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

  • Connecticut public transit buses to go Robotic
    June 30, 2020
    Service will be first in US to run automated buses on a fare-paying route
  • Favourable legislation essential for developing successful test sites, finds Frost & Sullivan
    May 26, 2016
    New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, Global Test Sites and Incentive Programs for Automated Cars, finds unfavourable legislation in many parts of the world can delay the testing, validation and subsequent introduction of automated vehicle technologies by a few years. Despite the availability of advanced automated functional testing in several parts of the world, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and automotive technology providers favour North American test beds to the ones in Europe and Asia, says
  • Consumer telematics driving automotive electronics
    February 3, 2012
    This year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas was characterised by consumer telematics solutions, writes Dave McNamara
  • Hyperloop One completes inaugural test run
    August 7, 2017
    Hyperloop One successfully completed its second phase of testing, achieving 192 mph and travelling almost the full distance of the 500-metre DevLoop track in the Nevada desert, in a tube depressurised down to the equivalent of air at 200,000 feet above sea level. The Hyperloop One XP-1, the company’s first-generation pod, accelerated for 300 metres and glided above the track using magnetic levitation before braking and coming to a gradual stop.