What if you've got a slowpoke in front of you? Tube rage?
Posted on 09/30/2010 3:56:06 PM PDT by smokingfrog
In case you're a little like me and the prospect of bike commuting in a densely urban environment seems slightly intimidating, you might be in luck. In the future, you'll be able to slide into a human-sized plastic tube, recline and pedal yourself to work along a monorail system. Yes. Really.
The idea for a human monorail stemmed, unsurprisingly from a recreational setup in Rotorua, New Zealand. There, visitors could get into a velodrome racetrack consisting of clear plastic pods that move forward with recumbent cycling. Participants can pedal madly against each other, trying to win the adventure ride. Now the company behind the ride, Shweeb, is turning it into a public commuter monorail option.
This month, Google invested a million dollars as part of its Project 10^100, which sought ideas on how to change the world and help as many people as possible. The Shweeb project is "for short to medium distance, urban personal transport, using human-powered vehicles on a monorail." The Google investment is to fund research into testing Shweeb's technology for an urban environment.
Shweeb is apparently the first human-powered monorail in existence. Inventor Geoff Barnett got the idea while in Tokyo, wishing he had a quicker and safer way to get around the city. His system uses pods locked inside an enclosed track that work efficiently with low resistance. The pods have seats that recline at 20 degrees, ventilation holes and roofs that reflect the sun.
While the human monorail is no human-electric hybrid vehicle, it does boast similar advantages, including being a useful way to stay in shape and operating on human power. Plus, it can go faster than I can on my bike...so far.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.discovery.com ...
VERY practical ... we should spend a couple trillion on this.
Can we just call it a Dweeb Cycle?
How much money is this going to end up costing?
How the heck am I supposed to drink a beer driving one of these things?
I bike because it’s fun and a challenge. This will never fly. Most people who bike are also not that lazy, same with runners. And most bikers and runners would never use a system like that.
Great, a human habitrail. Can’t see it working outside the Pacific Northwest due to climate and temperature, but by all means spend a couple billion on it, we’ve got Obamabucks to burn.
“How much money is this going to end up costing?”
If it gets the bicyclists who refuse to obey traffic laws off the streets, it’ll probably be well worth it.
What if you've got a slowpoke in front of you? Tube rage?
I don’t want the world to be changes. I like it the way it is.
Yeah, I would really look forward to peddling to work in my wingtips in an oversized plastic soda bottle that may or may not have last been used by someone who bathes monthly.
Lovely .... sit down in one of these and soak up how many other peoples’ sweat?
rickshaws next
Flintstones, meet the Flintstones....
So, when you show up for work sweaty and dirty, how much energy for hot water?
Not to mention the person that may be suffering from gas.
Boy that looks comfortable on a 90 degree day.
More green jobs!
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