A new design study aims to shield riders on public transportation from what's often their biggest complaint: The public.
In a nod to a culture obsessed with personal space, designer Dave Owsen has drawn up a vision he somewhat ironically calls Community Transit. While it's a mass transit system open to the public, riders have all the privacy of a trip in a car.
Community Transit riders sit in small pods that can comfortably fit two adults and two children. Pods travel along overhead rail lines in densely populated areas and can be shunted off the main rail line to a "passing lane" that allows them to continue direct to a destination. Empty cars are used for parcels instead of people.
Owsen is a fan of Personal Rail Transit systems, and was inspired by the people mover in Morgantown, West Virginia. "This idea was mainly devised to replace bus systems and operate within a city center," he said. "I think it is important to utilize high-speed rail for region-to-region travel, light rail for city-to-city and a system such as this for travel within the city."
Best of all, on Community Transit, riders can yak on their phones, blast their iPods and eschew deodorant without disturbing fellow passengers.
"I think it will help people feel safer and create a more comfortable environment for activities such as working or talking on the phone with fewer distractions," Owsen said. "Also, because the vehicles are small and occupied by one person, friends or a family, you wouldn’t have to hit all the stops along the way."
Cost-savings come from using the pods to ship packages, plus they're powered by concept solar-concentrator technology that covers the pods' exterior but lets light through. (Remember, it's just a design study.)
That means no more getting crammed with total strangers into a giant metal container covered in scratched-out windows. In Owsen's concept, you'd be with your family in a tiny container covered in transparent solar cells.
Owsen admits his system is far from implementation anytime in the near future, but hopes it will encourage new ways of thinking among designers of existing transit systems.
"First, I would love to see passing lanes or some sort of direct-route navigation with smaller vehicles to make travel faster," he said. "Second, I hope that adding value like peer-to-peer shipping for small businesses becomes a trend."
Photos: Dave Owsen
