Vehicle: Road: Material
Roaps - rope roads   (+2)  [vote for, against]
Ropeways make for faster and easier roads

Similar to a railway except that there are two suspended cables, a few centimeters above the ground with the vehicle riding above them.

The benefits are extremely fast installation vs. paved roads which need heavy construction and massive changes to the landscape and expensive maintenance.

These automatically driven vehicles have a grip which slides along the cable and releases the cable when reaching a connection, junction or switch, gripping the next section with an arm before letting go.

The vehicles can release from the cable system at designated "sideways" where they then move on wheels to their destination on regular roads driven by their drivers.

The wheel system is used for overtaking, changing "lanes" when two or three roapways run alongside each other or stopping at the ropeside (similar to roadside) for an emergency.

Making a roap-bridge is very easy, and enclosing a roap in a translucent pipe, to avoid contact with pedestrians is simple and costs much less than road construction.

Heavyweight supportive cables and "fast lanes" are all enforced through the distributed software that allows for a reliable and safe ride. Halfroaps - for ultra lightweight freight cars can be used for personal mail sent over the system and reaching your home or into the office at work. (riding up the side of the building)
-- pashute, Mar 19 2018

With roaps there's no need for these wide roads https://www.youtube...watch?v=Vrxyr1CjiSM
and you have more room for flowers grass and trees [pashute, Mar 19 2018]

Suspended from what?
-- pertinax, Mar 19 2018


For sending mail: "Hey, a cable just came in for you."
-- AusCan531, Mar 19 2018


You might want to do some calculations as to lateral accelerations during an interchange. Or is every intersection a roundabout?
-- RayfordSteele, Mar 19 2018


So continuous cheese cuter safety barriers made of niobium-titanium. [Pashute], Slow down a bit, take in the roadside flora.
-- wjt, Mar 24 2018


[+] Wotcha want is staggered posts on the two lines, then use a stepping motion to take advantage of the slacking of the cables, one wheel-bottomed leg then the other. At posts, just lift the leg that's at the top of its cycle.
-- FlyingToaster, Mar 25 2018



random, halfbakery