In order to comfortably, and most importantly, quickly move around St. Petersburg, it is not necessary to buy a private car. In addition to a car, a motorcycle and a bicycle, there are others today, alternative ways urban movement.
Just a few years ago, the bicycle boom swept over St. Petersburg. The more traffic jams became, the more townspeople switched to bicycles. However, since last year, a scooter has become a fashionable and, more importantly, an even more mobile means of transportation in the urban jungle.
Aleksandr Guskov, Urban scooter movement activist: "It's convenient, it's mobile, you can always take it with you on the metro, you can place it at work, unlike a bicycle, there are not always bicycle parking lots."
Don't think of the scooter as just a child's toy. The modern scooter has many types and modifications, but its most important advantage is its mobility.
Alexander Guskov, Urban scooter movement activist:"The most popular is a city scooter, a scooter with small wheel diameters from 150 to 200. There are kickbikes - these are scooters with large wheels, like a bicycle, there are kickboards."
The scooter in our city very quickly became fashionable. The secret of success is simple - it is several times cheaper than a bicycle and you can learn how to ride it in a few hours. So today everyone rides a scooter - young and old, from students to bank employees.
Viktoria Nikitina, Scooter movement activist: " I saw passers-by on the street who ride. I found out that my friend has a scooter, asked me to try it, and since then I have not parted. I bought myself a scooter and have been skating for the second year. initially it was leisure, but after just a couple of weeks I realized that this is saving both time and finances and that you can get to work with it. Therefore, it is very convenient and economical. "
Igor Kazarenko is an inventor. For his own needs, he once made a scooter with a small engine. He did not say a new word in engineering, scooters at that time were made by both the Japanese and the Americans. However, the Russian inventor decided to look at this vehicle from the other side.
Igor Kazarenko, Inventor: " What the Americans did there, they have it mostly for entertainment, they feel the drive from it. And our people are more practical, they want to combine business with pleasure and go for a drive, and to work, and to fish, like that ".
He called his invention a motorcycle scooter. Its main advantage is efficiency, mobility and cross-country ability: on this one you can drive to the garage and go to the forest. The first motor scooter was released 10 years ago, since then more than 4 thousand models of various configurations have left the workshop of Igor Stanislavovich. The inventor himself switched to this miracle of technology a long time ago, considering it the best city transport.
Igor Kazarenko, Inventor:"I had a car, for personal use, but I refused it, because many things on a scooter are easier to do, you do not depend on traffic jams, you can calculate your time, you do not look for a parking space by car."
A scooter is another, not so modern means of transportation. Not a motorcycle yet, but not a bicycle either. The heyday of scooters came in the 50s of the 20th century, however, even today you can find connoisseurs of these iron horses.
Vladimir Kharitonov, Motor scooter owner: "For me, it's a matter of taste, I don't care what people think about it. For most, my scooter is of no value. It's a way of life, I travel a lot on a scooter, I have other scooters. For example, on this model I have traveled all of Scandinavia. "
Vladimir is one of the organizers of the St. Petersburg club, there are more than one hundred such clubs around the world. It is not surprising that scooters find their like-minded people in every big city where this one brings them, to good sense, "Mad stool".
Ivan Fil,Scooter owner(Krasnodar city):"Here came with friends, you can go for a drive, here people from Italy came, you could eat pasta with them, so, with like-minded people, everything is fine with us. "
Whichever mode of transport you choose to move around St. Petersburg, the main thing is that it does not interfere with those around you, and you can be sure that you will make new friends very quickly.
T imur Mamonov, Oleg Podyachev, Alexander Vysokikh and Andrey Klemeshov. Channel One, St. Petersburg.
A. V. Guzenko
ALTERNATIVE TYPES OF TRANSPORT AS A BASIS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF URBAN PASSENGER SYSTEM LOGISTICS
annotation
The design of modern urban passenger transport should be carried out using not only traditional, but also alternative modes of transport, since the combination of their advantages will create an optimal system from the point of view of logistics.
Keywords
Alternative modes of transport, high-speed tram, city train, logistics.
ALTERNATIVE TRANSPORT AS THE BASIS OF PASSENGER TRANSPORT SYSTEMS LOGISTICS
Designing a modern urban public transport should be carried out using not only traditional but also alternative modes of transport, because the combination of their advantages allow to create an optimal system on logistics basic.
