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Automobile

Automobile

An automobile is a wheeled vehicle that carries its own motor. Different types of automobiles include cars, buses, trucks, jeeps, and vans, with cars being the most popular. The term is derived from Greek 'autos' (self) and Latin 'movére' (move), referring to the fact that it 'moves by itself'. Earlier terms for automobile include 'horseless carriage' and 'motor car'. An automobile has seats for the driver and, almost without exception, one or more passengers. It is the main source of transportation across the world. In 2005 there are 500 million cars worldwide (0.07 per capita), of which 220 million are located in the United States (0.75 per capita).

History

:Main article: History of the automobile Steam-powered self-propelled vehicles were devised in the late 18th century. The first self-propelled car was built by Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot in 1769—it could attain speeds of up to 6 km/h. In 1771 he designed another steam-driven engine, which ran so fast that it rammed into a wall, producing the world’s first car accident. In 1807 Francois Isaac de Rivaz designed the first internal combustion engine (sometimes abbreviated "ICE" today). He subsequently used it to develop the world’s first vehicle to run on such an engine, one that used a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen to generate energy. This spawned the birth of a number of designs based on the internal combustion engine in the early nineteenth century with little or no degree of commercial success. In 1860 thereafter, Jean Joseph Etienne Lenoir built the first successful two-stroke gas driven engine. In 1862 he again built an experimental vehicle driven by his gas-engine, which ran at a speed of 3 km/h. These cars became popular and by 1865 could be frequently seen on the roads. The first American automobiles with gasoline-powered internal combustion engines were completed in 1877 by George Baldwin Selden of Rochester, New York, who applied for a patent on the automobile in 1879. Selden received his patent and later sued the Ford Motor company for infringing his patent. Henry Ford was notoriously against the American patent system, and Selden's case against Ford went all the way to the Supreme Court, who ruled that Ford had to pay a penalty to Selden, but could continue manufacturing automobiles, because the technology had changed quite a bit by that time. Later on, in Germany, automobiles were developed almost simultaneously in 1886 by German inventors working independently: Carl Benz on 3 July 1886 in Mannheim, Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach in Stuttgart (also inventors of the first motor bike) and in 1888/89 German - Austrian inventor Siegfried Marcus in Vienna. Meanwhile, notable advances in steam power evolved in Birmingham, England by the Lunar Society. It was here that the term horsepower was first used. It was in Birmingham also that the first British four wheel petrol-driven automobiles were built in 1895 by Frederick William Lanchester who also patented the disc brake in the city. Electric vehicles were produced by a small number of manufacturers.

Innovation

Electric vehicle from the 1950s]] The first automobile patent in the United States was granted to Oliver Evans in 1789; in 1804 Evans demonstrated his first successful self-propelled vehicle, which not only was the first automobile in the USA but was also the first amphibious vehicle, as his steam-powered vehicle was able to travel on wheels on land and via a paddle wheel in the water. On November 5, 1895, George B. Selden was granted a United States patent for a two-stroke automobile engine (). This patent did more to hinder than encourage development of autos in the USA. A major breakthrough came with the historic drive of Bertha Benz in 1888. Steam, electric, and gasoline powered autos competed for decades, with gasoline internal combustion engines achieving dominance in the 1910s. 1910s] The large scale, production-line manufacturing of affordable automobiles was debuted by Oldsmobile in 1902, then greatly expanded by Henry Ford in the 1910s. Early automobiles were often referred to as 'horseless carriages', and did not stray far from the design of their predecessor. Through the period from 1900 to the mid 1920s, development of automotive technology was rapid, due in part to a huge (hundreds) number of small manufacturers all competing to gain the world's attention. Key developments included electric ignition and the electric self-starter (both by Charles Kettering, for the Cadillac Motor Company in 1910-1911), independent suspension, and four-wheel brakes. By the 1930s, most of the technology used in automobiles had been invented, although it was often re-invented again at a later date and credited to someone else. For example, front-wheel drive was re-introduced by Andre Citroën with the launch of the Traction Avant in 1934, though it appeared several years earlier in road cars made by Alvis and Cord, and in racing cars by Miller (and may have appeared as early as 1897). After 1930, the number of auto manufacturers declined sharply as the industry consolidated and matured. Since 1960, the number of manufacturers has remained virtually constant, and innovation slowed. For the most part, "new" automotive technology was a refinement on earlier work, though these refinements were sometimes so extensive as to render the original work nearly unrecognizable. The chief exception to this was electronic engine management, which entered into wide use in the 1960s, when electronic parts became cheap enough to be mass-produced and rugged enough to handle the harsh environment of an automobile. Developed by Bosch, these electronic systems have enabled automobiles to drastically reduce exhaust emissions while increasing efficiency and power.

Model changeover and design change

exhaust Cars are not merely continually perfected mechanical contrivances; since the 1920s nearly all have been mass-produced to meet a market, so marketing plans and manufacture to meet them have often dominated automobile design. It was Alfred P. Sloan who established the idea of different makes of cars produced by one firm, so that buyers could "move up" as their fortunes improved. The makes shared parts with one another so that the larger production volume resulted in lower costs for each price range. For example, in the 1950s, Chevrolet shared hood, doors, roof, and windows with Pontiac; the LaSalle of the 1930s, sold by Cadillac, used the cheaper mechanical parts made by the Oldsmobile division. He also conceived of the notion of the yearly model change-over, which became a three-year cycle. In the second year of the cycle, the superficial appearance of the cars changed incidentally; for the third, major changes took place, e.g., the fender dies for the 1957 Chevrolet had to be modified to produce thin, pointed fins and squarish headlamp housings. In the next cycle, the doors, roof, trunk, and often the suspension would have to be redesigned. Factories and the yearly work schedule had to be specialized to accommodate these changeovers. Such a patterns became dominant for the Big Three automakers in the US, though European firms neither amalgamated nor could afford the changeover. After the 1400s, when American firms tackled the technical problems of high-compression V8, automatic transmissions, and air conditioners, investment shifted to meeting the market for non-technical matters. This was criticized as "planned obsolescence," although by this it was meant that the car would simply be made to go out of style rather than really being technically surpassed. For example, only those few American cars of the 1960s with front-wheel drive or a rear engine had a fully independent rear suspension because the Hotchkiss drive was cheaper, and people were used to it. Such malinvestment left American firms unprepared for the Oil Crisis of the 1970s and the rise of imported luxury cars in the 1980s.

