Comments on: Still Looking for That Magic Highway

By: Douglas A. Willinger

Douglas A. Willinger — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 22:01:13 +0000

“with engines capable of horsepower and speeds that won’t be attained,”

Apparantly he is unaware of the horsepower needs for speed versus that for acceleration. If auto engines had only the power needed to drive say 80 mph, the accerlation would be terribly slow.

Best would be eletric autos as their propulsion sysmes have way fewer moving parts then internal combustion engines with transmissions etc.

By: Urbanis

Urbanis — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 14:04:51 +0000

Things that struck me watching this video:
(1) No one ever seemed to do anything but travel in a car
(2) No one ever moved their legs to get from one place to the next (how did they stay so thin?)–even window-shopping in a mall was done on conveyor belts
(3) No one was ever shown outdoors–they seemed to pass their entire lives in hermetically sealed environments
(4) No one ever interacted with anyone outside their nuclear family units (except video conference calls with coworkers)
(5) The countryside was littered with enormous roads
(6) Urban sprawl and longer commutes were touted as virtues
(7) It seemed like an awfully lonely and sterile existence

By: gecko

gecko — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 23:37:11 +0000

(copied comment from bellows)

Small Vehicle Transit Concept

Small vehicle transit fits the bill. Optimally, it might be a modular system. The basic module might be a recumbent or semi recumbent light-weight seat that may be attached to other modules which could be bicycle or tricycle wheels for traveling on traditional roads or sleeve-like pallet adapters that travel on elevated monorails. Other modules would be used for additional freight or passengers.

Ideally, one could attach the seat to the wheels and travel to and get on the elevated monorail. Traveling on the monorail using the adapter sleeve, the system provides for simple mechanical collision avoidance and hands free travel.

Hybrid human-electric powering is ideal.

Weather conditions can be addressed with clothing and on-demand faired enclosures as desired.

This is a very simple conceptual treatment.

By: Glenn

Glenn — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 18:29:11 +0000

Electric bikes & trikes are currently banned on NYC streets and yet they could be the low-carbon vehicle of choice for people who don’t want to sweat as much when riding a bike (or need a little power assist on hills). Thinking of that example and then thinking of things like the PUMA or the slow speed golf-cart like vehicles show that our streets are over-regulated.

The laissez-faire urban streets of the late 19th & early 20th Century were re-engineered to look more like mini-highways for higher speeds & capacity of one type of vehicle: 2-4 door Passenger vehicles that have safety ratings for high speed crashes with heavy vehicles.

We already have certain streets in NYC designated for trucks. Let’s extend that to also include anything that weighs more than 2-3 tons, like the modern SUV. Then on the other streets, let’s allow all manner of small vehicles. The speed limits should be lowered as well.