Skytran Pilot Test

[AriLea]

Looks like the SkyTran will become a reality soon. Proposed in 1990 by one of my favorite 3 wheel guru's, Doug Malewicki, it took 25 years before being tried out by the public.

I'm sure it will take a few years to prove out, so 30 total years from concept before Tel Aviv adopts a larger system. I'm guessing 2020.

It's track switchable and very cell-phone enabled from what you can see on the Wiki
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SkyTran

And go figure, it maybe a tandem two seater in this first pilot.

 

[userexec]

Huh. Looks cool, and I'd love to ride in one, but I think it will get cut short by automated vehicle fleets.

 

[AriLea]

Huh. Looks cool, and I'd love to ride in one, but I think it will get cut short by automated vehicle fleets.

Yep that's possible. However, I will note if you include road-bed work and other infrastructure, it's much cheaper to build, maintain and operate. So maybe in undeveloped desert in Dubai it plays better? Certainly will work better over tundra. lol

Apparently, freeways cost $15-25mil per mile, bridges even more, the Skytran costs 10mil and ( comparably )not a whole lot more to span rivers etc, and the vehicles are more efficient and much cheaper than street vehicles even without automation. Possibly one better on that, the SkyTrans vehicles are shared rides by design. Well managed that should reduce individual costs even more. ( OK, yes, 'well managed' IS an oxymoron phrase )

Admittedly, predictable futurism on the Skytran is less likely than many EV and Autonomous driving systems.

 

[Ekh]

Looks like the SkyTran will become a reality soon. Proposed in 1990 by one of my favorite 3 wheel guru's, Doug Malewicki, it took 25 years before being tried out by the public.

I'm sure it will take a few years to prove out, so 30 total years from concept before Tel Aviv adopts a larger system. I'm guessing 2020.

It's track switchable and very cell-phone enabled from what you can see on the Wiki
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SkyTran

And go figure, it maybe a tandem two seater in this first pilot.

View attachment 6092

Well, I can see some problems with this.

1. Congestion at stations. 20 seconds or so to vacate the vehicle, grab your stuff, and go is pretty darn quick is you have little kids or are handicapped or are over 70 years old, for instance. And if you don't vacate, the whole string behind you is stuck. Car inventory is "last in, still here." If it takes people more than 2 minutes to get to an "unload" spot, they'll be fuming. On the other hand, 6 people can scramble out of a ski gondola pretty quickly -- but they're young and fit!

2. Handicap access looks problematic.

3. Breakdowns anywhere along the line will jam the entire system, only without the convenience of a station. Maybe such breakdowns are impossible, but I doubt it. Murphy rules!

4. "It doesn't go where I need to go." This is the problem for all mass transportation systems in a world of dispersed people (dispersed, paradoxically, even thought hey may be packed like sardines). Destinations are dispersed, even when the people are crowded. Cities like LA or Cincinnati, where there is only very inefficient mass transit (downtown Cinci is OK, but no way to get to the burbs except infrequent busses -- 1 per day to our burb).

I'm not saying this wouldn't be nifty and couldn't work -- just that there are problems from the git-go.