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As much sense as SkyTran makes for people living in the suburbs, it makes even more sense for people living in the city.
Big cities are natural fits for public transportation. Mass transit systems that would be impractical in the suburbs work very well in the city: there are hundreds of thousands or millions of people living in a relatively small area. Big cities like New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC have robust subway and bus systems that move people from one end of the city to the other. Yet even in cities with the best, most wide-ranging and convenient public systems, people often have problems getting to where they want to go when they want to go there.
People who miss a bus or train may have to wait 15-20 minutes for the next one (depending on the day and time). People waiting for trains or buses late at night in less desirable parts of the city are more vulnerable to being robbed or attacked. People living in certain areas of the city often have spotty or nonexistent mass transit access. (On the far South side of Chicago, for example -- which also happens to be an economically disadvantaged area -- there are whole sections of the city which lack subway access and are covered by only a handful of bus routes.) Even people in areas of the city with relatively good mass-transit access often have to walk 15-20 minutes to get to their bus, subway, or light rail stop. People who live on a different bus or subway line than the one near the place they want to go have to transfer lines, sometimes multiple times, to get where they want to go.
All of these problems cause people stress and inconvenience, and take time and money away from them on a daily basis. All of these problems are built into the very structure of every traditional mass-transit system (be they subway, light rail, or bus), because they are centrally-run, centrally-planned, and take passengers along predetermined routes to where the city planners (not the people themselves) want them to go. None of these problems apply to SkyTran.
SkyTran is on-demand. It leaves when you want it to and it goes where you want it to. Going from one end of the city to the other becomes a 10-minute trip (instead of a 2 hour trip) when you don't have to stop at 15 or 20 destinations along the way.
SkyTran is accessible. With stops every few blocks, people don't have to worry about walking very far to get where they want to go.
SkyTran is convenient. People don't have to worry about transferring between bus or subway lines, because a robust SkyTran network allows them to go from any one place to any other place in the city while staying in the same vehicle (just like with a car).
SkyTran is safe. Because there are several SkyTran pods waiting at each station and because those stations will be spread accessibly throughout the city, no one will have to wait to get in one, regardless of the neighborhood or the time of day. Also, because the SkyTran tracks are elevated, the won't be in danger of hitting or killing pedestrians or waiting passengers the way buses, subway trains, and light rail trains do every year.
SkyTran doesn't take up space. In densely populated cities where space is at a premium, this last benefit is crucial. Space that could be used for housing or businesses is often taken up by subway stations or light rail lines. Whenever such systems are built or repaired, several blocks are cordoned off to make room for the construction. SkyTran stations, by contrast, resemble bus stations much more than they do subway stations: they are small, unobtrusive, and (in a pinch) portable. And constructing SkyTran lines and stations is faster, easier, and cheaper than constructing other mass transit systems.
Big cities are natural fits for public transportation. Mass transit systems that would be impractical in the suburbs work very well in the city: there are hundreds of thousands or millions of people living in a relatively small area. Big cities like New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC have robust subway and bus systems that move people from one end of the city to the other. Yet even in cities with the best, most wide-ranging and convenient public systems, people often have problems getting to where they want to go when they want to go there.
People who miss a bus or train may have to wait 15-20 minutes for the next one (depending on the day and time). People waiting for trains or buses late at night in less desirable parts of the city are more vulnerable to being robbed or attacked. People living in certain areas of the city often have spotty or nonexistent mass transit access. (On the far South side of Chicago, for example -- which also happens to be an economically disadvantaged area -- there are whole sections of the city which lack subway access and are covered by only a handful of bus routes.) Even people in areas of the city with relatively good mass-transit access often have to walk 15-20 minutes to get to their bus, subway, or light rail stop. People who live on a different bus or subway line than the one near the place they want to go have to transfer lines, sometimes multiple times, to get where they want to go.
All of these problems cause people stress and inconvenience, and take time and money away from them on a daily basis. All of these problems are built into the very structure of every traditional mass-transit system (be they subway, light rail, or bus), because they are centrally-run, centrally-planned, and take passengers along predetermined routes to where the city planners (not the people themselves) want them to go. None of these problems apply to SkyTran.
SkyTran is on-demand. It leaves when you want it to and it goes where you want it to. Going from one end of the city to the other becomes a 10-minute trip (instead of a 2 hour trip) when you don't have to stop at 15 or 20 destinations along the way.
SkyTran is accessible. With stops every few blocks, people don't have to worry about walking very far to get where they want to go.
SkyTran is convenient. People don't have to worry about transferring between bus or subway lines, because a robust SkyTran network allows them to go from any one place to any other place in the city while staying in the same vehicle (just like with a car).
SkyTran is safe. Because there are several SkyTran pods waiting at each station and because those stations will be spread accessibly throughout the city, no one will have to wait to get in one, regardless of the neighborhood or the time of day. Also, because the SkyTran tracks are elevated, the won't be in danger of hitting or killing pedestrians or waiting passengers the way buses, subway trains, and light rail trains do every year.
SkyTran doesn't take up space. In densely populated cities where space is at a premium, this last benefit is crucial. Space that could be used for housing or businesses is often taken up by subway stations or light rail lines. Whenever such systems are built or repaired, several blocks are cordoned off to make room for the construction. SkyTran stations, by contrast, resemble bus stations much more than they do subway stations: they are small, unobtrusive, and (in a pinch) portable. And constructing SkyTran lines and stations is faster, easier, and cheaper than constructing other mass transit systems.