
Bump-Canceling Bunk Beds Promise Smooth Bus Rides - Osiris30
https://www.wired.com/story/cabin-bus-sleep-suspension-system
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Mediterraneo10
I took a sleeper bus on a 24-hour journey in China years ago, slept very
comfortably, and wondered why this had not caught on in other parts of the
world. Someone suggested that it was a regulatory thing: in road
transportation, passengers are obliged to keep their seat belts on (or at
least passengers must be in conventional seats with seat belts there for the
use). I am surprised to hear that a company in the USA thinks this is a good
business direction.

~~~
nordsieck
> in road transportation, passengers are obliged to keep their seat belts on
> (or at least passengers must be in conventional seats with seat belts there
> for the use)

I don't think this is universally true: most city busses I've taken don't have
city belts. Additionally, many of the seats are perpendicular to the direction
of travel.

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donohoe
Yeah, many like taxis, emergency vehicles, buses and trucks weighing 18,000
pounds or more are exempt from seat belt and child restraint laws in the USA

~~~
whiddershins
Can you clarify? I believe taxis must have seatbelts just not car seats.

Edit:

But yes, tour buses with sleeps are used all the time in the US.

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scarejunba
Bizarre reactions here. Cabin has $3m of funding. People are suggesting trains
and fixing the entire road system across the entire trip? Not even meaningful
alternatives. Here's mine, in the same vein: Just make personal helicopter
transport that's quiet and safe and fully automatic.

Seriously comical. I really like Cabin's approach to the problem.

~~~
bertil
I think you will find that those absurd people live outside of the United
States, generally in a country where road conditions are far better — but
still without quiet helicopters.

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ghouse
I have experienced Cabin's bump cancelling technology on a prototype on 101.
We drove ~4 miles without it turned on, and then the same 4 mile stretch with
it activated. Even having seen the data beforehand, I was impressed.

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hetspookjee
I had a very comfortable bus ride from Krakow to Warsaw for 7 euros a few
years back. Each seat was able to lean back really far and still you weren't
bother your rear neighbor. Each seat also had their own iPad-like-device with
games, movies, music and internet.

Now Poland does not have many highways that are of good quality. But the ones
we drove were good enough to sleep on. Also the toll for cars is really low (I
believe 3 euros).

I'm willing to pay an extra to be able to lay down flat down but I really do
wonder what surplus is added due to the stabilizing tech. I believe it's only
applicable in a country such as the USA, where the roads are poor and the
wages are relatively high. Still a large enough market to make it work though.

~~~
wenc
> only applicable in a country such as the USA, where the roads are poor

Not sure about this. I've traveled all over the USA, and the highways are
uniformly excellent.

Local city streets however are a mixed bag, especially in the north, where
harsh winters create conditions for potholes to form.

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inostia
Overnight busses are great for traveling if you're in another country. You can
pay for the transportation to get to your new destination, and save a night on
lodging cost at the same time by getting to sleep. I took an overnight bus
from Venice to Paris and it was a great way to travel: no transfers, didn't
need to pay for a hotel that night, and got to see some parts of the
countryside I otherwise wouldn't have.

~~~
pouetpouet
There are also overnight trains from venice to paris operated by Thello.com.
For other destinations check out Nightjet and Euronight.

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driverdan
> If riders can't get a good snooze in, they're way less willing to pay $178
> to $228 per round-trip. (A savvy flier who buys their ticket at the right
> time can usually snag a trip between SFO and LAX for about $115).

Can someone explain why you'd pay more for an 8h bus ride than a 1h flight?

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manigandham
It's in the article > "Cabin’s idea is that people would rather spend eight
hours asleep while traveling than four hours getting to and from an airport
and in a cramped seat in the air."

Most people do not have upgrades or priority access and have to spend a lot of
time dealing with checkin, security, luggage and general uncomfort which makes
small trips much longer than just flight time.

Also many travelers arrive the day before an event to get a hotel and sleep,
so perhaps this extra time and cost can be avoided with the bus.

~~~
stephengillie
A 1h flight takes a lot longer than 1h. To do some math:

8am flight:

    
    
      4a: Wake up, complete packing.
      5a: Travel to airport
      6a: Check-in
      7a: Security (take off shoes)
      8a: Takeoff, if not delayed
      9a: Landing
      10a: Checkout complete?
    

10pm bus:

    
    
      9p: Travel to bus
      10p: Bus departs
      2a: Bus layover for driver lunch (assuming 1 driver)
      3a: Bus departs layover
      7a: Bus arrives
      7:15a: Checkout complete.
    

