Autonomous transit concept gets off the ground


Industrial design student Anthony Stuhldreher believes that Lafayette, Louisiana, has a major traffic problem.



Considering the fact that he lives there, we’re willing to take his word on it. 



His solution? A “fully autonomous inverted rapid transit solution.”


Lafayette Transit started out as a senior designs studio class project and evolved into a senior project.

It was created in response to a challenge issued by the City of Lafayette for a project that would connect the Rosa Parks Transportation Center, The Cajundome, and Lafayette General Hospital.

Stuhldreher’s design follows the city’s current coulee system, creating the track system for a kind of hanging tram, powered by electricity, some of which would be supplied by solar photovoltaic systems.

The pod-like cars of the Lafeyette Transit project would use hydraulics to lift riders up and over the city’s clogged streets and highways, creating a direct transit route between the three city centers, accommodating pedestrians, cyclists and those in wheelchairs with an modular interior design.

* Susan DeFreitas, EarthTechling