Energy costs are rising. Highway, railway, and airport congestion has gone from bad to worse. Environmental degradation seems insurmountable. In developing countries, particularly China, government and industry groups are racing to upgrade transportation systems before capacity limitations stifle economic growth.

Railroads and freeways provide inadequate performance, require too much land, cause excessive pollution and cost far too much. Maglev technology could provide enormous benefits, but “maglev trains” developed in Germany and Japan are too large and expensive for many prospective applications.