Alternative modes of transport, light rail, city train, logistics.
The modern development of the urban environment is due to the parallel development of areas such as city architecture, social facilities, commercial real estate, and transport infrastructure. The latter, with high-quality planning and implementation, has a strong impact on the potential of the next round of development, or can lead to stagnation. A well-designed transport system ensures the movement of goods and passengers, actually supporting the economy, social and cultural life of the city.
The creation of a productive transport system is largely determined by its components. Modern transport technologies allow combining various logistic advantages of different modes of transport to build an optimal system, taking into account various constraints.
Foreign passenger transport systems are formed in such a way that they create a competitive environment, thereby giving users of the transport services market a choice between different kinds transport in terms of not only the speed of movement, but also the population of vehicles, the number of transfers (continuity) of the route of movement, environmental friendliness of movement. At the same time, the state regulation systems allow creating competition between the routes of the same type of land transport, since the routes are carried out by different transport companies. Thus, when planning their movements, passengers can choose the mode of transport and the route that will most of all satisfy multiple requirements. At the same time, the city transport system provides for con-
structural and administrative solutions to ensure the uninterrupted movement of vehicles along specified routes, thereby increasing its attractiveness. Users of transport services are provided with a guaranteed service, while not only moving from point A to point B, but also maximum information for the possibility of building an optimal route.
Various alternative views transport, since modern technologies make it possible to increase the quality component of urban transport
tailor system. Investment in the development of the urban passenger transport system, in turn, improves the quality component of service, which is an important criterion for choosing in favor of public transport over personal.
Consider the main components of the urban transport system. This will include not only various vehicles, but also infrastructure facilities. Graphically, the components of the transport system of cities are shown in Figure 1. It is worth noting that the subsystems presented are interconnected.
city transport system
external transport
intracity transport
ways of communication
1 a o rn e s
TEMPORARY PARKING
STORAGE AREAS OF PERSONAL CARS
vehicles i
high-speed transport
terrestrial
transport
Figure 1 - Transport system of the city and its structural elements
DEPARTMENTAL
dd control >>
movement about with a
The presented decomposition divides into subsystems according to the signs of transportation of goods or passengers, the allocation of subsystems occurs on the basis of "mode of transport", since each has its own allocated territory. The subsystem of intracity service is referred to the concept of "urban transport".
The design and formation of efficient urban passenger transport systems is possible with a combination of various advantages of modes of transport. All modes can be divided into two main groups: traditional and alternative modes of transport. The first group includes bus, trolleybus and tram services.
These types of transport are most often used in various systems of Russian cities when forming the frame of the city's route network. This takes into account the features and possibilities of using each of them.
The use of one or another type of transport on various sections of the urban road network is also determined by the carrying capacity of modes of transport, their maneuverability, and speed of movement. Classically, the use of bus services is possible with a large passenger traffic. At the same time, not only the above factors are distinguished as advantages, but also the ability to deviate from the specified routes of movement in the event of unforeseen situations. In Rostov-on-Don, bus traffic is the basis of the urban passenger transport system. At the same time, both large-capacity buses and small-capacity buses are actively used. And the last, on initial stage implementations designed to provide services more High Quality for a lot of money, at the moment they are simply vehicles that uncontrollably carry out passenger transportation, since their number is really significant, while there is no regulatory balance between the number of buses of large capacity and especially small ones.
The second largest number of passengers carried in the city is trolleybus transport. Classically, its main advantages are: “environmental friendliness, low vibration impact, ride comfort, maneuverability (in comparison with rail modes of transport), cleanliness of the trip from the standpoint of the absence of smells of exhaust gases in the cabin, relatively low cost of transportation and, as a result, a lower tariff rate. for travel ". At the same time, his maneuver
the frequency and the possibility of changing the route in case of emergency are quite small, it is also necessary to remember about the dependence on the source of energy for the organization and implementation of the movement. So, abroad, these problems are solved by acquiring a universal rolling stock capable of operating both on electric traction and, in the absence of it or an obstacle on the way of movement, on diesel fuel. This technical solution makes it possible to increase the number of arguments in favor of this type of transport.