This assumes 1 hour to travel to either bus depot or airport, and that the bus
is traveling overnight on empty highways for almost all of the trip. I've
never flown so please update any inaccuracies with that time table.

> _Also many travelers arrive the day before an event to get a hotel and
> sleep, so perhaps this time and cost can be avoided with the bus._

There's a large value in starting your day in the same city where you're
working or otherwise spending a lot of time. From not having to spend the time
and effort on traveling, to the relaxation of not having to "scene-change" and
adjust to the behaviors of people in two different cities. And this package
lets the right traveler have both for cheaper.

>>> _If riders can 't get a good snooze in, they're way less willing to pay
$178 to $228 per round-trip. (A savvy flier who buys their ticket at the right
time can usually snag a trip between SFO and LAX for about $115)._

This basically combines the bus into both transportation and lodging. For an
example, let's use a $250 hotel room. This assumes you'll fly in the day
before a 2-day event and fly out the day after, or bus in on the first day and
bus out the following night:

1h flight & 3 nights:

    
    
      Flight: $115
      Room: $250 x 3 = $750
      Total: $865
    

8h bus & 1 night:

    
    
      Bus: $230
      Room: $250
      Total: $480
    

Even if the bus costs twice the plane, it could still save money over the
hotel.

~~~
ryguytilidie
These are some suspect numbers. An hour to "finish packing in the morning",
why not do that before you wake up? An hour to check in? I've flown hundreds
of times and think this has taken 30 minutes once or twice. An hour for
security? Last few times I went, it was less than 15, even without TSA Pre.

I mean, sure, if we inflate the numbers badly on one side, that side starts
looking worse, but what is the point?

~~~
dabbledash
I think if you ignore the specifics, and just change it to “6am - arrive at
airport 2 hrs before flight”, it’s pretty normal. They recommend you arrive at
least an hour ahead for domestic flights, and if you’re factoring time for
things like parking or the risk of traffic delays, arriving 90 - 120 minutes
early is reasonable. (It’s what I do an any rate, reasonable or not).

I would basically never take a 1 hour flight (unless it’s a connection). It’s
just not worth it. A train or bus is more comfortable and less of a hassle.

(It’s suspect to include packing for the flight but not the bus, though.
Whether you have to do that has nothing to do with your mode of
transportation.)

~~~
s0rce
Have you flown from the Bay area to LA area. It's so much easier than driving.
There's numerous airports on each end. Flights on Southwest are cheap or you
can fly semi private on boutique air for about double but still not very
expensive compared to these buses.

Finally traffic can be terrible even in the middle of nowhere on i5. The train
is too slow or doesn't go where you need to be so isn't useful.

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JulianMorrison
This feels like that apocryphal NASA story except it ends "and the Russians
fitted hammocks".

(Two attachment points you could probably protect with something structurally
like bike shocks, self stabilizing laterally, costs tuppence ha'penny.)

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kiliantics
I just took an 8 hour overnight Megabus last week and had a horrible time
sleeping, ruined my entire next day. I was really struck by the thought that
it's so strange we haven't found a solution to this yet - how hard can it be
to just put beds on buses? It's such a simple step towards more sustainable
long-distance travel. What a pleasure to see that this is possibly a near-
future reality :)

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userbinator
_Right now, the system can only move the bed up and down, so passengers will
still feel hard braking and tight turns._

On the other hand, I suspect this will make motion sickness even worse ---
feeling sensations of movement (or more precisely, changes in acceleration),
especially if it's not in all directions, but without seeing it is what causes
people to get disoriented.

~~~
cardiffspaceman
At sea, I have ridden through some storms that made it a little hard to walk
around, but sleep was not a problem. Ship motion at sea is a bit different
from bus motion on a road, but not as far as whether it is predictable.
Sometimes we're rolling along and then there is a sharp jolt, as if an odd
wave came by.

* From Emerald Princess at sea _

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konschubert
Pretty bold bet that with this upgrade in comfort they will be able to create
a market for sleeper busses in the US.

Would be a much less risky endeavour if the market already existed and they
just had to gain technology leadership.

Still, it's a cool idea, I wish them luck!

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c-smile
Or just use a train.

Like if you want to travel from Moscow to Vladivostok (6 days) you'd better
use this:
[http://thegoodlife.ru/image/962-mv.html](http://thegoodlife.ru/image/962-mv.html)
\+ separate dining car.

Traveled on these, quite interesting experience. Definitely it is a good time
to think where you are going.

~~~
intopieces
Unfortunately, trains are difficult to build in the US, which is a car-
focussed culture.

