The Pod
The pod’s design is based on more than 8 years of development by Spartan Superway with valuable technical contributions from San Jose State College of Engineering, Swenson Solar, RODZMAS, International institute of sustainble transportation, Beamways, Futran, and JPods, in addition to much appreciated support from our sponsors.
In the last decade, we have built several pod models in different scales and different materials to analyze various factors regarding the configuration of both the exterior and the interior of the pod.
We began by exploring the concept of moving as many people as possible, which asked for bus like shapes which were bulky and worked against one main aspect of power efficiency which is wind resistance. Therefore, we began designing more streamed lined shapes that offered less wind resistance but could not hold as many people.
We are currently designing the interior of the pod to be adaptable to different travel circumstances.
In terms of passenger transportation, the pod's interior has been thought out to be completely rearrangeable depending on the different needs of its users.
Within the pod, users will find a number of possible seating configurations that will allow people with different needs to find a way to travel safely and comfortably.
​One of the lessons that must be learned from the 2020-2021 pandemic is that public transportation must be able to react to such events and provide alternatives where contagion is diminished. That is why the cabin design contemplates dividing the pod into smaller compartments to keep people isolated as much as possible, something that today is almost impossible to do in most public transports.