Regulation

In almost every nation, laws have been enacted governing the operation of motor vehicles. Most of this legislation, including limits on allowable speed and other rules of the road, are designed to ensure the smooth flow of traffic and simultaneously protect the safety of vehicle occupants, cyclists, and pedestrians. In 1965, in the U.S. state of California, state legislation was introduced to regulate exhaust emissions, the first such legislation in the world. Answering this new interest in environmental and public safety issues, the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) both introduced legislation in 1968 which substantially altered the course of automotive development. Since the US market was the largest in the world (and California the largest market in the US), manufacturers worldwide were forced to adapt. For the first time, safety devices were mandatory, as were controls on harmful emissions. Prior to this legislation, even seat belts were considered extra-cost options by many manufacturers. Other countries followed by introducing their own safety and environmental legislation. In time, meeting regulations became the main challenge for the engineers designing new cars. In the decade from 1975 to 1985, the world's manufacturers struggled to meet the new regulations, some producing substandard cars with reduced reliability as a result. However, by the end of this period, everyone had learned how to handle the newly regulated environment. The manufacturers discovered that safety and environmentalism sold cars, and some began introducing environmental and safety advances on their own initiative.

Environmental improvements

The automobile was hailed as an environmental improvement over horses when it was first introduced. Before its introduction, in New York City, over 10,000 tons of manure had to be removed from the streets daily. Among the first environmental advances are the so-called alternative fuels for the internal combustion engine, which have been around for many years. Early in automotive history, before gasoline was widely available at corner pumps, cars ran on many fuels, including kerosene (paraffin) and coal gas. Alcohol fuels were used in racing cars before and just after World War II. Today, methanol and ethanol are used as petrol extenders in some countries, notably in Australia and the United States. In countries with warmer climates, such as Brazil, alcohol derived from sugar cane is often used as a substitute fuel. In many countries, plentiful supplies of natural gas have seen methane sold as compressed natural gas (CNG) and propane sold as liquified petroleum gas (LPG) alongside petrol and diesel fuels since the 1970s. While a standard automotive engine will run on these fuels with very low exhaust emissions, there are some performance differences, notably a loss of power due to the lower energy content of the alternative fuels. The need to equip filling stations and vehicles with pressurized vessels to hold these gaseous fuels and more stringent safety inspections, means that they are only economical when used for a long distance, or if there are installation incentives. They are most economical where petrol has high taxes and the alternative fuels do not.

Alternative fuels and batteries

With heavy taxes on fuel, particularly in Europe and tightening environmental laws, particularly in California, and the possibility of further restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions, work on alternative power systems for vehicles continues. Diesel-powered cars can run with little or no modification on 100% pure biodiesel, a fuel that can be made from vegetable oils. Many cars that currently use gasoline can run on ethanol, a fuel made from plant sugars. Most cars that are designed to run on gasoline are capable of running with 15% ethanol mixed in, and with a small amout of redesign, gasoline-powered vehicles can run on ethanol concentrations as high as 85%. All petrol fueled cars can run on LPG. There has been some concern that the ethanol-gasoline mixtures prematurely wear down seals and gaskets. Further, the use of higher levels of alcohol require that the automobile carry/use twice as much. Therefore, if your vehicle is capable of 300 miles on a 15-gallon tank, the efficiency is reduced to approximately 150 miles. Of course, certain measures are available to increase this efficiency, such as different camshaft configurations, altering the timing/spark output of the ignition, or simply, using a larger fuel tank. In the United States, alcohol fuel was produced in corn-alcohol stills until Prohibition criminalized the production of alcohol in 1919. Brazil is the only country which produces ethanol-running cars, since the late 1970s. Attempts at building viable battery-powered electric vehicles continued throughout the 1990s (notably General Motors with the EV1), but cost, speed and inadequate driving range made them uneconomical. Battery powered cars have used lead-acid batteries which are greatly damaged in their recharge capacity if discharged beyond 75% on a regular basis and NiMH batteries. Current research and development is centered on "hybrid" vehicles that use both electric power and internal combustion. The first hybrid vehicle available for sale in the USA was the Honda Insight. As of 2005, The car is still in production and achieves around 60 mpg. Other R&D efforts in alternative forms of power focus on developing fuel cells, alternative forms of combustion such as GDI and HCCI, and even the stored energy of compressed air (see Air Engine).

Safety

Automobiles were a significant improvement in safety on a per passenger mile basis, over the horse based travel that they replaced. Millions have been able to reach medical care much more quickly when transported by ambulance. Accidents seem as old as automobile vehicles themselves. Joseph Cugnot crashed his steam-powered "Fardier" against a wall in 1770. The first recorded automobile fatality was Bridget Driscoll on August 17, 1896 in London and the first in the United States was Henry Bliss on September 13, 1899 in New York City. Worldwide, every year more than a million people are killed and about 50 million people are wounded in collisions (according to WHO estimates). Cars also cause innumerable injuries and deaths among millions of animals (see roadkill). Major factors in accidents include the use of alcohol or other drugs, inattentiveness, the use of handheld mobile phones, tiredness, road hazards such as snow, potholes, and animals, and recklessness. Special safety features have been built into cars for years, some for the safety of car's occupants only, some for the safety of others. Cars have two basic safety problems: They have human drivers who make mistakes, and the wheels lose traction near a half gravity of deceleration. Automated control has been seriously proposed and successfully prototyped. Shoulder-belted passengers could tolerate a 32G emergency stop (reducing the safe intervehicle gap 64-fold) if high-speed roads incorporated a steel rail for emergency braking. Both safety modifications of the roadway are thought to be too expensive by most funding authorities, although these modifications could dramatically increase the number of vehicles that could safely use a high-speed highway. Early safety research focused on increasing the reliability of brakes and reducing the flammability of fuel systems. For example, modern engine compartments are open at the bottom so that fuel vapors, which are heavier than air, vent to the open air. Brakes are hydraulic so that failures are slow leaks, rather than abrupt cable breaks. Systematic research on crash safety started in 1958 at Ford Motor Company. Since then, most research has focused on absorbing external crash energy with crushable panels and reducing the motion of human bodies in the passenger compartment. There are standard tests for safety in new automobiles, like the EuroNCAP and the [http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/testing/ncap/ US NCAP] tests. There are also tests run by organizations such as [http://www.hwysafety.org/ IIHS] and backed by the insurance industry. Despite technological advances, there is still significant loss of life from car accidents: About 40,000 people die every year in the US, with similar trends in Europe. This figure increases annually in step with rising population and increasing travel, but the rate per capita and per mile travelled decreases steadily. The death toll is expected to nearly double worldwide by 2020. A much higher number of accidents result in injury or permanent disability.

Future of the car

There will always be a strong demand for the door-to-door, on-demand service but there are likely to be radical changes in the cars of the future.

