The Future of Transportation - A Paradigm Shift 2011-01-1259

Automobile emission is one of the major issues that have been disconcerting this world. Emissions from the automobile, caused by burning the fossil fuels pollutes the environment which after some point becomes irreversible process and destroys the habitat that we share with the other organisms. This paper discusses a unique way to reduce NO_x emissions from light- and heavy-duty vehicles (as defined by EPA regulations) by making the roads move instead of vehicles using MEMS cell(s) and/or MEMS Technology and the vehicles can move whenever required. MEMS stands for Micro Electro Mechanical Systems and such systems are generally built on silicon substrate and by process of etching, oxidation and other underlying MEMS mechanism. US DOT (US Department of Transportation) and NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) can also use the concept solely to avoid national and state highway accidents. Through this concept, automotive companies would not require to invest lot of money to develop competitive SCR solutions. Finally state and federal government(s) can also limit police labor force in roads. Consumers will see steep reduction in maintenance and original cost of automobile. So the concept can be advantageous to all parties (government and citizens). Conversely, the cost of initial investment for a federal government/local government is huge while the rework on these roads is easy, provided regular maintenance is done. This concept, if implemented, will be proven to be advantageous in more than one way, especially in terms of the money spent on developing SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) solution in a long run and can be defined as paradigm shift. The paper addresses the described concept as "Moving Road."