How do mass transit, automobiles, and SkyTran compare in their effective social properties?
MASS TRANSIT | AUTOMOBILE | SKYTRAN | |
---|---|---|---|
SPEND TIME (indiv.) | wait/ride with strangers | drive alone | alone + at destination |
SPEND TIME (family) | together with strangers | drive together | in pairs + at destination |
Instead of spending time waiting with strangers or attending to the job of driving, you can work or make phone calls while riding !SkyTran. A family riding together will be in separate cars linked by video, which is less immediate and social -- but they will have much more time at home and their destination.
MASS TRANSIT | AUTOMOBILE | SKYTRAN | |
---|---|---|---|
SMALL-SCALE | uneven | even | uneven |
LARGE-SCALE | uneven | even | even |
Both mass transit and SkyTran tend to produce clustering along the transport lines, because once you exit the line you are much less mobile (unless you park a car in the station). However because !SkyTran lines and stops are much cheaper and less disruptive to install, they will spread more widely and produce a fairly even distribution at a large scale. Automobiles encourage even development at both scales. Because you can drive all the way into your garage; it doesn't matter exactly where it is. One positive result for suburbs may be a preference for "smart growth" villages or strips of dense housing along SkyTran lines with open space in between, rather than the continuous carpet of subdivisions automobiles encourage.
A bidirectional SkyTran line can carry as many passengers as a 6-lane freeway; yet it is high in the air and nearly silent, supported by just a single row of utility poles every 30 feet (10 meters). You can stroll under it or cross it easily; young children can play without fear. Unlike a freeway, it will not divide neighborhoods or require acres of parking lots in prime areas to handle the cars it brings.