The third traditionally used mode of transport is the tram. The Russian experience of some large cities shows positive results of the development of this type of transport, with a sufficiently high passenger turnover. A number of advantages, such as high carrying capacity, environmental friendliness, low noise and vibration impact (provided that funds are invested in the modernization of the tram track and rolling stock), make it possible to actively use this type of transport in many cities, and even carry out its evolutionary development to high-speed tram. Historically, the transport system of Rostov-on-Don had an extensive network of tram routes connecting the central part of the city with the outskirts, and in fact there was a base for its use. However, the assessment carried out in the strategic planning of the development of the urban environment revealed a number of shortcomings, such as being bound to a track in case of unsafe exit of passengers from the passenger compartment of a tram vehicle, as well as stopping car traffic, which is obliged to let the exiting passengers pass, which led to the abandonment of this type of transport. For example, in the USA, Austria, Germany, France, as well as in some cities of our country, there were
the working conditions of this type of transport were changed, which ultimately led to the emergence of a high-speed tram.
Monorail transport is useful for connecting large residential areas with industrial areas of the city. When designing, it is necessary to take into account the need to place supports and overpasses with a monorail beam for movement, as well as stop complexes. This type of transport is rarely used in the development of the urban transport system, however, there is currently a project to use this type of transport in Bologna (Italy) to connect the railway station with the airport. At the same time, the monorail itself will have only three stopping points. As expected by the authors of this project, this will reduce the time for passengers to travel between transport hubs, increase the capacity of this direction in comparison with existing indicators. It should be said that this is a unique case, since this type of transport is considered to be ineffective.
The development of the city line often "locks" the railroad tracks within the city limits. And at the present stage, there are projects on the use of such routes for launching a "city train", allowing to move significant passenger traffic within the city limits, bypassing traffic jams and standard traffic routes. At the same time, it is worth noting the high environmental friendliness and the fact that the existing infrastructure is being used. The advantages of such projects are to increase the mobility of the population within the city, unload the road network.
The metro is economically viable in cities with a population of over 1 million people. The use of this type of transport allows you to quickly and safely move massive passenger flows underground or on fenced tracks. However, it should be noted that this is the most expensive type of transport in terms of costs for its construction and operation, therefore, its use is economically justified only if the amount of passenger traffic in one direction is at least 25 thousand people per hour.
The high-speed tram is a logistic synthesis of the development of the street tram using modern technologies. Currently, its transport characteristics allow many large cities in the world to make a choice in favor of its active development. These include low noise emissions, environmental friendliness, high travel speeds and safety. In some cases, it has a number of advantages over the previously considered metro, since it requires less economic investment. From the passenger's point of view, traveling on a high-speed tram takes significantly less time than traveling the same distance on the metro.
In some urban systems, modes of transport such as funicular and cable car can be found. Their use is due to the features of the relief. However, it should be understood that the speed and frequency of their movements is not entirely suitable for organizing business and work trips, rather for cultural and leisure purposes. The use of such types of transport is justified in cities with a large tourist flow.
The construction of a harmonious and efficient functioning system of urban passenger transport should proceed taking into account a significant number of factors, such as technical, economic, social and environmental in nature. Design must
carried out not only taking into account the quantitative characteristics, but also the qualitative requirements of passengers, as well as modern logistics requirements.
Bibliographic list
1. Guzenko, A. V. Vikhreva, N. A.
Urban passenger transport system: logistics and regulation: monograph. - Rostov n / a, 2011.
2. Mamaev, E. A., Kovaleva, N. A. Railway transport in the system of urban passenger transport development on the example of Rostov-on-Don // Bulletin of Rostov
State Economic University (RINH). - 2013. - No. 4 (44). - S. 53-59.
Bibliographic list
1. Guzenko, A. V., Vikhreva, N. A.
Passenger Transport System: Logistics and Regulation: monograph. - Rostov-on-Don, 2001.
2. Mamaev, E. A., Kovaliova, N. A. Railway transport in development of city passenger transport on example of Rostov-on-Don // Vestnik of Rostov State University of Economics (RINH). - 2013. - No. 4 (44). - P. 53-59.
The era of suborbital tourist flights is coming - practically it is a spacewalk with all that it implies, a feeling of weightlessness, a view of the Earth from a round window and strong overloads, however, without fixing in a near-earth orbit. A suborbital aircraft is launched from a launch vehicle. Then it accelerates to a speed of about 4000 km / h and in the middle of the road goes without an engine on residual thrust. Having reached about 100-200 km above the Earth, like a launched nucleus, it begins to fall along a ballistic curve, at this moment passengers feel weightlessness, but not for long, only about 5 minutes. Entering the troposphere, the spacecraft begins gliding and lands on the runway like a normal airplane.
