Designer Martin Angelov has dreamed up a new system of public transportation that gives entirely new meaning to "hanging out downtown."
Named Kolelinio, the device is worn like a backpack and integrates an electric motor, batteries and seat. When approaching an urban center, Kolelinio owners can hook onto the two wires overhead and travel at speeds up to 15 miles per hour. Depending on your perspective, it resembles either a chairlift or that conveyor belt they hang shirts on at the drycleaner.
While the lines will be for public use, you'll probably own your own transportation device. "The wires are static and any citizen who wants to use the system has their own transportation device, powered by electric battery," Angelov said. Transportation devices will be lightweight and can be stored in the trunk of a car -- a car that will be parked on the outskirts of town, naturally.
Kolelinio follows the similarly named Kolelinia, a bike-by-wire system that Angelov designed earlier this year.
Angelov sees Kolelinio as either a freestanding transit system or a complement to existing traffic rights-of-way. "Basically the movement is on ground level and when there is an obstacle like traffic, only then the lines go up," he said. Raised crossings would be only 15 feet high.
Intersections would serve as stations where passengers could disembark and join another line. As for the accompanying tangle of wires, Angelov sees them as an aesthetic improvement over current cities. "I believe that two wires will be better than the chaotic and noisy streets full of cars that we have now," he said.
Photos: Martin Angelov
