Automatic vehicle control and location system

DETAILED DESCRIPTION A signaling and traffic control system which comprises: a vehicle-based control means capable of determining the location of a vehicle as it traverses along a guideway, said vehicle-based control means having an onboard computer means with a topographical database and a vehicle database, and means for measuring the speed of said vehicle and the distance which said vehicle has traveled; wayside control means disposed within each sector of said guideway, said wayside control means being capable of communicating with all vehicles within its sector of control and with other wayside control means outside its sector of control; means for communicating from said vehicle to said wayside control means and from said wayside control means to said vehicle; a plurality of vehicle location information means disposed along said wayside, so that said vehicle can determine its absolute location along said wayside; means for communicating from each vehicle location information means to said vehicle, including means on said vehicle for responding to signals received from said vehicle location information means so as to determine said absolute location of said vehicle; and means for controlling the speed/stopping profile of said vehicle of said vehicle in accordance with inputs received from said onboard computer means, said inputs being generated based on information received from said topographical database and said vehicle database, and based on information communicated to said vehicle-based control means from said wayside control means, from said vehicle location information means, and from said means for measuring the speed of said vehicle and the distance which said vehicle has traveled.