For the first time, a suborbital flight was made by the experimental X-15 rocket plane, designed in the 1950s in the United States. This vessel was intended for the United States Air Force only. Currently, several private companies are engaged in the creation of suborbital aircraft. Russia also decided to keep up with this scientific and commercial trend, and now a suborbital space system based on the M-55 Geophysics high-altitude aircraft is being developed at NPO Molniya.
Speed
The maximum is about 4000 km / h, however, given that the spacecrafts are intended mainly for tourism, it is not possible to use such a speed to quickly fly from Russia to the United States.
Spaciousness
Depending on the model of the spacecraft, from 4 to 14 people.
When to expect
Flights with ordinary passengers can begin in two to three years.
02. Wheels, gyroscope and nothing more
“This is something between slippers and a bicycle,” is how Dean Kamen calls his invention, an electric segway scooter. The development appeared in stores already in 2002 and became very popular. Now this type of environmentally friendly and convenient transport is used not only by ordinary citizens, but also by various government services, for example, most American postmen deliver parcels and letters to addresses on segways, in several cities in Germany such a scooter - required attribute police officer. Recently, the inventor Shane Chen decided to improve the segway and created a similar, but more compact vehicle, the electric unicycle, or solowheel. The principle of operation is the same as an electric scooter, it is set in motion without any buttons and works on the basis of a gyroscope and sensors that continuously assess the displacement of the center of gravity, that is, any movements of the user. If you lean forward, the scooter will go straight, if you lean slightly to the side, it will turn. You can carry this scooter with you everywhere.
Speed
Approximately 20 km / h.
Roominess b
Both the segway and the monowheel are designed for the individual user; it is most likely that it will not work to balance on them together, unless, of course, you are a couple of synchronized swimmers.
When to expect
Already now, all pedestrians in the world are gradually switching to these electric scooters.
03. A real SUV
A vehicle capable of moving at high speed on water, ice, snow, land and air is an ekranoplane, a direct descendant of an ekranoplan, a hybrid vessel on a dynamic hovercraft. The ekranolet is better than its predecessor in that it is able to soar not only over a flat surface, but also rise upward, overcoming even the most impassable routes.
For the first time, a hybrid hovercraft was invented back in 1937 by Soviet engineer Vladimir Levkov. Later, realizing all the advantages of this type of transport, China and Korea were engaged in its modifications and latest developments, they began to build large and capacious modern ekranoliters, on which you can very quickly move from one Asian country to another. So far, such a system of passenger transportation has not been ideally established, but ekranolets are perfectly used there for water tourism.
Russia took up this transport seriously in the late 1990s, the Sukhoi design bureau even created a multi-seat modern ekranolet S-90, but the general public never saw it. Perhaps the ship is being finalized after testing, and someday we will be able to quickly get from the central part of Russia to its remote regions, for example, to Siberia or the Far East, on an all-terrain aircraft.
Speed
The ekranolet is about half slower than a passenger airliner, its speed is about 400–450 km / h.
Spaciousness
The largest vessel has 50 seats.
When to expect
In Asia or in the United Arab Emirates, where ekranolets are supplied from China, you can already find these winged ships similar to the plane and ride them near the coast.
04. Levitating Train
The fastest form of ground transportation is the magnetic levitation train. However, it would be more correct to say - overhead, because the train does not travel, but flies a few millimeters above the monorail. Therefore, it is called Maglev - magnetic levitation. Thinking about such trains began a hundred years ago, and the first working Maglevs were built in the 1980s in England and Germany.
But the only maglev that does not play the role of an attraction today, but a full-fledged means of public transport, operates in Shanghai, connecting the city with the airport and covering 30 km in 7 and a half minutes. So far, the maglev remains the transport of the future - ecologically perfect, ultra-fast, cheap to use and safe. It's just not cheap to build infrastructure for it. Now roads are being built for them in Japan and South Korea, plan to create in other countries, including Russia. If such a route was built from Moscow to Vladivostok, the trip would take less than a day.
Speed
Today, the fastest Maglev is Japanese, which showed a record speed of 581 km / h during trials in 2003 in Yamanashi prefecture. While he carries the chosen lucky ones.
