I don't like trains because I have to sit next to stinky scary people, and it doesn't do door-to-door.
I propose an alternate train system - pod cars.
Everyone owns their own pod. They can be single seat, two seat or four. They have standard dimensions and attachments, but otherwise are yours to customise.
You summon a rover, which drives up to your pod and clips underneath. The rover automatically drives you to the nearest station, and an overhead crane loads you on to the train that takes you to the destination where you disembark the pod onto another train, a rover or pod parking. Parking is stacked.-- FloridaManatee, Jun 19 2003 That has been proposed before but expensive to implement. It would be nice to see this in many places.-- sartep, Jun 19 2003 Bun for reading my mind, FloMan.-- thumbwax, Jun 19 2003 my other pod is a pea-pod.-- po, Jun 19 2003 my other pod is identical-- Worldgineer, Jun 19 2003 what were the pod people?-- po, Jun 19 2003 See Bucky Fuller's idea. Never baked, but proposed, shetched, published. He thought the transportation pod would integrate with planes as well.-- oxen crossing, Jun 19 2003 I already have a pod with built in rover. Its called a car. Now, if you could convince Amtrak to make their cars wide enough for my car to drive on from the side (as in a regular parking lot) we are in business.-- kbecker, Jun 20 2003 Give it little legs for delicate sideways manoeuvres, and call it it The ArthroPod? In fact, linking hundreds of them together would be very similar to those strangest of arthropods, the millipedes.-- UnaBubba, Jun 20 2003 but i LIKE meeting new people. i think too much emphasis is placed in our culture with technology that hides & separates us from other humans. Get some nose plugs! learn to speak Arabic! Ask the guy you're sitting next to where he got that cool tattoo! People just don't socialize anymore unless it's anonymously thru um...well stuff like this.-- kissing bandit, Sep 18 2003 [kb], where did you get that cool tatoo?-- Worldgineer, Sep 18 2003 halfbakery