Major possible subsystems

- engine
- carburetor or fuel injection
- fuel pump
- engine configuration: Wankel or reciprocating (V, inline, flat).
- engine management systems
- exhaust system
- ignition system
- self starter
- emissions control devices
- turbochargers and superchargers
- front engine
- rear engine
- mid engine
- Ancillary power - mechanical, electrical, hydraulic, vacuum, air
- drivetrain
- transmission (gearbox)
- manual transmission
- semi-automatic transmission
- fully-automatic transmission
- Layout
- FF layout
- FR layout
- MR layout
- RR layout
- Drive Wheels
- 2 wheel drive
- 4 wheel drive
- Front wheel drive
- Rear wheel drive
- All wheel drive
- differential
- limited slip differential
- axle
- Live axle
- brakes
- disc brakes
- drum brakes
- anti-lock braking systems (ABS)
- wheels and tires
- custom wheels
- steering
- rack and pinion
- Ackermann steering geometry
- Caster angle
- Camber angle
- Kingpin
- suspension
- MacPherson strut
- wishbone
- double wishbone
- multi-link
- torsion beam
- semi-trailing arm
- axle
- body
- crumple zones
- monocoque (or unibody) construction
- suicide doors
- spoiler
- interior equipment
- passive safety
- seat belts
- airbags
- child safety locks
- dashboard
- shifter for selecting gear ratios
- ancillary equipment such as stereos, air conditioning, cruise control, car phones, positioning systems, cup holders, etc.
- exterior equipment
- windows
- Power window
- windshield
- Daytime running lamps

External links

- [http://www.dmv.org/ Department of Motor Vehicles]
- [http://www.automotivehistory.net/ A brief history of the automotive form]
- [http://www.autoweek.com/ Autoweek.com]
- [http://www.detnews.com/autosinsider/index.htm Auto Insider]
- [http://www.edmunds.com/ Edmunds.com]
- [http://www.kbb.com/ Kelley Blue Book]
- [http://www.hwysafety.org/ Insurance Institute for Highway Safety]
- [http://nhtsa.gov/ NHTSA.gov]
- [http://www.naftc.wvu.edu/ Alternative Fuel Vehicle Training]
- [http://supercarnews.com/ Car Images and Info]
- [http://www.netcarshow.com/ NetCarShow.com] - Archive of car pictures
- ko:자동차 ms:Kereta ja:自動車 simple:Car th:รถยนต์

Vehicle

:This article is about the means of transport. For the political meaning, see electoral vehicle. For the economical meaning, see economic vehicle Vehicles are non-living means of transportation. They are most often man-made (e.g. cars, motorcycles, trains, ships, and aircraft), although some other means of transportation which are not made by man can also be called vehicles; examples include icebergs and floating tree trunks. Vehicles may be propelled by animals, e.g. a chariot or an ox-cart. However, animals on their own, though used as a means of transportation, are not called vehicles. This includes humans carrying another human, for example a child or a disabled person. Most land vehicles have wheels. Please see the wheel article for examples of vehicles with and without wheels. Movement without the help of a vehicle or an animal is called locomotion. The word vehicle itself comes from the Latin vehiculum. AVL stands for Automatic Vehicle Location.

Types of vehicles

- Aircraft
- Cars
- Auto rickshaws
- Boats
- Buses
- Coaches
- Motorcycles
- Trains
- Ships
- Vans
- Bicycles
- More...

External Links

- [http://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/ Green Vehicle Guide]
- [http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars Vehicle Information] Category:Transportation simple:Vehicle

Motor

A motor is a machine that converts some form of energy into mechanical energy. In some contexts, the word motor refers specifically to an internal combustion engine. In various contexts, motor may specifically mean:
- Electric motor, a machine which converts electricity into mechanical motion
- Motor car (see automobile)
- Motor neuron - neurons that originate in the spinal cord and synapse with muscle fibers (see motoneuron)
- Motor vehicle (see automobile)
- Molecular motors, the essential agents of movement in living organisms
- Pneumatic motor, a machine which converts energy of compressed air into mechanical motion
- Hydraulic Motor, a hydraulic machine which converts energy of pressurized liquid flow into mechanical motion.

Bus

:This article is about the form of transport. See computer bus or electrical bus for the use of the term in computing and electronics respectively, the bank of the united states (the B.U.S.), or places like Bus, Pas-de-Calais and Bus-Saint-Rémy. Bus-Saint-Rémy competition. Other cities felt they could not compete against Honolulu.]] A bus is a large, motorized, wheeled vehicle intended to carry numerous persons in addition to the driver. The name is a shortened version of omnibus, which means "for everyone".

History

The omnibus, the first organized public transit system, may have originated in Nantes, France in 1826, when a retired army officer who had built public baths on the city's edge set up a short stage line between the center of town and his baths. When he discovered that passengers were just as interested in getting off at intermediate points as in patronizing his baths, he shifted the stage line's focus. His new voiture omnibus ("carriage for all") combined the functions of the hired hackney carriage with the stagecoach that travelled a predetermined route from inn to inn, carrying passengers and mail. His omnibus featured wooden benches that ran down the sides of the vehicle; entry was from the rear. Whether by direct emulation, or because the idea was in the air, by 1832 the idea had been copied in Paris, Bordeaux and Lyons. A London newspaper reported in July 4, 1829 that “the new vehicle, called the omnibus, commenced running this morning from Paddington to the City”. This bus service was operated by George Shillibeer. In New York, omnibus service began in the same year, when Abraham Brower, an entrepreneur who had organized volunteer fire companies, established a route along Broadway starting at Bowling Green. Other American cities soon followed suit: Philadelphia in 1831, Boston in 1835 and Baltimore in 1844. In most cases, the city governments granted a private company—generally a small stableman already in the livery or freight-hauling business—an exclusive franchise to operate public coaches along a specified route. In return, the company agreed to maintain certain minimum levels of service—though one of these standards was not upholstery. The New York omnibus quickly moved into the urban consciousness. In 1831, New Yorker Washington Irving remarked of Britain's Reform Act (finally passed in 1832): "The great reform omnibus moves but slowly." Reform Act).]] The omnibus had many repercussions for society, particularly in that it encouraged urbanization. Socially, the omnibus put city-dwellers, even if for only half an hour, into previously-unheard-of physical intimacy with strangers, squeezing them together knee-to-knee (illustration, left). Only the very poor remained excluded. A new division in urban society now came to the fore, dividing those who kept carriages from those who did not. The idea of the "carriage trade", the folk who never set foot in the streets, who had goods brought out from the shops for their appraisal, has its origins in the omnibus crush. urbanization] The omnibus also extended the reach of the North Atlantic post-Georgian, post-Federal city. The walk from the former village of Paddington to the business heart of London in the "City" was a brisk one for a young man in good condition. The omnibus offered the nearer suburbs more access to the inner city. More intense urbanization was to follow. Within a very few years, the New York omnibus had a rival in the streetcar: the first streetcar ran along The Bowery, which offered the excellent improvement in amenity of riding on smooth iron rails rather than clattering over granite setts, called "Belgian blocks". The new streetcars were financed by John Mason, a wealthy banker, and built by an Irish contractor, John Stephenson. The streetcars would become even more centrally important than the omnibus in the future of urbanization. When motorized transport proved successful after ca 1905, a motorized omnibus was for a time sometimes called an autobus.

Types

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- Coach / Motorcoach
- Double-decker bus
- Articulated bus
- Low-floor
- Midibus
- Minibus
- Trolleybus
- Gyrobus
- Guided bus
- Shuttle bus
- School bus

Manufacture and Manufacturers

See :Category:Bus manufacturers and :Category:Busses.

