A groundbreaking elevated point-to-point passenger transport system with low energy needs and zero emissions has been launched, offering a local solution to a global problem.

Whoosh Solutions uses autonomous electric vehicles that travel along a lightweight guideway suspended above existing roads. It is operated via a smartphone app, allowing users to hail or pre-book a vehicle to their nearest station and enjoy a non-stop trip to their destination with 360-degree panoramic views of the city below.

“Whoosh is a new form of aerial transport to move people around the urban space,” says Chief Executive Dr Chris Allington. “It combines the best parts of ride sharing systems and ride hailing with the lightweight infrastructure of urban gondolas and the freedom that you get from autonomous electric vehicles into a new, fun way to travel that floats you above congestion down below. This is truly revolutionary in terms of how we travel.”

The concept originated from local engineering product design and development company Holmes Solutions, where Dr Allington is Executive Director. “We were working with a big Silicon Valley company – one of the largest in the world – who had about 100,000 people per day moving onto and around their campus. They were really struggling to move people around efficiently and needed a better solution.

“There was no room on the roads for more cars and no room in the city to build more roads, so you either had to go up or down. Burying under the ground is expensive, so elevating above the plane was the obvious choice. It had to be on-demand and point-to-point, while also being low cost and sustainable, so the best solution really came down to building a better road, not necessarily a better car.

“At Holmes Solutions we design and develop IP for all sorts of products and systems for companies all over the world and normally would licence them and work with companies to take them to market. Woosh was one that we really believed in, that could really change the world. It was big and it was bold and exactly what we love doing. When we brought additional investors onboard, we spun it out as a stand-alone company earlier this year because we can see the potential of just how far this could go.”

Currently the project is at proof-of-concept stage, with plans to begin construction on the first public pilot project in Remarkable Parks, Queenstown, in early 2025, and the system expected to be operational for public use by 2027. “We have built a quarter scale working system, tucked away in our little top secret hidden laboratory in Hornby,” says Dr Allington. “You can hop in it and run it around, which proves the technology and showcases how it works.

“We love the fact we get to do some pretty innovative, cool things down in a nondescript building in a nondescript suburb on a little island at the other end of the world, and then unleash it on the world and they all say: “where the hell did that come from?”.”

The system is flexible and scalable, with the network easily expanded as demand increases, and its small footprint allows for installation along existing roads without disrupting current travel options. The system can improve travel times for both its users and those who continue to use ground-based transport, and it also bypasses the traditional safety challenges faced by autonomous car manufacturers.

Dr Allington says the cars use 50% less energy when compared to road based EVs because they travel continuously during each trip and, by taking a portion of traffic off the roads, could also significantly reduce carbon emissions. “In Queenstown alone, a small Whoosh network could save approximately 21 million kilometres of vehicle travel per year, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 6,000 tonnes annually. Particularly when Queenstown’s trying to go carbon neutral by 2030, initiatives like this provide a really attractive option to get people out of their cars in usable key locations.”

Dr Allington estimates the infrastructure costs at about $5 million per kilometre, significantly less than traditional transport solutions such as light rail or road expansions and “a fraction of what Queenstown is currently paying to upgrade the Frankton roundabout”.

To date the project has received private equity funding out of Canada and the U.S., with support from various New Zealand entities, including Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

The company has been getting a lot of positive interest from transport planners, executives, and investors around the world, with five cities in Texas currently bidding to be the first U.S. location for a Whoosh network.

Jeral Poskey, former Project Executive, Transportation Planning and Real Estate Development at Google, was so impressed with the technology that he left his position to start up Swyft Cities to become a global licensing partner of Whoosh. “Being at Google, my team had the opportunity to evaluate nearly every emerging transportation technology out there,” says Mr Poskey. “Seeing Whoosh for the first time and measuring how it stacked up in the market – it was just obvious to me that it had the potential to make a big change for the industry. I knew I had to be onboard right away.”

Dr Allington says he has been impressed with the high level of support for the project in New Zealand. “We have very strong support from New Zealand businesses and from the government which has really helped to accelerate our project planning.

“We’re a fiercely proud Cantabrian firm and love nothing more than bringing international money in New Zealand and spending it locally to support our economy. We’ve had steel infrastructure samples from producers across the country and there’ll be local construction companies installing it, with local fabrication companies helping us build the vehicles where we can.

“Even though all of the funding is coming from offshore, we’ve been fighting hard to keep New Zealand technology in New Zealand. We are always looking for opportunities to partner with other leaders in the transportation, technology and engineering fields and expand our network of suppliers, collaborators and technical partners. We love seeing Canterbury and New Zealand succeed.”

Image credit: Holmes Solutions