Jim Beregi, CEO Solar Transportation by Doris Clatanoff

                                                 Rotary Speaker on Thursday, July 18

                                                     By Doris Clatanoff

On Thursday, July 18, members of SaddleBrooke Rotary heard Jim Beregi, CEO at Solar Transportation Technology; project his futuristic ideas on solar transportation. Having a background in promoting cutting edge technology, Beregi, in his retirement, is harnessing new ideas for the transportation world.

Titling his project, Freedom Transit, Beregi set forth his mission, described the type of cars and highway system involved, also listing the advantages and costs involved. The mission is to provide a safer, faster, convenient, nonpolluting, low cost national transportation system. This would require the use of electric power, much coming from solar, to charge the battery pack of mostly self-driving vehicles which could travel up to 140 miles per hour on automatic elevated toll roads with solar paneled roofs designed to power these vehicles, which could vary in size from small cars to SUVs. Beregi projects that such a system would reduce traffic fatalities and injuries, cut down on CO2 emissions, and reduce traffic congestion, even providing revenue for education.

The cars would be designed for both manual and automatic driving and, because of the technology, would need far fewer engine parts. These cars would be driven to stations where they would load onto the electric toll roads after being inspected. The next destination would be given, the toll cited and paid, and the car would be on its way to the cited station. In taking a longer trip, one would first travel the local electric road to the interstate station, where again admission would be granted following the set procedures. Stations would be located at various sites along the interstate to allow for stops such as we have today. All of this was illustrated by Beregi’s use of Phoenix as a local site and the Phoenix to San Diego route as the longer trip. In demonstrating this, he compared both the time and cost savings to individuals that would occur as a result of the changed transportation mode.

Funding would cost in the billions to build these systems and could be shared by the Freedom Transit International; Federal, state, and local governments; institutional investors; and small investors, as well as energy and car manufacturers. Beregi would begin the system by putting it into one of the 11 high traffic corridors in the United States such as the one from LA to San Diego. He estimates that the pay back would occur in a little over seven years. This would expand to other high traffic corridors and eventually to the entire United States.

Jim Beregi welcomes feedback in all project areas at 520-954-7223 or jberegi@aol.com. The website is found at freedomtransit.com.