Flexpress: A Flexible High-Speed Intercity Transit Service

Intercity travel has been on the rise in the last few decades, resulting in severe congestion on intercity freeway corridors. Existing modes such as air, rail, and bus services have respective limitations and have not been effective in alleviating the present and future intercity travel challenges. "Flexpress" is a flexible and high-speed intercity transit service that is conceived and designed to accomplish three major operating characteristics: high speed, high capacity and high accessibility. It is a 20-passenger tire-based electric vehicle that is equipped with CACC (cooperative adaptive cruise control) technology to virtually chain up with vehicles of the same type, forming a self-driving high-speed platoon on a dedicated guideway. Upon reaching an urban area, this platoon breaks up into individual vehicles driven by human drivers, and each vehicle heads to a different terminal, bringing passengers closer to their final destinations. This paper presents the concept and service design of Flexpress as well as some preliminary findings from a demand analysis that in addition to provide individual preferences, help investigate the overall potential market in the U.S.