C) Special Skytran Service For Stadium Events

Once a basic citywide 3D SkyTran grid is complete and the public starts to appreciate SkyTran commuting advantages, an assortment of other profitable expansion services can be implemented.

Major sporting events, rock concerts, monster truck shows, etc. require moving 30,000 to 70,000 or more people into and out of a stadium.  Currently, this typical scenario involves driving to the stadium, paying $6 to park, another 5 minutes to get parked, 5 or 10 minutes to walk to the stadium entrance and once inside another 5 minutes to finally get settled into their seats.  Many fans make it a habit of arriving some 45 minutes early, just to avoid the worst of the parking congestion.  When exiting, things are worse and it can take a half-hour from when you get to your car, till when you are out of the parking lot.

It is amazing how humans adapt to the problems caused by modern day automobile life.   Many sports fans leave early on purpose.  Avoiding the worst of the congestion that happens when everyone leaves the stadium at once is more important than the final outcome of the game — or the $30 to $75 spent to participate in the whole event.   With SkyTran, fans could relax and enjoy the entire game, and still get home faster than before.

SkyTran stadium stations would all be located inside the stadium.  SkyTran would take fans up to the level of their exact seats and then go around the stadium so they can unload at the station located most conveniently in the quadrant nearest their seat.   When the event is over, they exit the same way.  No more following all the crowds down the ramps to exit the stadium first.

The SkyTran stadium scenario is especially important from the stadium owner's standpoint.  Once the pattern of traveling to huge events by SkyTran becomes the mode of choice, owners will see a lot of empty parking lots.  This valuable real estate could now be sold off or developed for other income producing purposes.  Obviously, owners of new stadium facilities will recognize the real estate minimization advantages of SkyTran service. Less capital will be needed up front just for the land acquisition required for parking.  This also means that new stadiums can be constructed in places where convertible land just doesn't exist. We estimate that total land requirements will become one fourth the current amount consumed because of the need to park automobiles on the premises.

A properly designed SkyTran Stadium system can have 50,000 people cruising their way home at 100 mph in just 30 minutes!

In the following table, part I estimates the extra costs for such a special SkyTran system.  Estimates for income, expenses and profits are compared for the usual huge parking lot system of today to a SkyTran system.  Part II illustrates the huge door to door time savings that would result from such a system.  It estimates the amount of time required for a hypothetical fan who lives 15 miles away from the stadium to get to and from a stadium event.  We assume people would pay $6 more for such convenience.

I. Special SkyTran system developed for fast stadium departure compared to the typical automobile based parking lot system — return on investment
	Without SkyTran	With SkyTran
Raw land area required	X	1/4 X
Initial cost of land	$40 million	$10 million
Cost of special stadium SkyTran system (5 levels @ 8 quadrants w/10 SkyTran's boarding at a time)	$0	$17 million
Total Cost (land plus SkyTran)	$40 million	$27 million
Income from parking lot ($6 per car w/ 2 persons per car)	$150,000 per event (50,000 people)	$60,000 per event (10,000 people)
Income from SkyTran users ($12 per SkyTran unit W/ 2 persons per unit)	0	$240,000 per event (40,000 people)
Annual Income only from parking and/or SkyTran fees (2 events per week)	$15 million	$30 million
Expenses	$5 million (33%)	$10 Million (37%)
Net after expenses	$10 million	$20 million
Annual return to Stadium owner	24%	74%

 

II. Time required for a hypothetical fan to get to and from a stadium event
	By automobile	By SkyTran
Time to get to vehicle	1 minute	10 minutes
Time to travel 15 miles	25.7 Min (at 35 mph ave)	9 min (100 mph ave)
Time in line and to pay parking	4 min	0 min
Time to park (or exit SkyTran)	5 min	3 min
Time to walk from vehicle to stadium entrance	5 min	0 min
Time to get inside and onto seat	5 min	2 min
Total arrival time	45.7 minutes	24 minutes
Time to walk out of stadium	10 minutes	0
Time to walk to vehicle (or SkyTran)	5 min	2 min
Time to exit parking and get moving on a main thoroughfare	30 min	3 min
Time to travel 15 miles	25.7 min	9 min
Time to get into home or apartment	1 min	10 min
Total departure time	1 hour and 12 minutes	24 minutes