Bus line operators

See: List of bus companies.

Types of bus service

Buses are an intrinsic part of everyday life, and play an important part in the social fabric of many countries.

Intercity travel

Intercity bus services have become an important travel connection to smaller towns and rural areas in the United States that do not have airports or train service. A new phenomenon in intercity bus travel has been the Chinatown bus.

Tourism

Some places have buses that resemble streetcars in order to attract tourists or otherwise look nice (see right). A similar phenomenon is Duck Tours, which uses DUKWs converted into buses/cruise boats for tour purposes.

Buses in a social context

Desegregation busing

In some areas of the United States, a forced busing system has been used to achieve racial desegregation of public schools. Under a busing plan, children do not necessarily go to the nearest school geographically, but to such a school where there is an appropriate mix of racial diversity.

Buses and segregation

Bus services were also a focal point in the American Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s in the United States. In the period after the American Civil War ended in 1865, racial segregation in public accommodations, including public transport such as rail and bus services, was enforced through Black Codes and Jim Crow laws. These were made to prevent African-Americans from doing things that a white person could do. For instance, Jim Crow laws required bus drivers to enforce separate seating sections. These laws and enforcement varied among communities and states. In 1955, after a long day of work, Rosa Parks, a black seamstress, was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama for refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a public bus, bringing attention to the injustice of differential and degrading treatment based solely upon race. This incident, boycotts of bus services, other protests, and court challenges led a U.S. Supreme Court ruling banning segregation on public buses and helped lead the U.S. Congress to the pass the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act which clarified the unconstitutionality of public racial segregation laws.

Miscellaneous

The usual plural of bus is "buses". "Busses" is sometimes used, but is also the plural of "buss", a dialectal word for "kiss" or a type of boat. In 1955, after a long day of work, Rosa Parks, a black seamstress, was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama for refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a public bus, bringing attention to the injustice of differential and degrading treatment based solely upon race. This incident, boycotts of bus services, other protests, and court challenges led a U.S. Supreme Court ruling banning segregation on public buses and helped lead the U.S. Congress to the pass the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act which clarified the unconstitutionality of public racial segregation laws. The bus involved in the Rosa Parks incident has been found and restored and is now on display at the Henry Ford Museum near Detroit Michigan.

External links

- [http://www.natransit.com Hobby site about buses and trains in North America]
- [http://www.busesintl.com/May_2003.htm Busway programs in the Netherlands, bi-articulated bus]
- [http://www.quinion.com/words/articles/omnibus.htm "A word for all: the odd history of "omnibus""]
- [http://www.public-transport.net Buses in Europe]
- [http://www.barraclou.com/bus Barraclou.com - Bus]

References

- Category:Bus transport Category:Passenger equipment zh-min-nan:Kong-chhia ko:버스 ja:バス (交通機関) simple:Bus

Truck

:For further uses of the word truck, see Truck (disambiguation). :"Pantech" redirect here. for the mobile phone company, see Pantech (mobile phone company). A truck is a motor vehicle for transporting goods. Unlike automobiles, which usually have a unibody construction, most trucks (with the exception of the car-like minivan) are built around a strong frame called a chassis. They come in all sizes, from the automobile-sized pickup truck to towering off-road mining trucks or heavy highway semi-trailers. The term is most commonly used in American English and Australian English to refer to what earlier was called a motor truck, and in British English is often called a lorry, a Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV), or (slang) a wagon (sometimes spelled waggon). This type of truck is a motor vehicle designed to carry goods, with a cab and a tray or compartment for carrying goods. Other languages have loanwords based on these terms, such as the Malay lori. In Australia and New Zealand a small truck with an open tray is called a "ute" (utility vehicle). "Pantechnicon" is a British word for a furniture removal van that has now fallen out of usage. It was originally coined in 1830 as the name of a craft shop or bazaar, in Motcomb Street in Belgravia, London. The shop soon closed down and the building was turned into a furniture warehouse, but the name was kept. Vehicles transporting furniture to and from the building, known as pantechnicon vans, soon came to be known simply as pantechnicons. A Pantech truck or van is a word derivation of pantechnicon commonly and currently used in Australia. Pantech refers to a truck and/or van with a freight hull made of (or converted to) hard panels (ie. chilled freight, removal vans etc). London.]]

History

Steam trucks

London Trucks and cars have a common ancestor: the steam-powered "fardier" Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot built in 1769. However, steam trucks were not common until the mid-1800s. The roads of the time, built for horse and carriages, limited these vehicles to very short hauls, usually from a factory to the nearest train station. The first semi-trailer appeared in 1881, towed by a De Dion steam tractor. Steam-powered trucks were sold in France and the United States until the eve of World War I, and the beginning of World War II in the United Kingdom.

Internal combustion

The first internal combustion engine truck was built in 1898 by Gottlieb Daimler. Others, such as Peugeot, Benz and Renault also built theirs. Trucks of the era mostly used two-cylinder engines could have a carrying capacity 1500 to 2000 kg. In 1904, 700 heavy trucks were built in the United States, 1000 in 1907, 6000 in 1910 and 25000 in 1914. After World War I, several advances were made: pneumatic tires replaced full rubber, electric starters, power brakes, 6 cylinder engines, closed cabs, electric lighting. The first modern semi-trailers also appeared. Touring car builders such as Ford and Renault entered the heavy truck market.

Diesel engines

Although it had been invented in 1890, the Diesel engine was not common in trucks in Europe until the 1920s. In the United States, it took much longer for that type of engine to gain acceptance: gasoline engines were still in use on heavy trucks in the 1970s, while in Europe they had been completely replaced 20 years earlier.

Legal Issues

Trucks have often had to pay higher tax rates, and have been subject to extensive regulation. Partly this is because they are bigger, heavier, and cause more wear and tear on roadways. This is one reason that UPS vehicles are called 'package cars', because that exempted them from certain tax-rates. Rules are in place for tractor-trailer rigs, regulating how many hours a driver may be on the clock, and how much rest time/sleep time is necessary (11hrs on/10hrs off; 60hrs/7days; or 70hrs/8days). Many other rules apply. Violations of these laws are subject to large fines. Notice that these hours are different in other jurisdictions. Always check up before you go.

Types of trucks by size

jurisdiction

Light trucks

Light trucks are car-sized (in the US, no more than 6,300 kg (13,000 lb)) and are used by individuals and commercial entities alike. They are comprised of:
- Pickup trucks
- Full-Size vans
- Minivans
- SUVs
- Luton van body - where the load area extends over the cab.

Medium trucks

Medium (or medium-duty) trucks are bigger than light but smaller than heavy trucks. In the US, they are defined as weighing between 6,300 kg (13,000 lb) and 15,000 kg (33,000 lb). For the UK the cut-off is 7.5 tonnes. Local delivery and public service (dump trucks, garbage trucks) are normally around this size.