~~~
rndgermandude
Not really that difficult, you got a ton of empty space between cities where
you can put rails. Then do the stations outside of the crowded city centers,
just like airports.

For "short" routes, I'd prefer trains. E.g. I prefer Cologne/Berlin by train
in Germany, would even if the station was - just like an airport - outside of
the city. The train ride is a lot more relaxed, not really longer if you
calculate the total travel time, more space, no security theater (and related
queuing), luggage check, etc.

~~~
closeparen
Arbitraging a fickle TSA policy (less intense enforcement on rail vs. air
travel) is not a good reason to build permanent infrastructure.

Rail and air operators will be similarly incentivized to carry as many
passengers per trip as they can, so I would expect seat sizing/comfort to
converge.

~~~
ant6n
The cost to provide a large amount of space is much cheaper for rail.

~~~
closeparen
A train takes three days to do what an airliner can in six hours. So a
marginal sqft of train car needs to cost something like 1/12th a marginal sqft
of airliner just to break even on a per-ticket basis.

~~~
ant6n
That's only true for Amtrak in the US, where trains are pitifully slow, and on
top of that you picked one of the least favorable relations in terms of
distance and speed.

High speed rail achieves up to 200km/h (avg) as the bird flies, commercial
aviation in the medium range may do about 400km/h on average (e.g. the 960km
of New York - Chicago in about 2:30). Consider that the turn-around of an
airplane is about an hour, and for a train it's likely less than that, and the
1/12 factor you bring up may end up being much less in practice.

Or put another way, there are plenty of medium/high speed rail operations that
are profitable while giving a large amount of space to passengers.

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bertil
I’m a little puzzled by the over-engineering. Wouldn’t fixing the road be much
cheaper and benefit more people?

Don’t get me wrong: lowering the cost of active suspension is a wonderful
idea, and will have a ton of benefit, but…

~~~
Someone
In the USA, highway building and maintenance is paid out of the highway trust
fund, which is filled from the federal fuel tax. That fund doesn’t receive
enough money to maintain highway quality.

This being the USA, the average citizen doesn’t accept the fact that “we would
like to have better roads” may mean “we need to raise the fuel tax”, so,
instead, they pay, on average, $515 per year in extra car repairs, so that
they can keep their payments on fuel taxes at a low $97 (according to
[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/06/25/why-d...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/06/25/why-
driving-on-americas-roads-can-be-more-expensive-than-you-think))

~~~
craftyguy
Alternatively, take a tiny fraction of what we spend on 'defense' and send it
to the highway trust fund. The federal government has a problem with
prioritization, not with lack of funds.

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acd
Would be nice with these type of bunks beds in airline economy class for long
distance flights. You would be able to sleep and get good rest compared to
reclining seats.

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TulliusCicero
Combine this with self-driving tech and you could have a roving network of
traveling cabins across the country. Neat!

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abrowne
This is how I want to fly! Take off and landing safety would be hard, though.

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madengr
Greyhound buses are nasty enough, and they expect someone to sleep in a
Greyhound bus bed? Think of the lice and bedbugs.

Let me go ask my wife if she would take a Greyhound sleeper bus. See if I get
smacked.

~~~
Mediterraneo10
> Greyhound buses are nasty enough, and they expect someone to sleep in a
> Greyhound bus bed?

This isn’t Greyhound.

> Think of the lice and bedbugs.

Bedbugs tend to spread through people using their own bedding (which is why
hostels often forbid people from putting their own sleeping bags on the bed).
Presumably on such transportation as this bus you would be issued sheets and
blankets, people wouldn’t use their own. Train companies with sleeping
carriages have decades of experience in this and it turns out that bedbugs are
not that big a problem.

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bluedino
I have a bad back, the last thing I want to do is lay down while traveling for
hours at a time.

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dzhiurgis
Let me guess:

1\. It’s still a loud, shaky and smelly diesel bus.

2\. Cabin length only fits people under 6 feet and average shoulder width.

3\. Even with curtains on, you can still hear and smell your neighbours snore,
vidya, movie, etc.

~~~
driverdan
> It’s still a loud, shaky and smelly diesel bus.

Modern diesel engines are not smelly or sooty. Most coach buses are quiet and
reasonably smooth.

> Even with curtains on, you can still hear and smell your neighbours snore,
> vidya, movie, etc.

This is a $200 bus ride. Your neighbors aren't going to smell.

~~~
monocasa
I've had people smell next to me in business class.

Money can't buy class.