Spaciousness
Hundreds of people. This is a train, and, like any train, the number of passengers can vary depending on the number of wagons.
When to expect
The longest highway currently under construction from Tokyo to Osaka is scheduled for completion in 2027.
05. Drivers are an anachronism
It seems that it is already becoming a commonplace that the vehicles of the future are useless for the driver, they will move with the help of optical sensors, "smart roads", radar, and most importantly - artificial intelligence. According to The Economist magazine, 90% of road accidents are due to human error. This statistic sounds like a verdict on human drivers.
Airplanes, ships and cars are gaining autonomy step by step. For a good car, parking autopilot, cruise control, the ability to warn the driver of danger have already become the norm. Tesla, General Motors and other auto giants are actively developing them. But ahead of all Google - a dozen unmanned "Prius", brought to an independent mind in the secret laboratories GoogleX, has been driving around California for several years. Google plans to release its own car in the near future. The company has invested $ 250 million in the Uber taxi service, which it plans to equip with its own drones.
Speed
Autopilot knows better.
Spaciousness
When to expect
The mass production of fully autonomous vehicles is expected sometime around 2020.
06. Reactive power on the shoulders
How wonderful it would be to move around with an airbag - no traffic jams, no crowds! Work on the creation of such an individual vehicle began in the 1950s, when the scientist Wendell Moore created the Bell Rocket Belt.
However, Moore did not go further than not very successful tests. And despite the fact that they have been working on the creation of this aircraft for a long time, so far in no country in the world you will meet a flock of office workers flying on air backpacks. Although quite viable prototypes of the device exist and are constantly being improved.
There are two main developments: this is a jet backpack from American company Tecaerome, which so far can hover in the air for only 40 seconds, and another, the most successful project, an Airborne engineer from New Zealand Glenn Martin called Martin Jetpack. Martin began working on it back in the 1990s, and during the first test flight, he invited his wife to become a test pilot, she did not refuse. In a large hangar, the scientist fixed the backpack on a high pole so that it could move strictly along the axis up and down, without flying to the sides or above the pole, and fastened his wife to the invention. The backpack still took off, but only a couple of meters. Everything went well, my wife was not hurt.
Speed
Now such backpacks fly at a speed of 60 km / h, which is quite comparable to a car in the city. But the developers plan to accelerate the backpack to 100 km / h.
Spaciousness
The airbag is designed for one person. But if you fly past a burning building, from the window of which you fall beautiful girl, you can afford to get used to the role of Superman and save her: the satchel will withstand two adults with an average weight.
When to expect
Backpacks will be available to a wide range of users around 2018.
07. Pneumatic mail for transporting people
Hyperloop is another project of Elon Musk, who called "Hyperloop" the fifth mode of transport (the other four are water, air, road and rail). The project was introduced in 2012 as an alternative to the high-speed train between San Francisco and Los Angeles. "Hyperloop" is a system of pipelines with a diameter of 2.2 meters, located on overpasses, in which very low pressure is maintained. Capsules move along the pipelines, soaring at a short distance from the bottom of the pipe due to the injection of air into the gap and aerodynamics. It looks like a giant sleeve of pneumatic mail, only containers with people or goods will be sent through it. Accelerated by an electromagnetic pulse through a pipe, they will be able to cover 600 km in half an hour - faster than an airplane. The energy for the new type of transport will be provided by solar panels. The project has one problem - Musk himself has no time to implement it, he needs someone to take it up.
Speed
Spaciousness
The dimensions of the "Hyperloops" containers allow transporting up to 28 people.
When to expect
So far, no one has started implementing Hyperloop, but if you start, nothing will stop you from completing the project in a few years.
08. Car with vertical takeoff
A rare science fiction movie or book can do without flying cars. But when will they become reality? It turns out that work on the air car is in full swing, and one of the most promising projects is being created by the Vladimir Pirozhkov Industrial Design Center, which has built Citroen C3, C4, C5, Toyota Auris, Toyota Avensis, Toyota iQ. No matter how hard it is to believe it, about every twentieth car on the roads of the world is the work of the intellect and hands of Pirozhkov. Who, if not him, create a vertical takeoff car? “At some point, I realized that another project of a traditional car is just another place in a traffic jam,” admits Pirozhkov. He calls his dream a 3D mobile, because he moves in three dimensions. Now Pirozhkov is assembling a prototype of a 3D mobile at a scale of 1: 4.
