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Vehicle: Travelator
High-speed endless travelator   (+3, -2)  [vote for, against]
A Safe, High capacity, High speed travelator

Basically this will be made up of a long oval track with several stops in a subway system. passengers will ride in circular "cups" about 3 feet tall and 10 feet in diameter with seating around the inside circumference for about 20 people. the cups will sit on he conveyer belt that makes up the track, each about 20 feet apart, and cruise along at a nice 60 mph. at each stop, there will be a long set of rollers to let the car slow down and a slower conveyor belt at 3 mph and a door will open to let passengers get in and out of the cups. From there, there will be a series of accelerating conveyors to bring the cups back to speed. At the end of the oval, the slow conveyor will curve 180 degrees and the travelator will continue in the opposite direction.
-- Teh Muffin Man, Jun 21 2007

ride in cups http://www.shotola..../images/teacups.jpg
[xandram, Jun 21 2007]

you first.
-- abhorsen1983, Jun 21 2007


I think this could be made to work okay - although I'm not quite sure why the cups can't actually stop, for the benefit of elderly and other infirm victims - ooops, I mean passengers.

It's basically very like an ordinary subway train system, except with smaller, more frequent trains, and the wheels on the track instead of on the trains. With smaller more frequent trains, this might be an at least equally good design - certainly worth considering.

Oh, and circular carriages. I've no objection to circular carriages per se, they seem socially good, but possibly less economical than rectangular ones. Or do they spin about, like fairground rides? Nice! 8~) A bun.
-- Cosh i Pi, Jun 21 2007



random, halfbakery