7 ms·
Five transport promises that never quite changed the world
- leeoniya 10y agotl;dr: Monorail Moving walkways Pneumatic trains Single-person car Jet pack
- mc32 10y agoCan one imagine moving walkways and jetpacks realistically? They look good to the imagination, but, in practice? Monorail does work in some places, it just never delivered the volume that most lines require. So, low volume lines can make use of monorails.
- mjevans 10y agoWith some materials changes I can imagine a moving walkway of sorts. However like at the airport it would be a lot more pleasant to use /within/ an at least partially enclosed environment. Every time I think of this type of topic I wonder how long we're going to leave cities the way they are now. Having at least glassed over streets, separated pedestrian and roadway layers (makes sense when both need more space), and later stopping cars at the border entirely and having a network of the moving walkways within makes sense.
- mc32 10y agoThat's one issue, needing a canopy. The other is they are mechanically delicate, they wear out and need constant maintenance because garbage, dust, gunk, rubbish etc contribute to wear as well as breakdown. Just not good for outdoors environments.
- evan_ 10y agoReally surprised the Segway isn't at least mentioned- before its unveiling, Steve Jobs said that future cities would be designed around it.
- eschutte2 10y agoNo, Jeff Bezos said that. Steve Jobs said it sucked. http://fortune.com/2008/07/07/behind-the-scenes-steve-jobs-meets-the-segway/ http://fortune.com/2008/07/07/behind-the-scenes-steve-jobs-m...
- evan_ 10y agoHa! My mistake.
- forinti 10y agoI hope we will one day see the stupidity of using 1t vehicles to transport 70kg humans around our cities at an average of 20km/h (on better days).
- foota 10y agoSorry, what part of this is supposed to be stupid?
- forinti 10y agoIf we used vehicles that weigh a lot less, say 200Kg, we could, in an urban setting, probably get 60km/l of gasoline, instead of 10km/l. Accidents wouldn't be so dangerous (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixMVuOslebI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixMVuOslebI) and we could even let younger people drive (you could certainly let a 14yo drive a golf cart). There would be less pollution and less noise.
- rm999 10y agoIn all fairness, future cities may still be designed around that kind of transportation. Not many cities have been designed and built in the last 10 years. Also, I didn't know Steve Jobs had any kind of relationship with the Segway. But it doesn't seem like he was the biggest fan of it and the launch plans: http://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/3533.html http://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/3533.html >I think [the design] sucks. Its shape is not innovative, it's not elegant and it doesn't feel anthropomorphic >Screw the lead times. You don't have a great product yet! I know burn rates are important, but you'll only get one shot at this, and if you blow it, it's over. >Jobs said he lived seven minutes from a grocery and wasn't sure he would use Ginger to get there. Steve Jobs was a very critical person, but I think he was often right for the right reasons. The segway was a product designed by engineers, and it showed. Its launch was over-hyped and under-delivered. It also doesn't really solve a problem that exists in current cities.
- Xcelerate 10y agoI'm honestly surprised the monorail never took off. The only reason I can think of is that "monorail" sounds like some kind of disease — perhaps "air rail" or "sky train" would have worked better? Safe, efficient, quiet — it seems like these would go far with regard to public transportation in many cities.
- jessriedel 10y agoThere seems to be some common confusion surrounding the term "monorail". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monorail https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monorail Do you actually mean single rail? Or alternatively do you mean elevated rail and/or maglev? I'm under the impression that true monorails have essentially zero advantage over standard birails. (Narrower and more elegant support structures casting smaller shadows is of course desirable, but I don't think the number of rails is a confining parameter in modern tech.)
- ianbicking 10y agoMonorails typically use rubber wheels, which DO have a lot of advantages (maximum grade, sound, stopping distance), but I'm also unclear why that couldn't be applied to birails. Monorails might also have a smaller turn radius? Ultimately I feel like the problem with monorail is that public transit is primarily a political, not technological, phenomena, and so while there might be a good idea in monorails, or iterations where it could be combined with birails to make something truly technologically superior, but it just doesn't matter.
- jonknee 10y agoIt's expensive and provides few (if any?) advantages over conventional rail. Especially these days with safety codes such that you need to provide a way for passengers to exit the train in an emergency.
- willyt 10y agoMonorails and maglev both have the disadvantage that they don't do junctions very well. You have to swap a massive peice of straight structure for a massive piece of curved structure to form a junction.
- sandworm101 10y agoMonorail: Light rail transport is common, as are elevated trains. Whether they use one or more than one 'rail' is beside the point. Moving walkways: Escalators. They are everywhere. Pneumatic trains: Ok, this one failed. Compared to modern electric options, the sealed tube concept remains a pipe dream. Hyperloop is fun to talk about, but I cannot see any market. Single-person car: They are everywhere. We call them motorcycles. And I see old people in wheelchairs/scooters with roofs, walls and even doors. Single-person motorized transport is a thing. Jet pack: Come on? Nobody ever took that seriously. Even if they energy density issues were addressed, the inherent dangers of such flight would prevent any widespread use.
- bmer 10y agoAlso along the lines of single person cars: rickshaws in China and India -- more like a 3 person light car but the concept is the same (fabric roofs, no doors, relatively slow speed compared to full fledged metal cars, but highly agile and capable of navigating narrow old-world streets). Apparently there are some in SF too: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Auto_Rickshaw_in_San_Francisco.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Auto_Ric...
