Bing, Snyder back new plan for 3-mile light-rail line on Woodward

[gthomas]

This doesn't seem safe to me..but I like it in a weird way. Could this work in Detroit, YES. Do it need re-design, YES.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zIAJvle363w/Taudwfu3QOI/AAAAAAAAAYY/Qa8fWHTLx2s/s1600/SkyTran3.jpg

[gthomas]

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ITWQykKpmF...0/SkyTran2.jpg

[Jason]

All of those single pod things are, I don't know how exactly to describe them, but they're vanity, hobbyist, fantasy kinds of projects. I'm surprised whoever that is found money to build one, because they don't really make much sense. I think they're kind of in the same category as arcologies, and floating cities--the kind of stuff is cool looking and captures the imagination but is better for discovery channel programs than real life.

The idea behind having individual pods is that the system becomes really dynamic. You get your own pod and you enter your destination, and it takes you there independent of where all the other pods are going.


So it sounds good but in practice it doesn't really work. First of all, that level of dynamism isn't needed when even well developed systems are only a handful of lines. Second, any completely grade separated [[elevated or underground), automated systems can have peak frequencies of 5-10 minutes, and because they're driverless they can run at peak frequencies during non-peak hours without adding much to the operational cost [[which is mostly tied up in labor).

Second, where do all the pods come from? There has to be enough pods so that when a bunch of people at a station summon one, there will be enough to come within a few minutes. That means there needs to be a bunch of extra pods. Since ridership from a line from downtown to troy would be something like 50,000-70,000 people, almost all of them being individuals, and since you need a bunch extra so that they will always be available, you would easily need over 100,000 of those pods, which is insane.

Another problem is that the stations would get blocked up. If you have 100 people show up at a station within a few minutes of each other, that means your platform somehow needs to accommodate 90ish pods, and they all have to get into position on the platform, get boarded, and then somehow get around the dozens of other pods to get back onto the main track [[and btw, the rendering only shows a single track, meaning that all other pods would have to wait behind the ones stopped at the station). It would be a giant mess.

[Russix]

Why does Woodward have eight travel lanes? Because it used to have a streetcar running up the middle of the street. One of the key reasons besides operations and maintenance costs to switch to buses was the unsafe nature of middle of the street loading [[even with safety islands) and the more safe procedure of curb loading [[Ref: "A Case for Rail Abandonment", a presentation by DSR General Manager, Leo J. Nowicki, Jan 19, 1954).

He also said the buses could be used to evacuate the city in case of nuclear attack from Russian bombers. GM, Uniroyal and Standard Oil had Nowicki in their back pocket. Today's auto traffic volumes are 30% of 1954 largely thanks to the freeways.