SkyTran - Personal/Mass Transportation
Well, two weeks later, Bob Kubinski came back with a report that showed if we maintained a 1/2 second spacing between each vehicle on that 28 miles of two-way track, we could carry as many as 48,000 passengers per hour on 10-mile commutes. We all know that rarely will two people ever be riding to the same work place from the same departure station let alone wanting to do it at the same time, but having that second seat, as useless as it was, certainly satisfied those non-technical County Commissioners. Even solo we could now move 24,000 people per hour. So much for meeting the 15,000 per day requirement!To think at one time they were ready to spend $1.8 billion to get 60,000 per day capability. That light rail idea was a real technical turkey. It also didn't have a freeway concept with offline stations, so it would have had to stop and start at each and every station. They predicted it would average 22 mph! What an expensive joke. Well, that’s when we realized we had just created personal commuting transportation that was simultaneously mass transportation! Who would ever have thought you did not need to move large groups of people together in order to move large numbers of people.
But that's so simple grandfather. Surely others had thought of that too. You merely took ideas from various fields and combined them in a new way.
Well John, the most revolutionary ideas often do seem simple after they've been explained, but trust me my boy, they don't come easy. And don't forget what Shawn Walsh used to ask those meddling managers who were always trying to change his ideas: "Where were you when the paper was blank?" You'll understand that better after you finish your bio-electrical engineering degree and have to earn a living in the real world.
My teacher says he's a pirate now.
I suppose, but harpooning mineral rich asteroids in the forbidden zone is more properly a form of poaching, which reminds me of something else he always used to say: "the dull inhibit and the resourceful provide."
And speaking of providing, before we could provide the public with the transportation system they desired, we realized it was time to start thinking about a name for this personal/mass transportation concept. I came up with PEOPLE PODS and caused the belly laugh of the day. The gang said I should quit watching the ancient "X Files" reruns and get a life. A couple of days later, Peter Wokwicz suggested TRAN, which was OK, but it didn't sound fast or futuristic. Rob Cotter changed it to SkyTran, which everyone liked and Brad Bowman improved that to SkyTran SST to mean SkyTran SOLID STATE TRANSPORTATION. We trademarked both names immediately!
