
Google Invests In Human-Powered Monorail System - jaybol
http://crispgreen.com/2010/10/google-invests-in-human-powered-monorail-system/
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pointillistic
Paul Graham wrote a while ago about the "Trouble with Segway"
<http://www.paulgraham.com/segway.html> He writes:

"The Segway hasn’t delivered on its initial promise, to put it mildly. There
are several reasons why, but one is that people don’t want to be seen riding
them. Someone riding a Segway looks like a dork."

The obvious problem with the new transportation capsule is that it makes you
look like a cockroach in a glass jar.

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arethuza
A very sweaty glass jar....

Give me a bicycle and appropriate clothing any day.

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bryanlarsen
What a waste of money. The money would be much better spent on two things that
would work very well in concert:

1\. separated bike lanes. I don't just mean painted lines on a street, which
generally do more harm than good, but physical separation, like pedestrians
get.

2\. The Parisian "velib" system. This solves both the storage and availability
problems.

After that, the only advantage of the monorail is the speed it attains, which
is basically irrelevant when you're traveling 1-5 km. The huge disadvantage of
the monorail is that it has very fixed paths.

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RyanMcGreal
What an astoundingly over-engineered solution. Much cheaper, easier and more
flexible: paint bike lanes on all major streets.

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thibaut_barrere
I'm not sure, really. There is still the issue to be able to (safely) store
your bike at both ends, while here it appears to stay on the 'circuit'.

I studied a bit what happens in Paris with their "Velib" bike rental service
(see visualisation here [http://blog.logeek.fr/2008/3/31/data-visualization-
with-ruby...](http://blog.logeek.fr/2008/3/31/data-visualization-with-ruby-
and-rmagick-where-are-those-bikes)) and it appeared to be a real issue.

An automated system with only identical devices and a circuit that goes in
circles could solve this more efficiently I believe.

Plus if 45km/h can be achieved with specialized, well maintained devices, this
could be really interesting.

In short, it's a somewhat crazy idea I wouldn't be surprised to see becoming
successful :)

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alextp
How can this replace a crowded subway; that is, how can this move more than 1
million people in roughly the same direction at peak time?

It certainly seems more suited to leisure than the common scenario of lots of
people commuting in the same direction.

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tomjen3
How can a subway be build in an economic manner in a city of 10000 people?

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RyanMcGreal
Modern streetcar on dedicated lanes.

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scrrr
Great. But in order to use it daily: Where do I put my rucksack?

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borism
or my 30kg suitcase?

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stretchwithme
"maximum comfort". ha ha. yeah that was my first thought. :-)

I'd love to try it. We drag around so much wait as we go places

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stretchwithme
weight leads to more wait

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skbohra123
I just loved this idea. Imagine this public transport system in a small city.
Very very efficient. Governments doesn't invest in places where there is no
revenue. So getting a feasible public transportation system in small city is
almost impossible. This gives a hope. Ameen

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techverde
It seems inefficient now. But don't most visions of the future include people
flying through tubes like bank deposits?! Probably safer than bike lanes too..

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dfh
Feels a lot like Segway to me - looks cool, but nothing people actually will
use.

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coryl
That would be a helluva tourist attraction; imagine if you could go over
cliffs, under water, through caves, etc.

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hackermom
When it comes to urban transportation, looking at this contraption I can't
help wondering... why not just get a bicycle?

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tomjen3
You can go directly to where you need to go, there is zero chance of getting
run down by a car, it is better in the event of bad weather.

Oh and the view is better.

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hackermom
How can you _not_ go directly to where you need to go on a bicycle? How can
you go directly to where you need to go if there's a jam on the _MONO_ -rail
or if there's a slowpoke on the lane? What if there is no rail at all leading
anywhere close to where you need to go?

This thing is trying to reinvent the road and coupling it with a single,
proprietary vehicle. We already have roads, and we have bicycles (and feet)
that are "compatible" with those roads and pretty much any other urban
terrain.

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xenonite
There is a point:

    
    
      - that monorail would be safer
      - you do not need to bring your bike
      - weather is less relevant

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berntb
Except for novelty value, what is the win/feature compared to normal bicycles?

This rail system must have a lot of new failure modes, compared to an asphalt
bicycle path.

Cheaper to install? Safer? Less problem in rain?

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BvS
Would be much faster if you wouldn't need to stop at red lights etc. Also
probably safer and indeed more comfortable, especially during winter or when
it's raining.

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borism
it has huge openings for ventilation

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borism
not exactly aerodynamic?

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chrisbroadfoot
Much more aerodynamic than a bike.

