SIEMENS

Dear Gajendra,

Greetings from the city I've wanted to visit for so many years. As promised, I'm going to write a few lines to you every day so that you can share some of the fascination of this world-class city with me. As you know, I had one major reason to make this journey: I wanted to see one of the world's most advanced transportation systems up close and report on my impressions in an article for the Digital Times of Rajasthan. You and I have spent many evenings discussing transportation policy in detail. We were looking for ways to resolve chaotic traffic patterns and thus reduce the resulting air pollution in our home towns and all the major cities worldwide whose traffic arteries are chronically congested.

I've finally found the answers to these challenges in this city. Its urban structures leave hardly any room for new transportation systems, but it has nonetheless managed to find new solutions that make its mass transportation so attractive in terms of comfort, speed, and safety that there's hardly a sensible New Yorker who still wants to drive a car. This has resulted in a huge drop in emissions and another surprising—a boost for the economy. That's because most of the money that people save by not having their own cars is generally spent on other consumer items.

You might be wondering what has made this possible, so I'll tell you what I've found out today in my interviews with representatives of the city government. Let me start with the subway, which took me to the headquarters of the New York City Transit Authority this morning. The subway system is 125 years old, and in spite of all the modernization efforts, it sometimes shows its age. But the only thing that really counts is the fact that it works. The new trains purr like kittens even when they're travelling at top speed, and in spite of the broiling summer temperatures outside, the subway cars are pleasantly cool—a luxury I'd love to see in India as well. All the trains have been modernized, and their energy balance has been revamped, for example by recovering braking energy. Part of this energy powers the trains' air-conditioning systems, and the rest is fed back into the grid. Just imagine—the energy saved in this way would be enough to cover the needs of a small town.

To supplement the metropolitan subway system, the authorities have built an underground express ring that connects all parts of the city. These trains stop twice in every borough, at most. This enables them to cover huge distances in record time—much faster than a car could ever drive. You can get from Brooklyn to the Bronx or from Manhattan to an airport in less than 15 minutes. Another highlight of the transportation system is the link to the high-speed rail network. Ever since the expansion of the long-distance rail network in the past ten years, high-speed trains have been zooming from New York to many metropolitan regions—directly from Grand Central, which received a new set of underground platforms for this purpose. These trains are a great alternative to flying. If you take the trip to the airport and the check-in and waiting times into account, these low-emission rocket trains are faster on many routes than a plane—and they're cheaper besides.

It's no wonder that these trains were fully booked so quickly that they had to be scheduled at shorter intervals in order to meet the tremendous demand. Today that's made possible by satellite-supported location systems, which record the position of each high-speed train to within a meter. Integrated driver assistance systems also make it possible to plan ahead to optimize energy consumption—and they enhance safety as well. The system is so successful that the city is using versions of it for its subway system and the express subway I just mentioned. Here, the satellite network is reproduced with so-called “pseudolites” consisting of radio antennas, receivers, and glass fiber lines.

The municipal authorities have also transformed the city's road traffic. One key change was the introduction of a satellite-supported city toll system that automatically registers the precise number of kilometers traveled by all cars and trucks and calculates the resulting toll for each vehicle. The aim was to use the revenues to protect the climate and the environment, and of course to encourage people to use public transportation. In recent years the entire bus and taxi fleet has been replaced by tens of thousands of electric vehicles. You can't imagine how clean the air is now.

After driving for 250 km, the taxi drivers either go to an expensive rapid charging station, where they can recharge their batteries in ten minutes, or they connect their vehicles to the power grid for a couple of hours and take a break. During this time, vehicles not only recharge their batteries but can also feed excess electricity into the grid and thus earn money. For private vehicle owners that's a good source of income, because in many cases their cars can be connected to the grid for 22 hours a day. If they make their cars available as energy storage units, they can earn about $1,000 a year. That's because the power companies need intermediate storage units, which make it possible to integrate many more fluctuating energy sources, such as wind farms and solar power units, into the power grid. Thanks to this technology, several outdated coal-fired power plants have already been taken out of service in the region around New York City.

Incidentally, I've never had a more comfortable ride than in these taxis. One taxi driver told me that's because of the wheel hub motors—that is, motors that are directly installed in each of the four wheels. This makes completely new design concepts possible, as it gives you much more space inside the vehicle.

My friend, I'll have to stop writing soon. I'm writing this letter in the integrated Internet terminal of my electric taxi, which has taken me from Manhattan to South Richmond Hill in Brooklyn much faster than I expected. It only took 19 minutes, even though it's the evening rush hour! This is where my cousin Ajith and his family live, and tonight they've invited me over for dinner. I'm looking forward to some delicious matar paneer! I'll write again tomorrow to let you know my latest impressions of this exciting city. All the best, Mahesh.