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 ...
Lol. The pod will smell like old socks in a week or two, probably just in a few days if they use union cleaners :).
Or
Not to mention the person that may be suffering from gas... left from the guy who had a sack of sliders before him.
That post reminds me of my last time at the movies. A decade ago perhaps. Nothing worse than the smell of feet, unwanted conversations, sticky soles, and the sound of people eating what sounded like chicken.
That wasnt chicken....
LMAO. I would never venture to look.
LOL
Not even Willie Green likes it.
LOL. Have you seen Google today?
With Google, nothing is coincidence...:)
This thread is too frikking funny...and true!
What South Park episode is that from?
However, these might be useful for students commuting around campus, so as to get rid of the stinky busses. Have some stations at major points and let kids stand in line to hope on the next cycle-pod.
I think this could be a great way to allow touring of natural areas, certain parks or zoos. Just make it so people can travel at a leisurely pace and look around. It would be great.
But it tasted like chicken.
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