Futuristic forwarding
Is the future of transport here?
Ideas from two innovative South African firms are making it possible to change the way goods get transported from A to B
Andries Louw, founder and MD of transport technology firm Milotek, is thinking big. "I want to provide African cities with a congestion-free, automated mass-transport solution that operates profitably at fares of under US5c/person/km," he says. That ambitious plan would compete with rail and road transport solutions that are the mainstay for moving passengers and freight. Louw, a former divisional CEO at IT group EOH, is well on his way to meeting his goal. His solution is Futran, an elevated track system he terms "revolutionary." The fully automated, motorised units used on the track are designed to transport a range of containers, or "pods", suspended under them. The pods can be used to transport passengers or for moving freight loads of up to 20t. The track system can be suspended above an existing right of way. "We have created a switching system that has no moving parts," says Louw. "It enables units to run close to each other even though they will take different routes." Devel...
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