10 Mph Moving Sidewalks Could Make Crosstown Buses Obsolete

Robert A. Heinlein wrote a short story in 1940, &quot;The Roads Must Roll&quot;, featuring long-distance, high-speed moving roads, not just sidewalks.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;The_Roads_Must_Roll" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;The_Roads_Must_Roll</a>

There was a fast (10 kph) moving sidewalk in the Paris metro station &quot;Montparnasse&quot; for 12 years or so. It never worked out. You can&#x27;t easily step on it; for years they had to have employees helping people stepping on the fast lane without falling down. And the thing broke down all the time, it was barely available half the time. Finally they replaced it with a good old fashioned 4 kph moving sidewalk.<p>Faster isn&#x27;t always better. Moving faster is overrated.

In related news, <i>Teleportation Could Make Airplanes Obsolete</i> if only physicists can figure out how to transmit and re-assemble humans correctly.

I visit Toronto quite often. They have a moving sidewalk (conveyor system) in Terminal 3 when you arrive and disembark from your plane. The video of the moving sidewalk they link looks to be the one I&#x27;m referring to and if you look at the date it&#x27;s from 2009. That&#x27;s probably the last year it was in operation.<p>In the last 2-3 years (and I&#x27;m there at least once a month) the moving sidewalks have maintenance signs on them and have never worked. As a matter of fact I put a small sticker on the belt&#x2F;handrail and it hasn&#x27;t moved guaranteed in about a year. It makes the walk to Customs and Immigration quite the haul.<p>It could be that they have disabled them permanently so people don&#x27;t get to the customs&#x2F;immigration area to quickly and overwhelm an already overwhelmed system. Don&#x27;t know....

There actually is a sidewalk conveyor belt (and some sidewalk escalators) in operation in Bilbao. I&#x27;m not sure how much of a maintenance headache it is in practice, but it does make a hilly neighborhood more easily accessible.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.flickr.com&#x2F;photos&#x2F;walkingsf&#x2F;18345027333&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.flickr.com&#x2F;photos&#x2F;walkingsf&#x2F;18345027333&#x2F;</a>

This has been proposed many times. Here is one plan from 1937 that would have been located where the Market Street BART tunnel is now:<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;blog.sfgate.com&#x2F;thebigevent&#x2F;2015&#x2F;07&#x2F;10&#x2F;35-years-before-bart-a-subway-and-moving-sidewalk-on-market-st&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;blog.sfgate.com&#x2F;thebigevent&#x2F;2015&#x2F;07&#x2F;10&#x2F;35-years-befor...</a>

Waaaay too many moving parts if you ask me.<p>I have an alternative idea: Electric monowheels(or kick scooters):<p>-Not fixed-route.<p>-Barely any maintenance.<p>-Even the non-exploding ones cost as much as (subsidized) public transport over their lifetime.<p>-Same speed as this moving sidewalk and bicycles - could potentially share the bike lanes with the latter.<p>Two major disadvantages though are weight and usability in bad weather. I guess nothing beats cars when it comes to comfort of <i>traveling</i>.

I wish Boston would put one (or a 4mph one) underground walking path between Bowdoin station and MGH so that people could easily transfer without having to either clog the green line or cross traffic in the rain&#x2F;snow.

The Thyssen-Krupp walkway at the Toronto airport is only 7.2 KPH (4.5MPH) in the middle, fast section.[1] Wikipedia claims it&#x27;s usually broken. The Paris Montparnesse 9 KPH moving sidewalk had too many falls, was slowed down, and later removed. The &quot;10 MPH moving sidewalk&quot; is a discussion item in a paper, not a working system. This is a tough mechanical problem, with no really good solutions.<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=p4UF6LQKMps" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=p4UF6LQKMps</a>

I don&#x27;t really want to be on a moving sidewalk when its ten below zero fahrenheit and snowing - but hey that&#x27;s just me. But if they could enclose them in a glass or plastic dome it would be far more preferable than riding the bus.

Costanza was ahead of his time.

Louis Wu would approve

Great idea. Much more power efficient than bus. And roads require maintenance when its raining, freezing or snowing. This thing will just work.

I have an idea: bicycles.

Trams anyone?

Sounds like a good idea. Wonder what the maintenance costs would be.

Doesn&#x27;t pass physics or business tests. Yeah, bat-shit-crazy fits this. But, hey, NY Mag needed to fill some much needed space to generate clicks. Mission accomplished.

And that&#x27;s because buses are THE WORST form of transportation imaginable.<p>Anything is better than a bus.<p>Buses have never been the opposite of obsolete. They were always a step backwards.<p>Trolleys with dedicated lanes make sense.<p>When travelling distances of less than 30 miles, buses are for people who hate themselves.