Skip to main content

Elevated mass transit about to get real

Tel Aviv, Israel is about to become the first city to implement the futuristic skyTran system of magnetic levitation (maglev) high-speed personal transit. US company skyTran, headquartered at the NASA Research Park (NRP) in California and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) have entered into an agreement to construct a skyTran Technology Demonstration System (TDS) on the grounds of IAI's corporate campus. Developed by skyTran CEO, Jerry Sanders, skyTran is a high-speed, elevated, levitating, energy-ef
June 27, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
Tel Aviv, Israel is about to become the first city to implement the futuristic skyTran system of magnetic levitation (maglev) high-speed personal transit.

US company skyTran, headquartered at the NASA Research Park (NRP) in California and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) have entered into an agreement to construct a skyTran Technology Demonstration System (TDS) on the grounds of IAI's corporate campus.

Developed by skyTran CEO, Jerry Sanders, skyTran is a high-speed, elevated, levitating, energy-efficient transportation system. The skyTran system is a network of computer-controlled, two-person ‘jet-like’ vehicles employing state-of-the-art passive maglev technology. According to skyTran the system will transport passengers in a fast, safe, green and economical manner.

The TDS will incorporate skyTran’s salient features. It will provide a platform for skyTran vehicles to travel at high speeds, with full payloads while levitating. The TDS will enable testing, refinement, and validation of skyTran’s technology in a controlled environment.

The TDS will be followed by deployment of the first commercial skyTran system in Tel Aviv, Israel. Other projects worldwide are pending TDS completion.

Jerry Sanders remarked, “The support afforded by IAI is a breakthrough for skyTran. IAI, as a world class designer of aircraft and avionics, is the perfect partner to take skyTran from concept to construct."

IAI’s Yossi Melamed declared, “We are proud to be part of this exciting moment in transportation history and to host the first SkyTran system in our grounds. The TDS will incorporate IAI’s advanced capabilities in the areas of engineering, robotics, and control.”

Related Content

  • January 12, 2015
    Nissan, NASA to develop autonomous cars
    Nissan Motor Company, through its North American-based organisation, and NASA have announced the formation of a five-year research and development partnership to advance autonomous vehicle systems and prepare for commercial application of the technology. Researchers from Nissan's US Silicon Valley research centre and NASA's Ames research centre will focus on autonomous drive systems, human-machine interface solutions, network-enabled applications, and software analysis and verification, all involving sop
  • April 16, 2020
    Hyperloop: from sci-fi to transport policy
    The future is here. While it has long looked like something from a sci-fi movie, Graham Anderson investigates a technology whose time might have come.
  • January 31, 2012
    China joins the world's most exclusive ITS technology club
    China has joined the only two countries in the world – Germany and Japan - to have developed maglev (magnetic levitation) high-speed rail technology.
  • May 30, 2017
    NASA drone traffic management tests take off in Reno
    NASA and its partners are in the midst of testing the next, more complex version of its unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) traffic management (UTM) technologies with live, remotely-operated aircraft, or drones, at six different sites around the US.