Comments on: The Future of Travel? http://blog.innovatearkansas.org/2009/09/23/the-future-of-travel/ The INOV8 blog tracks the latest news and trends in technology and innovation throughout the world. Sun, 05 Sep 2010 21:23:28 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: mcarter http://blog.innovatearkansas.org/2009/09/23/the-future-of-travel/#comment-192 mcarter Thu, 24 Sep 2009 14:47:52 +0000 http://blog.innovatearkansas.org/?p=437#comment-192 I agree it's not plausible, at least on any large scale outside of dense, urban areas. And probably not even in that scenario. Just cool to think about. The real future of travel? Check out the 1973 animated sci-fi film, Fantastic Planet, based on the book by Stefan Wul. Now that would be cool... I agree it’s not plausible, at least on any large scale outside of dense, urban areas. And probably not even in that scenario. Just cool to think about.

The real future of travel? Check out the 1973 animated sci-fi film, Fantastic Planet, based on the book by Stefan Wul.

Now that would be cool…

]]> By: John R http://blog.innovatearkansas.org/2009/09/23/the-future-of-travel/#comment-188 John R Thu, 24 Sep 2009 01:19:38 +0000 http://blog.innovatearkansas.org/?p=437#comment-188 Not gonna happen. -No individuality in the pods (i.e., makes and models) -Extremely high capital investment for set routes -Highly inefficient: diagrams show single tracks. Does that mean a city like LA would need ten tracks to replace a typical interstate, which is just paving (much cheaper) and allows drivers to simply navigate to the lane they want? -Highly inefficient/too rigid part 2: So it's basically a light rail system where you wait for individual trams to arrive a docking station. You walk to a station so that you can wait in a line of people waiting for trams. And we have this thing called, ya know, cars. They're being developed to be...electric. And the best part? They allow the user to choose where they want to go, so long as it's on a solid surface that's reasonably smooth. And the best part? They utilize existing infrastructure, since we've been using them for, I don't know, over a century and stuff. The breakdown is this: you get individuality/freedom to roam with a car. You get cheap transport/convenience (in dense cities)/camaraderie with a light rail system. I don't know that you can mix the two. Definitely geeky, but not even a plausible thought experiment. Not gonna happen.

-No individuality in the pods (i.e., makes and models)
-Extremely high capital investment for set routes
-Highly inefficient: diagrams show single tracks. Does that mean a city like LA would need ten tracks to replace a typical interstate, which is just paving (much cheaper) and allows drivers to simply navigate to the lane they want?
-Highly inefficient/too rigid part 2: So it’s basically a light rail system where you wait for individual trams to arrive a docking station. You walk to a station so that you can wait in a line of people waiting for trams.

And we have this thing called, ya know, cars. They’re being developed to be…electric. And the best part? They allow the user to choose where they want to go, so long as it’s on a solid surface that’s reasonably smooth. And the best part? They utilize existing infrastructure, since we’ve been using them for, I don’t know, over a century and stuff.

The breakdown is this: you get individuality/freedom to roam with a car. You get cheap transport/convenience (in dense cities)/camaraderie with a light rail system. I don’t know that you can mix the two.

Definitely geeky, but not even a plausible thought experiment.

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