Heavy trucks

garbage truck Heavy trucks are the largest trucks allowed on the road. They are mostly used for long-haul purposes, often in semi-trailer configuration. In Australia many trailers are connected to make road trains.

Off-road trucks

Highway-legal trucks are sometimes outfitted with off-road features such as a front driving axle and special tires for applications such as logging and construction. Trucks that never use public roads, such as the biggest ever truck, the Liebherr T 282B off-road mining truck, are not constrained by weight limits.

Anatomy of a Truck

Almost all trucks share a common contruction: they are made of a chassis, a cab, axles, suspension and wheels, an engine and a drivetrain.

Chassis

A truck chassis consists of two parallel U-shaped beams held together by crossmembers. It is usually made of steel, but can be made (whole or in part) of aluminium for a lighter weight. The chassis is the main structure of the truck, and the other parts attach to it.

Cab

The cab is an enclosed space where the driver is seated. A sleeper is a compartment attached to the cab where the driver can rest while not driving. They can range from a simple 2 to 4 foot (0.6 to 1.2 m) bunk to a 12 foot (3.7 m) apartment-on-wheels. Modern cabs feature air conditioning, a good sound system, and ergonomic seats (often air suspended). There are a few possible cab configurations:
- cab over engine (COE)or flat nose, where the driver is seated on top of the front axle and the engine. This design is almost ubiquitous in Europe, where overall truck lengths are strictly regulated. They were common in the United States, but lost prominence when permitted length was extended in the early 1980s. To access the engine, the whole cab tilts forward, earning this design the name of tilt-cab. design
- conventional cabs are the most common in North America. The driver is seated behind the engine, as in most passenger cars or pickup trucks. Conventionals are further divided into large car and aerodynamic designs. A large car or long nose is a conventional truck with a long—6 to 8 foot (1.8 to 2.4 m) or more—hood. With their very square shapes, these trucks offer a lot of wind resistance and can consume more fuel. They also offer poorer visibility than their aerodynamic or COE counterparts. By constrast, Aerodynamic cabs are very streamlined, with a sloped hood and other features to lower drag. Most owner-operators prefer the square-hooded conventionals, it has something to do with "Take pride in your ride".
- cab beside engine designs also exist, but are rather rare.
- Slang terms
- "Tiltin' Hilton" :Cab-over with a sleeper berth.
- "Aardvark" : The aerodynamically designed conventional.
- "Hood" : Any conventional that is NOT an "aardvark"

Engine

Trucks can use all sorts of engines. Small trucks such as SUVs or pickups, and even light medium-duty trucks in North America will use gasoline engines. Most heavier trucks use four stroke turbo intercooler diesel engines, although there are alternatives. Huge off-highway trucks use locomotive-type engines such as a V12 Detroit Diesel two stroke engine. In the United States, highway trucks almost always use an engine built by a third party, such as CAT, Cummins, or Detroit Diesel. The only exceptions to this are Volvo Trucks and Mack Trucks, which are available with Volvo and Mack diesel engines, respectively, and Freightliner, which is a subsidiary of DaimlerChrysler and are available with Mercedes-Benz and Detroit Diesel engines.

Drivetrain

Small trucks use the same type of transmissions as cars. Bigger trucks often use manual transmissions, which must be built stronger to withstand the torque their engines make. Common North American setups include 10, 13 and 18 speeds. Automatic transmissions for heavy trucks are becoming more and more common, due to advances both in transmission and engine power. The trend in Europe is that more new trucks are being bought with automatic transmissions. This may be due in part to lawsuits from drivers claiming that driving a manual transmission is damaging to their knees.

Quality and sales

Quality among all heavy truck manufacturers in general is improving, however industry insiders will testify that the industry has a long way to go before they achieve the quality levels reached by automobile manufacturers. Part of the reason for this is that 75% of all trucks are custom specified. This works against efforts to streamline and automate the assembly line.

Heavy trucks market worldwide

(major manufacturers ranked by 2003 sales)
- DaimlerChrysler Commecial Vehicles
- Volvo Global Trucks
- Iveco
- PACCAR
- Hino
- MAN Nutzfahrzeuge
- Navistar
- Fuso
- Scania
- Nissan Diesel The worldwide market share leader is DaimlerChrysler, with its Mercedes-Benz' commercial vehicle group with around a 22% global market share. Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicle’s, with its Freightliner, Mercedes-Benz, Setra, Sterling (the old Ford Trucks), Western Star, Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus (43%; Japan), and Hyundai Trucks (50%; South Korea), sold between 200,000 and a quarter of a million units worldwide that past few years. [http://www.worldmarketsanalysis.com/wma_sample_pages/site_pages/WMASampTruck.htm]

United States

Smaller fleet operators, specialized carriers, and owner operators tend to prefer Mack or Peterbilt and Kenworth products. Larger fleet operators and public agencies tend to prefer the lower cost Freightliners, Navistar, and Ford products. There are also regional preferences with truck drivers within the United States. On the East Coast, where routes where traditionally shorter, and because the trucks were made there, many drivers preferred Mack Trucks. While on the West Coast, the drivers preferred Peterbilt, Kenworth, and Freightliner. White, built a new factory in California in the early 1960s, with long-haul trucking company Consolidated Freightways. The entity, which became White-Freightliner, then just Freightliner, catered directly to western fleets that wanted a lighter-aluminium cab and frame, and traveled longer-straighter distances without stopping. Drivers more concerned with safety than with fuel-economy preferred the heavier Peterbilts and Kenworths. But, Kenworth and Peterbilt, which had started out as heavy-duty trucks for hauling logs, forest products, and steel for shipyards on the West Coast, readily saw the need for these lighter long-distance trucks.

Europe

Iveco, MAN AG, Mercedes-Benz Trucks, PACCAR (DAF Trucks, Leyland Trucks), Scania AB, and Volvo Trucks (not to be confused with Volvo Automotive, which is now part of Ford Motor Company), are the leading truck manufacturers in Western Europe. In the Eastern Europe, Škoda, Tatra and GAZ are common, since they were some of the "brands" of the Soviet controlled areas.

