Monorails powered by people in recumbant bicycles
January 21st, 2010 at 3:38:29 AM
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Take a look at the videos on this Shweeb site from New Zealand. It looks like a fun concept for Las Vegas. The claim is that these pods are much easier to power than riding a normal bicycle, and you can be dressed for work and not stink of sweat by the time you get to your office. However, I think it is more conducive to the casual dress of most people in Las Vegas.
I have a few ideas where this might be fun transport for a couple of places in Vegas. It only handles a maximum of 350 people per hour, which is far less than the 3200 people per hour for the Las Vegas monorail. Top speed is 42 mph, but most people will go slower. Interestingly enough the LV Monorail top speed is 50 mph but with stops the average speed is less than 20 mph. The suggested height is 19' in the air. Although the videos are for an amusement park ride where people are encouraged to race in an actual urban system the faster will people will bump against the slower people. The claim is that if you have a slow person it doesn't matter because once the pods are coupled together it functions like a bicycle peloton, so it is just as easy to push someone who is pedaling slowly as it is to power yourself.
(1) Complete the LV monorail from Sahara to Fremont Street with a stop in the Arts District (2.25 miles).
(2) South Las Vegas Blvd (6 miles connecting the M casino, South Point and the off price shopping mall where you can catch the Deuce and the upcoming Ace bus rapid transit that serves the strip and downtown.
(3) Springs Preserve and possibly the Meadows shopping mall (a local nature park in Las Vegas if you have never heard of it).
(4) Hard Rock Casino and Planet Hollywood down Harmon Avenue (about 1 mile).
(5) Hoover Dam once the bridge is completed and the traffic is redirected (thrill ride element).
It looks like it could be fun enough that people will view it as an attraction. Maybe a 20 mile system round trip from Fiesta Casino in Henderson down East Lake Mead Road where you would get a nice view of the lake. People might be attracted to a safe cycling vacation where you are high enough for a view coupled with a casino.
I have a few ideas where this might be fun transport for a couple of places in Vegas. It only handles a maximum of 350 people per hour, which is far less than the 3200 people per hour for the Las Vegas monorail. Top speed is 42 mph, but most people will go slower. Interestingly enough the LV Monorail top speed is 50 mph but with stops the average speed is less than 20 mph. The suggested height is 19' in the air. Although the videos are for an amusement park ride where people are encouraged to race in an actual urban system the faster will people will bump against the slower people. The claim is that if you have a slow person it doesn't matter because once the pods are coupled together it functions like a bicycle peloton, so it is just as easy to push someone who is pedaling slowly as it is to power yourself.
(1) Complete the LV monorail from Sahara to Fremont Street with a stop in the Arts District (2.25 miles).
(2) South Las Vegas Blvd (6 miles connecting the M casino, South Point and the off price shopping mall where you can catch the Deuce and the upcoming Ace bus rapid transit that serves the strip and downtown.
(3) Springs Preserve and possibly the Meadows shopping mall (a local nature park in Las Vegas if you have never heard of it).
(4) Hard Rock Casino and Planet Hollywood down Harmon Avenue (about 1 mile).
(5) Hoover Dam once the bridge is completed and the traffic is redirected (thrill ride element).
It looks like it could be fun enough that people will view it as an attraction. Maybe a 20 mile system round trip from Fiesta Casino in Henderson down East Lake Mead Road where you would get a nice view of the lake. People might be attracted to a safe cycling vacation where you are high enough for a view coupled with a casino.
January 21st, 2010 at 9:18:25 AM
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Haha. Cute, but I'm sure you would agree with me that is just a concept, and is nowhere close to being implemented for practical transportation anywhere in the world right now.
I just can't see Americans going for this type of thing.
Speaking of prototype-ish transport systems, you seem to be a transport buff -- have you ever seen the people mover at West Virginia University in Morgantown, W. Va.?
I just can't see Americans going for this type of thing.
Speaking of prototype-ish transport systems, you seem to be a transport buff -- have you ever seen the people mover at West Virginia University in Morgantown, W. Va.?
"Dice, verily, are armed with goads and driving-hooks, deceiving and tormenting, causing grievous woe." -Rig Veda 10.34.4
January 21st, 2010 at 10:24:06 AM
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The West VA system is a very early example of "personal rapid transit" (PRT).
There is a company in Cardiff that is experimenting with a product called ULTra ("Urban Light Transport"). They are opening up an experimental system at Heathrow Airport at terminal #5. I talked to the owner of the company in Wales. I said it was unfortunate that it wasn't considered for Honolulu, but the city fathers expressly forbid consideration of PRT as too risky.
Airports are good places to demonstrate transit systems. However I changed the Wikipedia article on the Shanghai Maglev at the airport. It bothered me how many times I see this system cited as a functional system. A lot of community leaders in San Diego flew off to Shanghai to get a personal look at the maglev. Now I am all for boondoggles, and I would love to go to Shanghai. However the Shanghai Airport Maglev was built as a heavily subsidized DEMONSTRATION SYSTEM. They knew damn well it was no financially viable when they built. Their whole goal was to try and be contenders for the Shanghai Beijing rail. They just wanted a test track that millions of people would see.
I like the bicycle monorail system because it doubles as a ride. People will be less critical of it if they treat it as entertainment. Vegas brags that they carry around 60,000 bicycles a year on their buses (more than bicycle mad Portland). I though that it would be a perfect place to have a system which is part transportation and part ride.
But I agree that it will be a long time before most cities view it as a viable mass urban transit from residential areas to office blocks. At first I though it would be fun way to connect Planet Hollywood and Hard Rock Casino, but I see they are going to use the regular monorail to connect to Hard Rock.
I like the South Las Vegas Blvd concept. It would give some personality to a part of the street which has no personality. I think some guests would consider this a fun option instead of waiting for a shuttle.
But to be realistic it probably should be a ride initially like it is in New Zealand. It might be a nice addition to Springs Preserve. People need to get comfortable with new ideas.
There is a company in Cardiff that is experimenting with a product called ULTra ("Urban Light Transport"). They are opening up an experimental system at Heathrow Airport at terminal #5. I talked to the owner of the company in Wales. I said it was unfortunate that it wasn't considered for Honolulu, but the city fathers expressly forbid consideration of PRT as too risky.
Airports are good places to demonstrate transit systems. However I changed the Wikipedia article on the Shanghai Maglev at the airport. It bothered me how many times I see this system cited as a functional system. A lot of community leaders in San Diego flew off to Shanghai to get a personal look at the maglev. Now I am all for boondoggles, and I would love to go to Shanghai. However the Shanghai Airport Maglev was built as a heavily subsidized DEMONSTRATION SYSTEM. They knew damn well it was no financially viable when they built. Their whole goal was to try and be contenders for the Shanghai Beijing rail. They just wanted a test track that millions of people would see.
I like the bicycle monorail system because it doubles as a ride. People will be less critical of it if they treat it as entertainment. Vegas brags that they carry around 60,000 bicycles a year on their buses (more than bicycle mad Portland). I though that it would be a perfect place to have a system which is part transportation and part ride.
But I agree that it will be a long time before most cities view it as a viable mass urban transit from residential areas to office blocks. At first I though it would be fun way to connect Planet Hollywood and Hard Rock Casino, but I see they are going to use the regular monorail to connect to Hard Rock.
I like the South Las Vegas Blvd concept. It would give some personality to a part of the street which has no personality. I think some guests would consider this a fun option instead of waiting for a shuttle.
But to be realistic it probably should be a ride initially like it is in New Zealand. It might be a nice addition to Springs Preserve. People need to get comfortable with new ideas.
