Energy use

This system would score top marks for its energy efficiency. The conservation of momentum of the Mothercar would result in extraordinary energy savings over existing transportation systems. The popular practice of decelerating many tons of rolling stock to allow a handful of passengers to board or disembark is highly wasteful of time and energy.

The momentum of the mother-vehicle, as its maintains a continuous cruise mode, would largely carry the transfer vehicle during the connection phase. Following disengagement, the transfer vehicle would have preserved momentum to roll on to the next station without further acceleration. Only during initial acceleration of the transfer vehicle away from a station would there be significant energy demand. The energy use per passenger is likely to be a small fraction of current or proposed transport options. The energy which is used would be free of any emissions, with all the well documented advantages that would entail.

The situation of the driver console in the transfer vehicle facilitates these tasks. The driver has easy surveillance of the exit door which doubles as an alternative access for trolleys and wheelchairs.

His driving position is appropriate for monitoring vehicle coupling directly, and the passage of passengers on both sides of his console into the mother vehicle [note arrows]. He is fairly well protected in the console against aggressive people, and he would be networked to security assistance at the next stop. The console might include provisional cash tills as a contingency measure for manual ticket card sales.

While this might seem a lot of roles, performing them  would probably be less stressful than driving a double deck bus through a busy bus route, as bus drivers already perform most of these functions with out much automated assistance. The driving role itself would be simplified by the lack of competition from other vehicles, and due to little active steering being necessary. The savings in labour costs offered by positioning one man in a place that he can effectively execute a wide variety of roles adds an economic edge over many present day public transport systems.