- deftnerd 10y agoRickshaws are pretty awesome vehicles. In the US, most of the people who have a bicycle or motorcycle also have a car. Micro cars are a good middle ground between them in terms of passenger or cargo capacity, but they're usually too expensive. I think Rickshaw-style vehicles could meet that middle ground in the US while also being far more affordable. It's probably difficult to import rickshaws since most of them are manufactured in foreign locales to specs that don't meet import EPA requirements. I wonder if there are any that would meet import requirements or that are manufactured in the US. An electric rickshaw is an interesting idea too. Edit: Maybe the answer is to just get a pedicab and get some battery packs and an electric assist motor.
- fasouto 10y agoI recently moved to Amsterdam and find these cars everywhere https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5259/5389323025_ed108961c6_b.jpg https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5259/5389323025_ed108961c6_b.j... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canta_(vehicle) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canta_(vehicle) They are designed for disabled people and you can drive them in the bike lane and park almost everywhere. I think an cheap electric version could be very useful on rainy days (99% of the days here) for short commutes.
- kilroy123 10y agoThe most insane and frustrating story about failed transportation is the fact a company offered to build a monorail system in Los Angeles for free! Then Standard Oil came in and stopped it from happening. http://www.monorails.org/tMspages/LA1963.html http://www.monorails.org/tMspages/LA1963.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alweg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alweg
- GregBuchholz 10y agoOK, here's my free gift to someone, since I don't live in SF or a big city. Why isn't there an Uber for buses? You use your smart phone to enter where you want to go, and a nearby bus comes around and picks you up. Seems like there are plenty of opportunities to make bus transport nicer. Like having the bus conform you the needs of the people actively using it at one time (i.e. no stops where no one is getting on or getting off, and more direct routes, etc.). Maybe the would be wifi and charging stations on board as well. It seems like the price should be relatively low, since the cost could be potentially shared between 10+ people. I'd imagine that the first couple of buses would be privately owned, but you could expand out to lease the technology to existing municipalities to extend to their bus lines. And there would be a natural fit for self-driving buses in the future.
- HeyLaughingBoy 10y agoIt exists. Around here it's called Dial-A-Ride and like the name says, you call them and they pick you up at your house and take you wherever. The buses are like the small airport shuttle buses. It's very popular with senior citizens who don't drive much.
- GregBuchholz 10y agoThat's like say Uber existed because you could always call a taxi to come pick you up.
- leesalminen 10y agoIn Chile there is an interesting concept called colectivo. It's a system that takes the fixed nature of a bus route and the readily available nature of Uber. Basically, they are cars/vans that drive along a designated route. You can flag them down anywhere along that route and exit anywhere along the route. I loved it.
- drpgq 10y agoPearson airport in Toronto has a pretty fast moving walkway. Although in its history it was amazing how often it wasn't working. Like when I flew in last Wednesday.
- jup_it_er 10y agohybrid vehicles: how can you change in a hybrid way? We have to get rid of fossil fuel
- grahamburger 10y agoOne of the things a lot of these transport methods seem to ignore is traveling with kids. Cars really are the easiest way to date to travel with small-ish children. It's really nice to be able to stash baby stuff in the trunk and know you always have it with you just in case without carrying it everywhere. (Bottles, diapers, change of clothes, etc). Single person cars, moving walkways and especially jet packs (!) Are particularly difficult / impossible with kids, same with Segways, etc.
- mikey_p 10y agoBoth bicycles (long john or long tail) and walking (with or without a stroller) are both quite good ways to get around with children as well. Unless you have a very large number of kids (> 3 or so) you can probably fit everything you need in a small backpack or messenger bag.
- achamayou 10y agoOnly for short distances and in fair weather though. And as soon as you need to carry enough to let them sleep where you're going (eg. an umbrella bed), there's really no serious alternative.
- imaginenore 10y agoBicycles are incredibly dangerous compared to cars, even for adults [1]. They are an absolute nightmare for transporting small children. An adult can fall from a bicycle and get a scratched knee, while an infant/toddler will break his neck. Walking is much more dangerous as well, and is tiring even with one child. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviation_safety#Comparison_to_other_modes_of_travel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviation_safety#Comparison_to_...
- askvictor 10y agoI'm very curious about the source data for this, in particular where (it will be different between countries) and when (over what period of time it was collected). I'm not outright discounting it, but seems very odd from my experience.
- notahacker 10y agoMissing: Flying cars Supersonic passenger flight (Concorde was a great beta product, but there was no commercial case for expanding it) Commercial hovercraft probably deserve to be there at least as much as monorails too.
- Animats 10y agoMonorails are being built in many major cities outside North America. Japan has several large monorail systems. Tokyo alone has three major monorail lines. China has five systems. Mumbai has a big monorail system. Nigeria has two monorail systems. Moscow has a monorail. (The trains throw the snow off the beam, raining it on passersby.) China is putting in their second maglev monorail. The only new monorail in the US in decades is the one in Vegas.
- jup_it_er 10y agowhat about two-people vehicles? see litmotors c1 - enclosed EV gyro stabilized motorcycle I believe smart solution for city environments: business men, working moms, rainy cities, reckless teenagers
- ksrm 10y agoI'm surprised there was no mention of this in the article: 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...