in d.c. and china, two approaches to a streetcar unconstrained by wires - battery power storage

Editor's note: in some cities, traffic in the future may be like traffic in the past.
From Washington, D. C. C.
Cities are looking for trams to Guangzhou, China.
NPR's Franklyn Cater looks at the struggle to revive them in Washington, while Anthony Kuhn looks at the new technologies that are emerging and running in Guangzhou.
The new tram glides along a meadow along the Pearl River in southern Guangzhou.
The first tram line covers five miles of the city. and-
Haizhu district.
The tram covered 11 sites of the line in 20 minutes.
The station is open without revolving doors and obstacles.
Pedestrians cross the road on the crosswalk with traffic lights.
Cars themselves look stylish and modern, but the most surprising thing is that you can't see where their motivation comes from --
Unless you know where to look.
At a station, the assistant general engineering teacher of Guangzhou Metro pointed to some fine metal bars above the tram.
"You can see that when the train enters the station, it just touches these contact bands gently, and in 20 seconds it is full of electricity, ready to go to the next station, he said.
The tram has no battery but Chinese.
The super capacitor installed on the roof.
They were charged at the time when the passengers got on and off.
The tram can then travel at nearly 45 miles an hour.
Fan Xiaoyun said that with the progress of the super capacitor technology, the future tram will be able to go further and faster in the case of a single charge.
There is no need to lay cables or live tracks between stations to save money, Fan said.
"The cost of building this system is between one quarter and seven quarters of the cost of building a subway," he said . ".
"There is no need to dig a tunnel.
We just need to modify the surface of the street a little.
They run very cheap.
Fan said a tram carrying more than 300 people can travel for one kilometer or six kilometers.
A tenth of a mile is 44 cents.
Most of China's electricity still comes from coal-fired power generation, but the amount it receives from non-coal-fired power generation is gradually increasing. fossil fuels.
Guangzhou city planners are designing a new business district around the new tram line.
"Now, you can see that there are no high-rise buildings here," Fan observed . ".
"But the area is now the focus of development, and in about three years the buildings will be more dense than the other side of the river.
He pointed out that in big cities like Guangzhou, trams cannot replace the subway.
They added them.
They are the last stop of the journey and ideally take you door to door.
"This is the distance between medium and short distances," he explained . ".
"The station is about 700 away, and the subway station is one kilometer or more apart.
Van said that trams can not only improve urban traffic, but also make the city cleaner and more livable.
The tram in Guangzhou has several themes.
There are clowns and circus animals. There's a book-
The theme tram, with bookshelves painted on the walls and maps painted on the floor.
During the trial period, passengers can spend about 31 cents on the tram all day.
The passengers I met on board were a mix of locals and tourists, most of whom came on the tram out of curiosity.
Xu Xuejun, a passenger, said that it would certainly be better to take a tram than to sit in traffic, or walk in the exhaust clouds of cars in the city center.
"Of course, I also want to see these trams near my house," she said . ".
"But the city center is too crowded, I'm afraid not.
Fan Xiaoyun said the city is exploring the feasibility of extending the tram line to the city center.
Currently, he has set out to host delegations from China and cities around the world, queuing up to learn more about his city's super capacitors
Electric Tram
Original sky and tram on H Street, Washington DCC.
Starting from the turn of the last century, new restaurants and bars have occupied brightly colored brick houses.
There is also a new tram line, about 15 feet high, with a loose network of wires to power the car.
For years, Washington has struggled to revive the tram on H Street.
The line is not yet open to the public, so many have more concerns about the hundreds of millions of dollars already spent than about wire aesthetics.
But as early as 1888, wires were very important to Congress.
Lawmakers see them as a threat to the beauty of the capital, so they pass a law that prohibits overhead wires for "telegrams, telephones, electric lights" or anything else.
The law has been the focus of debate so far.
When the District's city council pushed forward the tram in 2010, it authorized the overhead wire for the new line on H Street.
But to expand lines across the city, a wireless solution is needed.
Neither the regional transport department, which has some say in the matter, nor the congressional planning committee, will discuss the issue on the record.
But Washington, D. C. C.
There used to be an extensive tram system that didn't require wires.
It lasted for decades until 1962.
The trams are powered underground, explains Ken Rucker, curator of the National Capitol tram museum in colsville, Maryland.
The tram has a stick called a plow, which falls off a narrow slot on the street where it takes power from the Underground Rail Road.
"In this way, we will not disturb the original Sky in Washington because of the tie rod line above us," Rucker said . ".
In addition to aesthetics, the installation and maintenance costs of overhead wires are high, they may fall in the storm, or they may hinder the fire truck.
But there are problems with the underground system.
First, the car chain may fall into the slot, and the plough may disable the tram for a period of time, Rucker said.
It will be very expensive to restore this system.
The wireless tram system is now available in other cities in the United States. S. cities.
Dallas has opened up a new line using lithium-ion batteries.
Detroit has ordered new cars from the same company from Brookville Equipment, Pennsylvania.
Seattle is waiting for delivery from a Czech company called Inekon, waiting for leave
Own wire line.
Brookville is the only manufacturer in the United States that produces non-production products
Wire trams, make rail equipment, and repair old trams in cities such as New Orleans and San Francisco.
Brookville also produces batteries.
The electric tram, called "Free Modern", is currently in use in Dallas.
Freedom is a mixture.
Marion Van Fosson, president of the company, called it the Prius of the modern tram market ". " It runs on-
Some wires in the rail section charge their lithium-ion batteries.
Then, when the wire ends, the connection of the car is folded down by the electric bow and powered by the battery.
Future battery Tram
The car market has driven the development of electric trams.
Brookville won't say where its battery came from.
Competition is listening.
But Joel McNeil, vice president of Brookville, said the company is a domestic supplier of batteries for hybrid cars.
Van Fosson says Brookville is ready to start offering faster trams.
Charging System like Guangzhou's super capacitor.
"We may not be driving the development of energy storage, but we will certainly take advantage of the progress made by other industries," he said . ".
McNeil says the market is moving towards a complete closure. wire systems —
Maybe in the next five years
"This is definitely going in this direction," he said . "
"Some cities just say, 'We don't want any overhead wires.