Speed
Like a light aircraft, 200-400 km / h.
Spaciousness
Like a car.
When to expect
In twenty years.
09. Surfing in the air
A flying skateboard or hoverboard is a long-standing dream of carefree teenagers and serious and smart inventors. In the early 2000s, there was just a boom in the development of hoverboards, Western engineers issued a new model every year. But all this turned out to be a profanation, because such supposedly levitating boards were designed on the principle of a hovercraft, where powerful pumps were used as a holding mechanism in the air to collect fallen leaves. The first device, similar to a flying skate, like the protagonist Marty McFly from the movie "Back to the Future 2", was presented in 2011 by the French. Their board, called MagSurf, uses the Meissner effect to float in the air - when a magnet is bounced off a cooled superconductor and levitates. During tests, this skate really rose into the air, albeit to a small height, only 3 cm. It could fly only over superconducting steel rails. Another development, operating on the same principle, is the HENDO hoverboard. It flies too low, the battery charge lasts only for 8 minutes of flight, and this thing can only hover over a metal surface.
Speed
A fairly nimble vehicle, accelerating to 40 km / h.
Spaciousness
One or two people. Hoverboards from both manufacturers can carry up to 100 kg.
When to expect
Until you go far on such a thing, and you can't call it a full-fledged transport, it's just an attraction. Although in five years, the developers promise to present to the world a skate that will fly everywhere, and not just over metal surfaces.
10. Goodbye Gasoline
Until recently, people tried to make an electric car, at least somehow approaching gasoline cars, there was no question of competition. Before our eyes, a revolution has taken place - the Tesla Model S electric car, created by Elon Musk, is called the best car in the world. This luxury sedan accelerates to 100 kilometers per hour in 4 seconds, surpasses all gasoline cars in ergonomics and safety, and is sold better than the gasoline models of the former kings of the car market.
Musk's next car, the Tesla Model D, is on its way, and the world is being covered in a network of electric vehicles powered by the sun. “I believe all modes of transportation should be powered by electricity,” Musk says, contemplating an electric plane. After all, even if gas is burned at thermal power plants and this energy is converted into electricity, its use in an electric car gives an output of about sixty percent efficiency from gas energy. And when you burn fuel in a car engine, the efficiency is only 20%. No one has extra gas, the planet's resources must be conserved, so the cars of the future will have to be charged from the power grid.
Speed
The maximum speed of the Tesla Model D is 249 km / h.
Spaciousness
When to expect
Musk plans to release a budget electric car in 2017, but in Russia there is still a problem with a network of charging stations.
Photo: Mark Greenberg / Zuma Press / Global Look Press; Inventist.com/Ferrari Press / East News; Grigory Sysoev / TASS; Toru Yamanaka / AFP / East News; Dominic Wilcox / Exclusivepix / East News; Martin Aircraft Company Limited, EyePress News / AFP / East News; from the personal archive of V. Pirozhkov; Hendo; Nancy Pastor / Polaris / East News
Trolleybuses, trams, buses, metro, taxis - these are the means of transportation that are the main modes of transport in any city. However, the list is not limited to them. Many cities have their own options for how to deliver residents of these settlements from point A to point B. And manufacturers around the world are developing extraordinary individual vehicles. Here's about a dozen alternative generally accepted types of urban transport and will be discussed in our today's review.
In the capital of the Basque Country, a very unusual public transport has appeared - the mechanical Ramps street escalator. It was created in order to help the inhabitants of this settlement as quickly and conveniently as possible to move along the hilly streets of the Old Town of Vitoria. And to protect it from rain and snow, the entire route of this escalator is covered with a transparent glass pavilion that allows natural ventilation, but does not allow water and strong gusts of wind to pass through.
Over the years of its existence, the Segway electric scooter has become a real legend among alternative means of transportation in the city. This compact private vehicle is ideal for taking a leisurely ride through the streets, looking around and not worrying about traffic jams.
I carry everything with me! It seems that this principle was guided by the creators of the Gig Pack backpack, of which the scooter is a part. That is, this tourist attribute can not only be carried with you, but also used as a means of transportation.
A standard ferry, in our understanding of the word, must sail through rivers, lakes or straits back and forth. However, in the suburb of the Basque city of Bilbao, there is a ferry that completely breaks our stereotypes about this type of transport. It is about the Bridge of Biscay, a platform flying over the Nervion River, shuttling people and cars by air.
