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A new HPV idea

Discussion in 'Environmental Discussion' started by nerfer, Oct 9, 2008.

  1. nerfer

    nerfer A young senior member

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    Here's something I hadn't seen before, but it makes a lot of sense. He calls it the Shweeb. Basically it's an enclosed recumbent cycle hanging under a monorail. So you can only go where the monorail goes (apparently there's a method for merging & splitting off).

    They have a test setup they use for racing, but if you could set up a monorail system over downtown streets, then people could just hop in one and pedal to wherever they wanted to go with no emissions. Because it's permanently attached to the monorail, you don't need to worry about rentals and returns.

    Saves on space and emissions and improves safety, I'm surprised it hasn't been thought of before. (We were too busy thinking about electric vehicles on monorails & enclosed roads, I guess).
     
    #1 nerfer, Oct 9, 2008
  2. hyo silver

    hyo silver Awaaaaay

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    That looks like fun. It could work in dense urban areas. Another similar idea is to hang tubes from existing structures, including the underside of bridges, to extend surface bike paths.
     
    #2 hyo silver, Oct 10, 2008
  3. FL_Prius_Driver

    FL_Prius_Driver Senior Member

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    Time's a wasting. This is a winner.
    1) You can bring along a lot a baggage if necessary
    2) You can use it in bad weather
    3) It's safe, if done right
    4) With simple electronics you can program you destination and pedal
    5) At the destination, you can just leave and walk, no worries.
    6) You can make bad hand gestures to the cars below, create road rage, and pedal off laughing....wait, may want to rethink doing that.
     
    #3 FL_Prius_Driver, Oct 10, 2008
  4. TimBikes

    TimBikes New Member

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    I wonder if they can come up with a better acronym than HPV - which is the medical name for genital warts.
     
    #4 TimBikes, Oct 13, 2008
  5. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    Kind of makes you think twice about sitting on the seat... :D

    Tom
     
    #5 qbee42, Oct 13, 2008
  6. hyo silver

    hyo silver Awaaaaay

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    'Human Powered Vehicle' doesn't sound so bad, but, yes, HPV is an unfortunate acronym. Speedbike or streamliner seems to work for the faster variants, and velomobile for the more practical. They're still bicycles. Or tricycles, but most people's mental image of those is a little outdated.
     
    #6 hyo silver, Oct 13, 2008
  7. TimBikes

    TimBikes New Member

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    Hilarious! Wish I had thought of that one myself.
     
    #7 TimBikes, Oct 14, 2008
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