3 ms·

Travel speed matters too. At non-peak times, when queues are short, going 100 kph will give much shorter commute times than moving sidewalks (5 kph) or club car

by tlb 2y ago

Travel speed matters too. At non-peak times, when queues are short, going 100 kph will give much shorter commute times than moving sidewalks (5 kph) or club cars (25 kph).

eesmith 2y ago
Yes, travel speed is the first part of 'You are missing speed, and acceleration, and load time.' :) In those SF stories, moving sidewalks were more then 5kph. "The Caves of Steel" had parallel strips, each at a faster speed. Quoting https://archive.org/details/robotnovels0000isaa/page/10/mode/2up?q=moving https://archive.org/details/robotnovels0000isaa/page/10/mode... : "He stepped from strip to strip with the ease of a lifetime’s practice. Children learned to “hop the strips” as soon as they learned to walk. Baley scarcely felt the jerk of acceleration as his velocity increased with each step. He was not even aware that he leaned forward against the force. In thirty seconds he had reached the final sixty mile-an-hour strip and could step aboard the railed and glassed-in moving platform that was the expressway.'" 60 mph is 100 kph. "The Roads Must Roll" had a similar design. The first version (quoting https://archive.org/details/pastthroughtomor0000robe/page/42/mode/2up?q=belt https://archive.org/details/pastthroughtomor0000robe/page/42... ) was: "based on the ore belt conveyors of ten years earlier. The fastest strip moved only thirty miles per hour, and Was quite narrow, for no one had thought of the possibility of locating retail trade on the strips themselves. Nevertheless, it was a prototype of social pattern which was to dominate the American scene within the next two decades—neither rural, nor urban, but partaking equally of both, and based on rapid, safe, cheap, convenient transportation." The first high-speed road went 80 mph. https://archive.org/details/pastthroughtomor0000robe/page/44/mode/2up?q=belt https://archive.org/details/pastthroughtomor0000robe/page/44... . If we look to the moving sidewalks of now to understand the future dreams of the 1950s, then we should of course also look at the PRT systems of now to understand the problems with the Las Vegas loop.

by tlb 2y ago

Travel speed matters too. At non-peak times, when queues are short, going 100 kph will give much shorter commute times than moving sidewalks (5 kph) or club cars (25 kph).

eesmith 2y ago

Yes, travel speed is the first part of 'You are missing speed, and acceleration, and load time.' :) In those SF stories, moving sidewalks were more then 5kph. "The Caves of Steel" had parallel strips, each at a faster speed. Quoting https://archive.org/details/robotnovels0000isaa/page/10/mode/2up?q=moving https://archive.org/details/robotnovels0000isaa/page/10/mode... : "He stepped from strip to strip with the ease of a lifetime’s practice. Children learned to “hop the strips” as soon as they learned to walk. Baley scarcely felt the jerk of acceleration as his velocity increased with each step. He was not even aware that he leaned forward against the force. In thirty seconds he had reached the final sixty mile-an-hour strip and could step aboard the railed and glassed-in moving platform that was the expressway.'" 60 mph is 100 kph. "The Roads Must Roll" had a similar design. The first version (quoting https://archive.org/details/pastthroughtomor0000robe/page/42/mode/2up?q=belt https://archive.org/details/pastthroughtomor0000robe/page/42... ) was: "based on the ore belt conveyors of ten years earlier. The fastest strip moved only thirty miles per hour, and Was quite narrow, for no one had thought of the possibility of locating retail trade on the strips themselves. Nevertheless, it was a prototype of social pattern which was to dominate the American scene within the next two decades—neither rural, nor urban, but partaking equally of both, and based on rapid, safe, cheap, convenient transportation." The first high-speed road went 80 mph. https://archive.org/details/pastthroughtomor0000robe/page/44/mode/2up?q=belt https://archive.org/details/pastthroughtomor0000robe/page/44... . If we look to the moving sidewalks of now to understand the future dreams of the 1950s, then we should of course also look at the PRT systems of now to understand the problems with the Las Vegas loop.