In 2011, a pilot version of a new urban transport - the unmanned ULTra taxi - was launched at London Heathrow Airport. The concept of this extraordinary vehicle is to drive small cabins on special isolated roads from station to station. And the automatic system prevents these machines from colliding with fences and each other.
In cities with difficult mountainous terrain, it can be very difficult to establish a system of traditional public transport. That's why you have to use funiculars, cable cars and even huge street lifts. A striking example of this is Lisbon, where the Elevador de Santa Justa elevator has existed for many years, helping residents of the Portuguese capital and guests of the city to climb the steep slope connecting the Baixa and Chiado districts.
Another "new reading" of a familiar vehicle. In South Korea, a couple of years ago, the OLEV tram was created, which does not need horns or rails to travel. It runs through the park area, where special elements are built into the sidewalks that simultaneously indicate the route and charge OLEV batteries in a contactless mode.
Haifa is a city in which there is not only the well-known underground funicular leading to Mount Carmel, but also quite unusual cable car... The fact is that the cabins of this type of air transport are very reminiscent of classic UFOs.
It turns out that cycling around the city can be combined with gatherings in the company and drinking alcoholic beverages. An example of this is the City Cycle pedal-powered bus, which is a mobile beer bar for fourteen people.
It is foolish for cities located on the banks of water bodies not to use water as a transport artery. So they decided in Toronto, where he recently appeared the new kind urban transport - the Hippo bus, which can not only ride on the ground, but also swim.
Either he stabbed me with coffee at night, or they mix something into Coldrex, with which I am being treated for a cold, or because of the cold itself, changes in consciousness occur ... In general, the night turned out to be fruitful for thinking about public transport ( specially for blogomarathon , by the way!), who is interested in the topic - I ask under the cut, I just wish everyone else good morning and have a good day!
Original - No alternative urban transport needed. A simple, complex recipe for an efficient transportation system
Instead of an introduction ...
A couple of weeks ago, a post appeared in the community "Alternative urban public transport - is there really an alternative?" Igor
tried to try on our city unusual views FROM. The author came to the pessimistic conclusion that for one reason or another, new items and simply exotic in our city will not be relevant. However, in the comments to the post, the thought slipped through that a particular species would never be a panacea for OT problems. There was also a fair, in my opinion, opinion that the key to an effective system is the reasonable use of all modes of transport. At first glance, the recipe is really simple, but the devil, as always, is in the details ... 
In the first part of this post, we will try to understand the theory, the types of OTs and their capabilities. In the second, we will try to apply the knowledge gained to the public transport system in St. Petersburg. I must say right away that I am not a world-renowned expert in the subject, I am just an amateur, so I ask you not to judge too harshly (and those who are an expert should not laugh too loudly). So, let's go!
Part 1. Theory
To begin with, I propose to immediately cut off the cars, as a kind of OT. The picture above very clearly shows how much more difficult it is to provide comfortable, in terms of speed, movement of the same number of people in the form of motorists compared to the same number, but in the form of bus passengers. And they still haven't raised the problem of parking! There are already enough cities in the world that went the wrong way "everything for cars", but then still suffocated in traffic jams and from despair moved to trams and metro (for example, Paris, Dresden, Oslo).
Now let's move on to public transport itself. I stole an illustrative diagram from City Projects: 
The picture is clear enough, but I will still voice a couple of moments. OT is sorted here not only by throughput, but also by absolute cost. It is intuitively clear that N minibuses or buses will cost several times cheaper than the metro line, and besides, they will start working immediately, and not in X years. There is also no point in building a metro if a sufficient number of people will not use them; it is very expensive to drive trains with five passengers. On the other hand, if the metro line is fully loaded (conditional 30,000 people per hour), then it will be economically more efficient than using a similar number of buses on the same route. The conclusion from this is very simple, you need to choose the type of public transport based on the planned passenger traffic. That is why we take routes or buses to the metro, and we are already flying to the city center on it, and not vice versa :-).
Therefore, in small towns, such as Pskov, from which I recently returned, there is no need to build a metro, he will simply have no one to carry there!