Asia

Heavy truck leading manufacturers (alphabetically]
- Dong Feng (China)
- Mitsubishi (Japan)
- Telco
- Hino (Japan)(Joint ventures with Scania and Renault)
- Isuzu
- Iveco (Italy, but local divisions in Asia)
- Nissan Diesel

South America

Registrations of heavy trucks in South America (2002; % breakdown by manufacturer):
- DaimlerChrysler
- Scania
- Mack Trucks

References

Conduire un véhicule lourd, Société de l'Assurance Automobile du Québec, 7e édition, 2002 ISBN 2-551-19567-5

External links

- [http://truckingtime.com/ Trucking Time - Trucking Magazine]
- [http://truckingtime.com/motor-freight-trucking-article-62.html Motor Freight Classifications]
- [http://perso.wanadoo.fr/site.panhard/History.htm Early history of Panhard and Levassor]
- [http://www.cms.daimlerchrysler.com/emb_classic/0,,0-195-78765-1-84546-1-0-0-0-0-0-434-78641-0-0-0-0-0-0-1,00.html Gottlieb Daimler's first truck] ja:貨物自動車 Category:Commercial item transport and distribution

Jeep

:You may be looking for Jeep CJ, Jeep Wrangler and Willys MB. Willys MB Jeep is an automobile marque (and registered trademark) of DaimlerChrysler. Jeep, like all other Chrysler subsidaries, has been part of DaimlerChrysler after Daimler-Benz merged with the Chrysler Corporation in 1998. The term is rapidly becoming a genericized trademark. The term derives from, and is often associated with, an automobile, originally a military vehicle built for the United States Army during World War II, and later produced in a line of civilian models. Although not Jeep-brand vehicles, the term is sometimes used to refer generically to farm or family vehicles such as the Land Rover, International Harvester Scout, Isuzu Trooper, Ford Bronco, and Chevrolet Blazer. This category of vehicles was the root of the SUV era in the 1980s. A road that is only suitable for off-road vehicles is often called a jeep trail. The most famous is perhaps Black Bear Road, made famous in the song of the same name by C.W. McCall.

History

The origin of the name "Jeep" is somewhat a mystery. Popular notion has it that the vehicle designation "GP" (for "General Purpose") was phonetically slurred in pronunciation, eventually becoming "Jeep." R. Lee Ermey, on his television series Mail Call, has stated that the vehicle was designed for specific duties and was never referred to as "General Purpose," and that the name may have been derived from Ford's nomenclature referring to the vehicle as GP (G for government-use, and P to designate its wheelbase size). "General purpose" is referred to in WW2 manuals covering the 1/4-ton. TM 9-803, 1/4-Ton 4x4 Truck (Willys-Overland Model MB and Ford Model GPW) states, "This vehicle is a general purpose, personnel, or cargo carrier especially adaptable for reconnaisance or command, and designated as 1/4-ton 4x4 Truck." The 1/4-ton is also designated a "GP" in TM 9-2800, Standard Military Motor Vehicles, 1 September, 1943. However, many (including Ermey) claim that the more likely origin is a reference to a character from the Thimble Theater (Popeye) comic strip known as Eugene the Jeep. The character could walk through walls and ceilings, climb trees, fly, and just about go anywhere it wanted, and it is thought that soldiers at the time were so impressed with the new vehicle's versatility that they informally named it after the character. The first prototype was built for the Department of the Army by American Bantam, followed by two other prototypes produced by Ford and Willys-Overland. Quantities (1500) of each of the three models were then extensively field tested. Each had desirable qualities. During the bidding process for 16,000 "jeeps", Willys-Overland offered the lowest bid and won the initial contract. Thus creating what would become the standardized jeep. The model MB military Jeep was built by Willys-Overland Motor Company in Toledo, Ohio. Due to their inability to produce the vast number of vehicles required, the U.S. government also allowed jeeps to be built by Ford Motor Company and designated GPW. Combined production by Willys and Ford during World War II was more than 600,000. The Jeep was widely copied in countries other than the United States, one version being made in France by Hotchkiss and in the Netherlands by Nekaf. There were several different versions created such as a railway Jeep and an amphibious Jeep. As part of the war effort, Jeeps were supplied to the Soviet Red Army during World War II. In US military use, the Jeep has largely been supplanted by the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle ("Humvee"). [http://www.vintagejeeps.net/jeep_history.asp More History...]

The Jeep marque

A division of DaimlerChrysler, the most recent successor company to Willys, holds trademark status on the word "Jeep" and the distinctive 7-bar front grille design. It is said that the number of people worldwide who can recognize the distinctive Jeep grille is second only to the number who can recognize Mickey Mouse and that the Jeep brand is the most famous brand known worldwide other than Coke. The marque has gone through many owners, starting in 1941 with Willys, which produced the first Civilian Jeep (CJ). Willys was sold to Kaiser in 1953, which became Kaiser-Jeep in 1963. American Motors bought the company in 1970. The Chrysler Corporation bought out AMC in 1987, shortly after the Jeep CJ was replaced with the AMC-designed Jeep Wrangler. Finally, Chrysler merged with Daimler-Benz in 1998 to form DaimlerChrysler. Jeep vehicles are also produced in Beijing, China, by Beijing Jeep Corporation, Ltd., a joint venture between Beijing Automobile Industry Corporation, DaimlerChrysler and DaimlerChrysler China Invest Corporation, established on January 15, 1984. Jeep vehicles have "model designations" in addition to their common names. Nearly every civilian Jeep has a 'xJ' designation, though not all are as well-known as the classic CJ.

Jeep lineup

Historical models

Historical Jeep models:
- Jeep CJ (CJ-2A, -3A, -3B, -4, -5, -6, -7, -8) - All similar to the original Willys' body style. CJ stands for "Civilian Jeep."
- 1941-1945 CJ-2
- 1945-1949 CJ-2A
- 1949-1953 CJ-3A
- 1953-1968 CJ-3B
- 1955-1983 CJ-5
- 1955-1981 CJ-6 - stretched CJ-5
- 1976-1986 CJ-7
- 1981-1986 CJ-8
- 1981-1985 CJ-10 - pickup truck
- 1963-1970 Jeep Gladiator (SJ) - Fullsize pickup truck
- 1970s Jeep Honcho (SJ) - Fullsize pickup truck
- Jeep Dispatcher (DJ) - A postal truck for the USPS
- Jeep Jeepster - Passenger truck
- 1948-1950 VJ - Willys Jeepster
- 1966-1971 C101 - Jeepster Commando
- 1972-1973 C104 - Jeep Commando
- 1956-1965 Jeep Forward Control - Light truck
- FC-150
- FC-170
- 1963-1990 Jeep Wagoneer - SUV
- 1963-1983 SJ
- 1984-1990 XJ Mid-size Cherokee/Wagoneer
- 1986-1992 MJ Mid-size pickup Cherokee-based
- 1984-1991 Jeep Grand Wagoneer - Upscale full-size SUV
- 1984-1991 Jeep Grand Wagoneer - Continuation of the SJ chassis
- 1987-1996 YJ - The original Wrangler
- 1993 Jeep Grand Wagoneer - Version of the Grand Cherokee
- 1993-1998 ZJ
- 1999-2005 WJ

Current models

The Jeep brand currently produces three models:
- TJ - The current Wrangler (includes Rubicon models).
- LJ - The Unlimited Wrangler, with a 10" longer wheelbase and 15" longer overall (includes Unlimited Rubicon models).
- TK - The upcoming version of the Wrangler, to be released as a 2007 model.
- TKL - The long wheelbase, 4-door version of the 2007 Wrangler TK.
- Jeep Grand Cherokee - large family-oriented SUV.
- WK - The newest Grand Cherokee, 2006-present ("WK" is the designator for the new Grand Cherokee, it is one of the few non-J-designated Jeeps).
- Jeep Liberty - KJ - A small SUV (called Cherokee outside North America).
- Jeep Commander - XK - Newest model in the Jeep line, it is a seven passenger SUV.

