5 ms·
Brain fart time: how about a transit system composed entirely of escalators ? When you board, you take a slow treadmill that runs in parallel to a faster one, a
by cornholio 11y ago
Brain fart time: how about a transit system composed entirely of escalators ? When you board, you take a slow treadmill that runs in parallel to a faster one, and that in turn to another, gaining 0.3-0.6 meters/second on each lateral skip. You do the reverse when approaching your destination.
An treadmill running at 10m/s with pairs of people spaced at 0.5m has a capacity of 40 people/second, or 2400 people per minute, or one large train every 30 seconds. The average speed is higher and you no longer need to wait for a train. The only very small problem is the prohibitive cost with existing tech.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- zrail 11y agoRobert Heinlein wrote a short story about this concept named The Roads Must Roll. He uses it to illustrate class differences.
- narag 11y agoIs it pre or post *The Caves of Steel" by Asimov?
- maxerickson 11y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Roads_Must_Roll https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Roads_Must_Roll https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Caves_of_Steel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Caves_of_Steel The Roads Must Roll was published in 1940. The Caves of Steel was published in 1953.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- rtkwe 11y agoThat doesn't really work for passengers who have trouble walking or standing like the old or disabled.
- aninhumer 11y agoNot quite what you're talking about, but see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central%E2%80%93Mid-Levels_escalator_and_walkway_system https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central%E2%80%93Mid-Levels_esc...