One more important point- ensuring the priority of OT over ordinary traffic participants (motorists, that is). In terms of comfort, all types of OT will always be inferior to a personal car. Therefore, it is necessary to make sure that buses, trams, metro win in terms of travel speed and cost of travel. Here we must not be afraid to put a spoke in the wheels of motorists. Need a high speed tram? No problem, we will make rails in the center of the street, and even so that it was impossible to drive on them!. Bus or trolleybus? It doesn't matter, let's draw a highlighted strip! OT lanes occupied by improperly parked cars? We will increase the fines and introduce paid parking (or, in general, we will make the entrance to the center for money!). Thus, on the one hand, we will increase the attractiveness of transport, and on the other, we will load it with passengers who bring money.
At this point, we will finish with the theory, I will voice the conclusions again:
- The type of transport must correspond to the planned passenger traffic. For main directions - metro, tram in a dedicated lane. For travel within the area - buses.
- Public transport should be prioritized over personal transport. There is no need to be afraid of infringing on the rights of motorists, they will turn a little and still get into a comfortable tram :-).
In St. Petersburg, in one form or another, almost all types of OTs from the picture above are present. So far, it has not worked out only with the "steep tram", the third route mentioned many times in the community, although it has new rolling stock, does not have a dedicated line (and dense car traffic on Sadovaya can easily eat up all the advantages of a high-speed tram). On the one hand, this is sad, but on the other - great excuse create new routes from scratch.
To begin with, I propose to take a look at the maps of the metro and tram routes in St. Petersburg.
Tram (click more):
And the metro: 
On the metro map, as you can see, I made a few notes. A large question mark means for me an area of the city in which I do not plan to live or work in the near future, and in general I try not to appear in it unless absolutely necessary. Why? Because hell knows how to get there without a car. There is no metro there and is not planned for the coming decades. There is a tram, but only from the side of the Nevsky District. You understand that it’s not cool to go from Primorsky District to Ladozhskaya, and only then - by tram.
The northern districts of the city are marked with green jackdaws because thanks to the developed (and most importantly, almost everywhere isolated from the road) tram system from the purple metro line, you can relatively quickly get to the blue and red ones. For the same reason, instead of jackdaws, there are question marks in the southern part of the city. There, such a trick is impossible. Of course, in the districts there are enough buses and minibuses connecting those districts, but they are not isolated from the general traffic in any way, and during rush hours they get into congestion. And their carrying capacity is less than that of a tram. Why is it important to connect the metro lines in the south? I think this should help the infamous southwestern district of the city, which is home to the busiest metro station in Russia - Veteranov Avenue. In this way, residents of the district will be able to immediately get to the metro line they need, and not go to the center and make a change. In theory, an additional metro line will be able to solve this problem. But this is in theory, but in reality the metro takes a long time to build, but it costs a lot. And the priorities are now for the construction of other stations.
It seems to me that a high-speed tram would be able to solve both of these major problems and a few more local ones. For example, I am also very upset that the third route is too short, especially since there are rails for it, but they are not used yet. It seems to me that extending the route to Gorkovskaya would make sense (as an option - and further, to Finland Station). True, in order for it to make sense, you will have to deal with the problem of incorrectly parked cars on the section of Sadovaya Street immediately after Nevsky Prospekt, and possibly on other streets, this one is simply too revealing and immediately came to mind. Even in spite of prohibitory signs, cars are still abandoned like on the sidewalks, forcing driving motorists to shift onto tram tracks. Here, the "punitive" measures described earlier will come in very handy, fewer cars in the center - fewer problems for public transport. It will also be necessary to isolate the tram tracks on Troitsky and Liteiny bridges from cars. Why? Yes, that's why. 
So, based on all of the above, I would supplement the tram scheme in St. Petersburg as follows (it is clear that this is all very conditional, in any place there may be insurmountable obstacles of various kinds. 
This scheme also does not pretend to solve all the problems at once, and does not mean at all that with the introduction of two new routes there will be no problems in the transport system. The following points cannot be overlooked:
- With regard to trams, try to find places where the tram is not isolated from the flow, and in which this reduces its speed. Vasilievsky Island and Bolshoi Samsponievsky Prospect come to mind. At rush hour, the tram in these areas does not seem to be public transport, but a large dull iron coffin in which you can die of boredom while it gets somewhere.
- Buses and stuff. Obviously, it will be necessary to adjust some routes so that they can bring / pick up passengers not only to the metro, but also to tram stops of "mainline" trams.
At this point I will probably end. I propose to continue the discussion in the comments. Thank you so much for reading up to this point!