Dual mode transit describes transportation systems in which vehicles operate on both public road

Road

A road is a thoroughfare, route, or way on land between two places, which typically has been paved or otherwise improved to allow travel by some conveyance, including a horse, cart, or motor vehicle. Roads consist of one, or sometimes two, roadways each with one or more lanes and also any...

s and on a guideway; thus using two modes of transport

Mode of transport

Mode of transport is a term used to distinguish substantially different ways to perform transport. The most dominant modes of transport are aviation, land transport, which includes rail, road and off-road transport, and ship transport...

.

In a typical dual mode transit system, private vehicles comparable to automobile

Automobile

An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...

s would be able to travel under driver control on the street, but then enter a guideway, which may be a specialized form of Railway or monorail

Monorail

A monorail is a rail-based transportation system based on a single rail, which acts as its sole support and its guideway. The term is also used variously to describe the beam of the system, or the vehicles traveling on such a beam or track...

, for automated travel for an extended distance.

Examples of this concept include the TriTrack, RUF Megarail and JR Hokkaido

Hokkaido Railway Company

The is one of the constituent companies of Japan Railways Group , and thus often known as . It operates intercity rail services in Hokkaido, Japan. The company introduced Kitaca, a smart card ticketing system, from autumn 2008....

. Dual-mode transit seeks to address a similar audience as personal rapid transit

Personal rapid transit

Personal rapid transit , also called podcar, is a public transportation mode featuring small automated vehicles operating on a network of specially built guide ways...

.

See also

• Dual-mode vehicle
  Dual-mode vehicle
  A dual-mode vehicle is a vehicle that can run on conventional road surfaces or a dedicated track known as a "guideway". Dual-mode vehicles are commonly electrically powered and run in dual-mode for power too, using batteries for short distance and low speeds, and track-fed power for longer...
  
  
• Dual-mode bus
  Dual-mode bus
  A dual-mode bus is a bus that can run independently on power from two different sources, typically electricity from overhead lines or batteries, alternated with conventional fossil fuel ....
  
  
• Road-rail vehicle
  Road-rail vehicle
  A road–rail vehicle is a self-propelled vehicle that can be legally used on both roads and rails. Combining the words "highway" and "rail", one is often referred to as a hi-rail truck or just hi-rail, sometimes spelled high-rail, HiRail or Hy-rail. They are normally converted rubber-tired road...
  
  
• Tram
  Tram
  A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
  
  
• Trolleybus
  Trolleybus
  A trolleybus is an electric bus that draws its electricity from overhead wires using spring-loaded trolley poles. Two wires and poles are required to complete the electrical circuit...
  
  

External links

• RUF Dual mode Transport System
• Jerry Schneider's Dual Mode page
• The TriTrack Dual Mode Electric Car
• Center for Energy, Environment, and Transportation Innovation
• Dual Mode Vehicle (Dual mode transit) pdf file
• JR Hokkaido DMV
• Dual Mode Vehicle(DMV) Japanese Wiki
• "The Secret Behind the DMV's Road to Rail Transformation". Scope. April 2008.