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Self-balancing commuter pods ride old railway lines on demand (newatlas.com)

submitted 5 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago (2 children)

My main issue with these is they don't have any benefit a regular train doesn't have for long distance and for shorter commutes in low traffic areas that aren't densley populated enough to warrent a proper train or tram... You'd probably just a bike.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

I happen to know the approximate area where this is being trialed, and a bike (even an electric one) is really only an alternative for hard-core all-weather bikers that have no problem driving 60+ kilometres a day.

The distances are just too far, the weather too bad 80% of the year, and the shrinking, elderly population too low density for other means of public transport to work economically.

The options are really either cars, such kind of novel ideas, or abandoning these tiny villages all together.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

I think the one and only benefit would be that they can have carts going both directions at the same time using the existing 2 rail system, without building a second pair of rails. I'd love to see some sort of bike add-on that would let me do this with a bicycle.