Concept of a skyTran hover car
The city of Tel Aviv, Israel, may have an electromagnetic monorail suspend its own network of flying cars mid-air along a 500-metre track by the end of 2015.
Whether people are comfortable with the idea of travelling through the air with nothing holding them up but the flow of electricity through a magnet being a potential stumbling block, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) is going ahead with its development of the electromagnetic skyTran.
Each carriage will be able to hold two people and is aimed at being a future transportation service that will offer a cleaner and faster solution than street traffic on the ground. IAI hopes its small test track will pave the way for future skyTrans, according to the BBC.
The skyTran pods are to be able to achieve speeds of up to 70km/h, though IAI hopes they will be able to achieve faster speeds once they are rolled out commercially.
skyTran passengers will be able to order a pod from a particular station in advance. Once the passengers arrive at the station, they can proceed to their destination in the pod.
A number of similar projects are also in the pipeline around the world, including in the US and India, and will await results of the first tests on the Tel Aviv line.
