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On Monday, whilst playing golf (as I do every Monday morning) I got to thinking about the problems of commuting to work, in cars.
It seems to me that most traffic congestion could be avoided, and a lot of our fuel consumption issues resolved, by the development and use of an LPG-powered car about
the size of a golf cart. Parking lots could fit three vehicles for every current carspace.
They are cheap, reliable, simple, small and very fuel-efficient. The road system could be modified to take vast numbers of these vehicles, and separate them from large, dangerous cars.
Most of us live in places that are moderately close to where we work. For those who don't there is no need to get rid of large cars; just use them less if you can get by with a golf cart/APC. I don't know about you, but peak hour traffic for me moves at about 20kmh.
The current carriagework can be easily modified, to better resemble the cars we are used to driving.
small and charming
http://www.smart.com
but not actually clever [neilp, Oct 28 2004]
Or the Tango
http://www.commutercars.com/
Can fit four into a parallel parking space, can handle freeway traffic, and runs on electricity. [scad mientist, Oct 28 2004]
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The Smart car goes some way towards this.. with a 600cc engine, and parking two per bay. |
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I see a lot of them around. They are cheap, but still dearer than a golf cart. Perhaps they could be run on LPG. I'd be happy with that. |
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I just specced a roadster with all the toys... $48,550.00 Ouch! |
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Road rage can now be channeled into the more
productive and satisfying stream of beating your caddie over the head with a putter. |
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Why use LPG, what's wrong with the existing batteries? Also, you could take out the engine altogether and put in pedals - would look like the Flintstones car. But basically a top idea. Would be great for a city with small roads like London. |
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No [ooooooooo] you would look like Noddy. |
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Why not run them on batteries? |
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Simple:
1. The production of electricity is pretty inefficient, if you use fossil fuels (around 40% energy conversion).
2. Electric carts run out of charge, stranding the occupants.
3. LPG carts are already in use. LPG is available at most service stations. |
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I knew about GEM cars. I was thinking of something that looks a bit more like the cars we are used to seeing. This should improve acceptance, especially with the crowd who suffer lingering penis envy problems and compensate by driving big/powerful cars. |
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The point of the exercise is to reduce traffic congestion, pollution and infrastructure disruption by changing perceptions of how we move around our crowded cities. |
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For short journeys in cities, THERE IS NO NEED FOR A CAR (sorry for shouting). Two wheels (cycles, or small scooters) are quicker, and have zero/significantly lower emmissions. |
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Why the perceived need for something that "looks like a car"? |
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GEM cars running on propane? New Orleans has narrow streets? Such misinformation! |
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Yep. I ride my bike all over town (unless it's got a puncture, in which case I get the train). I can travel five miles into town in roughly 15 to 20 minutes on my bike, whereas it takes 45 minutes on the bus because of traffic, school children etc. |
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Along with the added health benefits that come from regular bike rides, I can't see why more people don't commute by bicycle. |
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I don't ride a bicycle to work because I live in Indiana, where it rains and snows, where I drive to work in the dark and get home in the dark during winter months. We have no public transportation to speak of, and although I live relatively close to work, it's 6 miles. |
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A friend of mine had an HMV Freeway back in the 1980s, I always thought that was the way to go, like an enclosed, all-weather scooter- 100 mpg at 40 mph, could carry a passenger or 3-4 sacks of groceries if it was really necessary. And I suppose, if it became prudent, it could be converted to run on methane, hydrogen, LPG or alcohol. |
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Why not go the whole hog and make it go-kart based with a 50cc 4-stroke engine and 'sports car' bodywork. Any luggage etc. could be towed in a small trailer. |
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Alternatively, baked in the form of the Peel P50 - manufactured in Britain in the 1960s (also featured on Top Gear). |
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I like the concept, but am also a big fan of the push bike (the next stage in the process, and it's quite possible to cruise at about 20mph on the flat, traffic or not) - lights attached on the handlebars and behind the seat can do wonders for riding in the dark, and chunky tyres and some decent waterproofs would solve the weather problem! |
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[ivanhoe] - Although you may be dead by now, I agree with you. Two wheels are better then four. |
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The thing is, I don't use my car *only* for commuting (as it happens, I don't use it at all for commuting, too much hassle) but I do I use it for weekend trips to see distant friends and relatives, I use it when I visit the hardware store to carry building materials, I take it grocery shopping - and while some of these would be suitable tasks for a golf-cart - others would prove challenging. |
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I do quite like the idea of lots of small, low-powered clean personal transportation - in the question of how to scale the future; I imagine a spectrum with powered roller-skates at one end, going through Segways and Scooters, Golf Carts and Smart Cars, all the way up to the great Motorcars of (say) the 1950's. Where you opt to draw the size line seems fairly arbitrary - depending on the trade off between individual comfort and the resources required for parking and per-unit infrastructure requirements. But the trend seems to be for bigger and more densely populated cities, and if that trend increases, then the allowable sizes for personal transportation will be squeezed smaller and smaller. |
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You also have the benefit of carrying your golf clubs, or a multi-barrelled rocket launcher, wherever you go. |
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wonder what the operating and environmental costs of a horse(/buggy) are vis-a-vis population density / property size. |
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