Arc Train can get a populace across their city at the same speed as a traditional bored-tunnel subway, but providing 360º views, from anywhere between 5 to 20 stories high.

Views provide a kind of civic pride to a city’s populace and now they can be accessed from anyone taking transit; not just those that work in a downtown core.

An average train car is unbelievably heavy. A single car on the Chicago CTA weighs more than many regional planes at the airport it takes people to, including an Airbus A318 or a Bombardier CRJ900.

With just 2500 lbs per car, the Arc Train can whisk passengers up to the arch’s apex, providing spectacular views from vantage points previously only accessible from a high rise.

That’s the primary part where it consumes power, because as the train car gradually descends the arch to its destination the train will regenerate electricity.

Everything about the Arc Train was designed from the ground up, rather than making incremental-changes to 1800s-era tech.

The Arc Train uses 40% fewer materials to construct than a traditional subway, largely by requiring minimal use of concrete and zero tunneling.

As costs to make public transit skyrocket (as of 2022, the cost to build the Purple (D line) extension in Los Angeles is $1 billion per mile), going above ground is the primary cost effective solution.

Elevated options not only don’t require cavernous underground subway stations, going several stories deep in order to avoid sewer lines and existing infrastructure, they also consume significantly lower land area per station (i.e. an elevated option would be about the equivalent of a standard street intersection, and easily accessible at ground level, versus the 100K+ square feet and up to 10 stories underground of a traditional subway station).

A traditional subway is more than digging tunnels and laying track. It involves reinforcing the tunnels with concrete, laying electric lines, continually patching cracks in the rock and reinforcement, installing lighting and signals, and creating massive underground stations.

Arc Train takes all these individual parts and puts them into the same housing, built with weather-resistant steel.

The result: no need to reinforce tunnels, so no digging required and minimal concrete. We use one track instead of two, required for normal rail. The “bridge” and the “track” are all the same structure, reducing wiring needs.

The result is an increase in required steel, but a massive decrease in almost every other component.

All while being notably attractive.

The Arc Train is capable of having a solar array cover the top of it, so that the system can double as an electricity generator. When we say it consumes 75% less electricity than a subway, we don’t take this into account.

In sunny climates such as southern California, every 800 feet of track can generate up to 1 GWh (1,037,090 kWh) of electricity per year. That’s enough to satisfy the electric needs of 97 average U.S. households for a year.

A major part of a city’s soul is the way it gets around.

Creating an attractive, thrilling option for public transit is significant. People who otherwise have the means to avoid the train would otherwise want to use it if it not just is convenient, but also a memorable experience.

In addition to up to 20-story views, Arc Train can also be lit up in different colors at night. Rainbow multicolor for Pride. Red, White and Blue for 4th of July. Your team’s colors for sporting events.

People who have lived in their home for years would be rightly diligent about every aspect not only of what a public service would entail, but what it would look like, and how it would affect the home they love.

The Arc Train is inspired by nature (the caterpillar) and from modern contemporary art. It’s light in color, so while aircraft and birds can see it, it’s minimally visible and additive to the city view you’re accustomed to.

Due to it being made of weather-resistant steel, entirely electric, utilizing one rail versus two, and having noise dampening built-in, the train would operate silently, akin to an electric car. Thusly, there’s no noise pollution for people on the ground.

While the Pods that carry people are transparent at the highest apex, the glass on them can be made to be opaque, so passengers cannot see into private property at low elevations.

Additionally, while the top most part of the structure can have a solar array on it, all other parts of the arch can have lighting installed. For non-residential areas, this means the Arc Train can be lit up for different occasions. Red and green for Christmas, rainbow colored for pride, pink for breast cancer awareness, your favorite sporting team colors, or just to set a mood, similar to how high rises do so on their rooftops.