Mac’s petit inventions: Public Mover System
Mac Funamizu
on
February 12th, 2009 
Have you ever wished you wouldn’t have to waste time waiting for a train, bus or taxi to arrive? Every morning on my way to work I wonder if there were a way to solve this problem. I’m not going to wait anymore, but want to constantly travel towards my office. Here is my idea for making it possible.
If you have to travel 20 km on a train and the train runs at 80 km/h, it takes 15 minutes to get to the targeted station. But if you wait for the train for 10 minutes, it means it takes 25 minutes in total, which is on average 48 km/h in speed. 48 km/h? That’s slow! If you count the stations in between, the average speed becomes even slower. Yeah, the stations that the train stops at you never use. You waste some time there, too.
That’s not all. You may have to walk 10 minutes from the station to the office. If you’re unlucky, you have to go exactly the opposite way the train goes. You may think “Isn’t there a way to get off the train somewhere in between stations?”
So, what about a public transportation system that is constantly moving with a lot more exits?
There are people movers on the underground floor that move at various speeds. The outer the belt is, the faster it moves. Each mover has a different speed, but the speed transitions are so smooth that people can walk across them with no problems. The white center part, where you get on/off this system, does not move. If we could somehow make the outer most belt move as fast as a bicycle, it would be able to replace some crowded subways and buses.
There can be much more exits that can be built than the existing trains. Although it moves much more slowly than the current systems, you will never have to wait at a platform instead. No more packed cars. Getting on/off the mover is so easy and you can adjust the speed you want to travel at.
In short: it’s a mixture of a train, platform, underground street and people movers. I know I’m being crazy and impossible (again), but I would love to use this. Of course I know lots of electricity will be needed to make everything in this system work and there will be so many issues that have to be solved before installing this… but one thing I’m sure that will pay off: there will be no TRAIN accidents.
February 13th, 2009 at 1:15 am
Nice renderings, but this idea is 109 years old:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moving_sidewalk (See the part about History)
Still, keep up your spirit and ideas!
February 13th, 2009 at 4:59 am
Futuristic yes, but in countries where there is inadequate infrastructure, even a fraction of this concept will be a boon!
Some of the sidewalks in my city are so congested, maybe something like this will push away the squatters and hawkers.
February 13th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
Reminds me of this idea:
http://urbanplanningblog.com/2008/06/18/boarding-a-train-that-doesnt-stop/
It actually nails the two issues: lack of space and saving energy.
May 19th, 2009 at 6:06 am
With friends had exactly the same idea!
Also featured were very-accurate-human-catapults
endless coathanger tracks which you could grab/hook on to
and unstopping padded velcro trains (velcro suit required)
May 19th, 2009 at 6:15 am
Also – robert this idea is an improvement on typical moving walkways with the different speed tracks
i.e. on the fastest track, you could be travelling at hundreds of km/h, while on the “entry/exit” track, at walking pace
It is a bit of a crazy idea.
Which is why I really like it =)
May 19th, 2009 at 6:27 am
Also – Mac you’d want a “mirror” design i.e. the fastest track surrounded on both sides by slower tracks, which each had slower tracks on the other side of them.
This would avoid someone travelling at top speed colliding with a stationary object/barrier if they misstepped/fell (instead, they would gradually tumble to a halt …)
ok enough commenting on this crazy idea …. =)