Future models

- 2007 Jeep Compass - A small crossover SUV based on the Dodge Caliber architecture.
- 2007 Jeep Patriot - A small SUV based on the Dodge Caliber architecture.

External links

- [http://www.jeep.com/ Jeep Brand Official Web Site]
- [http://chryslergroup.daimlerchrysler.com/ Chrysler Group Corporate Official Web Site]
- [http://www.daimlerchrysler.com/ DaimlerChrysler Official Web Site]
- [http://www.jeepforum.com/ JeepForum.com - Jeep Enthusiast Website and Forums]
- [http://www.rubicontrail.net/ RUBICONTRAIL.NET]
- [http://www.xjjeeps.com/ XJ JEEPS]
- [http://wagoneers.com/ wagoneers.com - CJ, MJ, XJ, SJ, WJ and Willys]
- [http://www.vintagejeeps.net/ Vintage Jeeps]
- [http://www.g503.com www.g503.com Ford GPW & Willys MB]
- [http://www.ratemyjeep.com/ RateMyJeep.com Website] - Post pictures of your Jeeps for others to view and rate.
- [http://geocities.com/clcing/2f.html Poem about the Jeep]- Home of the Jeep ~ Butler, Pa.
- [http://www.jeeppages.com Jeep Gallery]- Thousands of Jeep pictures.
- [http://www.mojeepin.com MoJeepin.com]- Forums, news, installs and product reviews.
- [http://www.42fordgpw.com/index.html 42FordGPW.com]- More than 73 megabytes/2000+ files pertaining to WW2 jeeps and other related topics.
- Category:Chrysler Category:Automobiles Category:Off-road vehicles ja:ジープ

Brass Era car

The automotive Brass Era is the first period of automotive manufacturing, named for the prominent brass fittings used during this time for such things as lights and radiators. It extends from the first commercial automobiles marketed in the 1890s down to about World War I. These cars are also often called by the name they were originally known by, "horseless carriages." In the United Kingdom, this era is split into two periods:
- Pre-1918 vehicles are veteran cars
- 1905–1918 vehicles are Edwardian cars. Such very old vehicles present special challenges to today's collectors. Replacement parts must nearly always be handmade and basic documentation such as wiring diagrams and specification sheets are often nonexistent. The huge variety of companies and technologies represented during this formative period is also a complicating factor—it has been estimated that there were well over 1,000 manufacturers in the U.S. alone. Neverthess, an active collector community exists for these vehicles, which when well restored can be extremely valuable. The very, very rare original-condition survivor can be even more so. The early Ford Model T is an example of a Brass Era car for the mass market, and the early European Hispano-Suiza models are fairly typical of expensive models of the time. The gold-tone trim which is occasionally added to modern luxury sedans is a reference back to autodom's great Age of Brass.

Examples

External links

- [http://www.brassauto.com/cars8.html Brassauto.com]
- [http://www.modelt.ca/index.html Frontenac Motors] (mostly Model T)
- [http://www.horseless.com/ Horseless Carriage Gazette]
- [http://www.vapinc.com/ Vintage Auto Parts] (has a brass section)
- [http://www.autogallery.org.ru/hsuizaes.htm Hispano-Suiza photos] Category:Automobile history eras

Transportation

:For other article subjects named transport, see Transport (disambiguation). Transportation redirects here, for other uses, see Transportation (disambiguation). Transport or transportation is the movement of people, goods, signals and information from one place to another. The term is derived from the Latin trans ("across") and portare ("to carry").

Aspects of transport

The field of transport has several aspects: loosely they can be divided into a triad of infrastructure, vehicles, and operations. Infrastructure includes the transport networks (roads, railways, airways, canals, pipelines, etc.) that are used, as well as the nodes or terminals (such as airports, railway stations, bus stations and seaports). The vehicles generally ride on the networks, such as automobiles, bicycles, buses, trains, airplanes. The operations deal with the control of the system, such as traffic signals and ramp meters, railroad switches, air traffic control, etc, as well as policies, such as how to finance the system (for example, the use of tolls or gasoline taxes). Broadly speaking, the design of networks are the domain of civil engineering and urban planning, the design of vehicles of mechanical engineering and specialized subfields such as nautical engineering and aerospace engineering, and the operations are usually specialized, though might appropriately belong to operations research or systems engineering.

Modes of transport

Modes are combinations of networks, vehicles, and operations, and include walking, the road transport system, rail transport, ship transport and modern aviation.

Transport and communications

Transport and communication are both substitutes and complements. Though it might be possible that sufficiently advanced communication could substitute for transport, one could telegraph, telephone, fax, or email a customer rather than visiting them in person, it has been found that those modes of communication in fact generate more total interactions, including interpersonal interactions. The growth in transport would be impossible without communication, which is vital for advanced transportation systems, from railroads which want to run trains in two directions on a single track, to air traffic control which requires knowing the location of aircraft in the sky. Thus, it has been found that the increase of one generally leads to more of the other.

Transport and land use

There is a well-known relationship between the density of development, and types of transportation. Intensity of development is often measured by area of Floor Area Ratio (FAR), the ratio of useable floorspace to area of land. As a rule of thumb, FARs of 1.5 or less are well suited to automobiles, those of six and above are well suited to trains. The range of densities from about two up to about four is not well served by conventional public or private transport. Many cities have grown into these densities, and are suffering traffic problems. Personal rapid transit could provide a solution to this problem. Land uses support activities. Those activities are spatially separated. People need transport to go from one to the other (from home to work to shop back to home for instance). Transport is a "derived demand," in that transport is unnecessary but for the activities pursued at the ends of trips. Good land use keeps common activities close (e.g. housing and food shopping), and places higher-density development closer to transportation lines and hubs. Poor land use concentrates activities (such as jobs) far from other destinations (such as housing and shopping). There are economies of agglomeration. Beyond transportation some land uses are more efficient when clustered. Transportation facilities consume land, and in cities, pavement (devoted to streets and parking) can easily exceed 20 percent of the total land use. An efficient transport system can reduce land waste.

