kansas City Post Only once in a generation do we get a chance to do something truly significant. The thing is, it's difficult to determine what that "something" is until history has had its opportunity to pass judgment. That is why in my opinion we have to make best efforts at everything. You never know what your most significant accomplishment will be. I believe progressive Kansas Citians will rally this November and pass the light rail plan put forth by Councilman Russ Johnson. It's not perfect. Far from it. But it exists. It's a start with which we can work, refine and craft into something truly special. So what will run on the rails? I chronicled some of the current and future technology available in rail transit a few months back. What I held back at the time was an option being developed by Kawasaki Heavy Industry in Japan. The wireless streetcar known as SWIMO. Using the same battery technology that powers vehicles like the Tesla Roadster and the upcoming 2010 Chevy Volt, the trend in light rail is moving towards losing all the cost and limitations of overhead wire infrastructure and putting the technology in the vehicle itself. Nickel metal hydride battery driven electric vehicles are maintainable, swappable and scalable. An ultra light rail electric vehicle (ULREV) charges its batteries by raising its pantograph when overhead wires are available, and runs on battery power when they're not. Kawasaki's ULREV can even recharge in 3 minutes using special charging station/transit stops. I'm sure there are many competitors with similar technology in development, or at least on the drawing boards. Kawasaki's option is real, and running on the streets of Sapporo right now. The poorly conceived light rail plan that was passed in 2006 mentioned no overhead wires "where possible." The problem with Clay Chastain's idea of using Alstom's underground power system is that it was for pure aesthetics. All Alstom did was took the overhead wires and moved them underground, making the system even more complicated, costly, unreliable and difficult to maintain. By putting the drive system in the vehicle itself, you instantly give yourself the ability to upgrade. All you have to do is swap out the vehicles. The ability to take advantage of new technology is only limited by the infrastructure you have in place. The best analogy I can think of is computer networking. Commercial office buildings all over the world are strung with CAT5 Ethernet cable. That's the blue or yellow cable that plugs in to the back of your desktop computer to connect it to your network. Think of all the miles of cable, that took millions of dollars to purchase, millions of man-hours to install and more millions to maintain that now lie dormant inside walls because of the advent of WiFi. On an even grander scale, think of our nation's telephony network. All that copper, all those telephone poles and what has happened? An entire generation is graduating college and starting new lives without a "home phone." Why pay for a telephone that is wired and restricted to your house? I'm an old guy and I don't even have a home phone any more. Why would we do the transit equivalent of stringing telephone wire in an increasingly wireless society? Any major public works project starts with an Request For Proposals (RFP). Kansas City can lead the way by being aggressive in our RFP. Our RFP should have stipulations like self-propelled capable vehicles, renewable and sustainable power systems, and carbon neutral rail stops and maintenance facilities. It shouldn't be up to us to nail down the specifications. We're the ones writing the giant checks. Let's put our desires out there and let the free market decide what suppliers can and cannot do. The technology is out there in bits and pieces. We can be the first city to bring it all together. It costs nothing to ask.