Transport, energy, and the environment

Transport is a major use of energy, and transport burns most of the world's petroleum. Hydrocarbon fuels produce carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas widely thought to be the chief cause of global climate change, and petroleum-powered engines, especially inefficient ones, create air pollution, including nitrous oxides and particulates (soot). Although vehicles in the United States have been getting cleaner because of environmental regulations, this has been offset by an increase in the number of vehicles and more use of each vehicle. Other environmental impacts of transport systems include traffic congestion, toxic runoff from roads and parking lots that can pollute water supplies and aquatic ecosystems, and automobile-oriented urban sprawl, which can consume natural habitat and agricultural lands. Low-pollution fuels can reduce pollution. Low pollution fuels may have a reduced carbon content, and thereby contribute less in the way of carbon dioxide emissions, and generally have reduced sulfur, since sulfur exhaust is a cause of acid rain. The most popular low-pollution fuel at this time is liquified natural gas. Hydrogen is an even lower-pollution fuel that produces no carbon dioxide, but producing and storing it economically is currently not feasible. Other alternative renewable energy sources such as biodiesel are being researched heavily. Another strategy is to make vehicles more efficient, which reduces pollution and waste by reducing the energy use. Electric vehicles use efficient electric motors, but their range is limited by either the extent of the electric transmission system or by the storage capacity of batteries. Electrified public transport generally uses overhead wires or third rails to transmit electricity to vehicles, and is used for both rail and bus transport. Battery electric vehicles store their electric fuel onboard in a battery pack. Another method is to generate energy using fuel cells, which may eventually be two to five times as efficient as the internal combustion engines currently used in most vehicles. Another effective method is to streamline ground vehicles, which spend up to 75% of their energy on air-resistance, and to reduce their weight. Regenerative braking is possible in all electric vehicles and recaptures the energy normally lost to braking, and is becoming common in rail vehicles. In internal combustion automobiles and buses, regenerative braking is not possible, unless electric vehicle components are also a part of the powertrain, these are called hybrid electric vehicles. Shifting travel from automobiles to well-utilized public transport can reduce energy consumption and traffic congestion. Use of non-motorized modes walking and bicycling also reduces the consumption of fossil fuels. However, as most areas get wealthier, the use of these modes declines. There are a few wealthy cities where bicycling comprises a significant share of trips, including Copenhagen, Denmark and Groningen, Netherlands. A number of other cities, including London, Paris, New York, Bogotá, Chicago, and San Francisco, are creating networks of bicycle lanes and bicycle paths to encourage bicycling by increasing safety from traffic.

Transport Research

Transport research facilities are mainly attached to universities or are steered by the state. In most countries (not in France and Spain) one can see now how laboratories are brought into PPP-operation, where industry takes over part of the share. Some major players in Europe:
- Transport Research Laboratory [http://www.trl.co.uk/ TRL UK]
- [http://www.vtt.fi/transport/ VTT FI]
- [http://www.lcpc.fr LCPC FR]
- [http://www.inrets.fr INRETS FR]
- [http://www.certu.fr CERTU FR]
- [http://www.dlr.de/dlr/Verkehr DLR DE]
- [http://www.crf.it CRF IT]
- [http://www.vv.tno.nl TNO NL]
- [http://www.cedex.es/ CEDEX ES]
- [http://www.cemt.org/jtrc/ Joint OECD-ECMT Transport Research Centre]
- [http://www.cemt.org/index.htm European Conference of Ministers of Transport] USA:
- http://www.its.berkeley.edu Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Berkeley
- National Transportation Research Center
- [http://www.trb.org/ Transportation Research Board] The European Commission supports the co-operation and collaboration amongst the transport laboratories by funding projects like EXTR@Web and [http://www.intransnet.org Intransnet]. Especially the transition from planned economy to achieving a stable position on the market will be a challenge for laboratories in the new member states. Another EU-project [http://www.etra.cc etra.cc]is coping with those problems.

History of the automobile

Although self-powered vehicles were demonstrated as early as 1769, it was not until the turn of the 20th Century that the history of the automobile truly began. Automotive history is generally divided into a number of eras based on the major design and technology shifts seen over the last century. Although the exact boundaries of each era can be hazy, scholarship has defined them as follows:
- Antique (1885–1979)
- Veteran (1885–1904)
- Brass/Edwardian (1905–1918)
- Vintage (1919–1930)
- Classic (1931–1979)
- Pre-war (1931–1948)
- Post-war (1949–1979)
- Modern (1980–present) __NOTOC__

Prehistory

1980] Steam-powered self propelled vehicles were devised in the late 18th century. Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot successfully demonstrated such a vehicle as early as 1769. Cugnot's invention initially saw little application in his native France, and the center of innovation passed to Great Britain, where Richard Trevithick was running a steam-carriage in 1801. Such vehicles were in vogue for a time, and over the next decades such innovations as hand brakes, multi-speed transmissions, and improved speed and steering were developed. Some were commercially successful in providing mass transit, until a backlash against these large speedy vehicles resulted in passing laws that self-propelled vehicles on public roads in the United Kingdom must be preceded by a man on foot waving a red flag and blowing a horn. This effectively killed road auto development in the UK for most of the rest of the 19th century, as inventors and engineers shifted their efforts to improvements in railway locomotives. The red flag law was not repealed until 1896. The first automobile patent in the United States was granted to Oliver Evans in 1789; in 1804 Evans demonstrated his first successful self-propelled vehicle, which not only was the first automobile in the USA but was also the first amphibious vehicle, as his steam-powered vehicle was able to travel on wheels on land and via a paddle wheel in the water. It is generally claimed that the first automobiles with gasoline powered internal combustion engines were completed almost simultaneously in 1886 by German inventors working independently: Carl Benz on 3 July 1886 in Mannheim, resp. Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach in Stuttgart (also inventors of the first motor bike) and Austrian inventor Siegfried Marcus in Vienna. The first four wheel petrol-driven automobiles built in Britain came in Birmingham in 1895 by Frederick William Lanchester who also patented the disc brake.

Veteran era

disc brake :Main article: Veteran car Mass production of automobiles began just before 1900 in France and the United States. The first company to form exclusively to build automobiles was Panhard et Levassor in France. Formed in 1889, they were quickly followed by Peugeot two years later. In the United States, brothers Charles and Frank Duryea founded the Duryea Motor Wagon Company in 1893, becoming the first American automobile manufacturing company. However, it was Oldsmobile who would dominate this era of automobile produc

Automobile

History

Innovation

Model changeover and design change

Regulation

Environmental improvements

Alternative fuels and batteries

Safety

Future of the car

See also

Major possible subsystems

External links

Vehicle

Types of vehicles

External Links

Motor

See also

Bus

History

Types

Manufacture and Manufacturers

Bus line operators

Types of bus service

Intercity travel

Tourism

Buses in a social context

Desegregation busing

Buses and segregation

Miscellaneous

See also

External links

References

Truck

History

Steam trucks

Internal combustion

Diesel engines

Legal Issues

Types of trucks by size

Light trucks

Medium trucks

Heavy trucks

Off-road trucks

Anatomy of a Truck

Chassis

Cab

Engine

Drivetrain

Quality and sales

Heavy trucks market worldwide

United States

Europe

Asia

South America

References

See also

External links

Jeep

History

The Jeep marque

Jeep lineup

Historical models

Current models

Future models

See also

External links

Brass Era car

Examples

See also

External links

Transportation

Aspects of transport

Modes of transport

Categories of transport

Transport and communications

Transport and land use

Transport, energy, and the environment

Transport Research

See also

History of the automobile