Well, here is the system my son and I developed one day on the OKW / AK Bus (and followed it up with a proposed route): 2, 4 and 8 Seat automated Pod transporters.
There would be a few different "Lines". Each Line would have "Spur's" which lead off to Parks, Hotels, Water Park's etc.
Practical Strategy:
The obstacles we saw:
Advantages:
Certainly will not happen tomorrow, but, it was fun dreaming up!
- No pilot / driver - they run by themselves using the recent "Driverless Car" technology being built by Google (and others).
- They would not run on roads. Rather, they would run on newly created asphalt "Pod Path's".
- Top speed about 35 MPH.
- They would run 24 Hours a day.
- As you entered the Pod, an operator would key a Code Number corresponding to your destination, and, off you go.
There would be a few different "Lines". Each Line would have "Spur's" which lead off to Parks, Hotels, Water Park's etc.
- Main Line: Would be the backbone of the system. It would run from the TTC south down World Drive. Spurs would serve:
- Boardwalk / Beach Club / Dolphin Swan
- Coronado Springs
- Studio's
- Wild World of Sports
- Southern Line: Would run East/West along the South portion of the property. It would intersect with the Main Line on the Southern part of the Studio's It would serve:
- Downtown Disney
- Typhoon Lagoon
- Caribbean Beach Resort
- Studios
- Pop Century
- Blizzard Beach
- All Stars
- Animal Kingdom
- Animal Kingdom Lodge
- Central Line: Would run East/West along the middle portion of the property. It would intersect with the Main Line just north of Epcot. Spurs would serve:
- Epcot
- Port Orleans
- Old Key West
- Treehouses
- Saratoga
- Northern Line: Would run East/West along the Northern portion of the property. It would intersect with the Main Line at the TTC. Spurs would serve:
- Shades of Green
- Golf Course Complex
- Race Track
- Wilderness Lodge
- Campgrounds
- Connectors:
- North / South Connector: A small line running North/South from the Southern Line (starting at the Caribbean) up Epcot Center Drive to the Central Line. The purpose is to shorten the distance and relieve congestion from Downtown Disney to points North. This actually could be taken further north to pass Port Orleans and up to the Northern Line at the Campground.
- AK Connector: We also debated a second Connector which would run North-East from Animal Kingdom to the Main-Line / Central Line intersection. Thus shortening the path from the MK / Epcot to the Animal Kingdom. If you did build this connection you could argue that a spur to Coronado would be good - as the line would run just north of that Resort.
Practical Strategy:
- Each Pod Path would:
- Have a minimum of 6 lanes for the majority of the lines: 2 Lanes dedicated for each direction of travel (example: 2 lanes East and 2 lanes West).
- You also would need 2 lanes dedicated for Maintenance to rescue stranded Pods.
- The Main-Line may need 8 to 10 lanes.
- You may need an "Emergency Button" that would divert the Pod to the next available Spur. Let's say somebody is having a Heart Attack.
- Broken down units would "radio in" automatically. For redundancy you would also need Intercoms to talk to a "Dispatcher" if the thing broke down.
- We decided our "Maintenance and Central Shop" would be near the TTC at the old runway which is being used for Truck / Bus / Equipment storage. You may have other smaller shops at different locations - for example: Wild World of Sports or near the intersection of the Main Line and Central Line.
- You might allow for one re-route. AKA: Whoops - forgot Tickets and Wallet in the room! You would have to limit somehow or people would be joy-riding all day.
- Empty units would be sent to destinations with high demand automatically.
The obstacles we saw:
- Expensive system to develop and maintain. I think you would have to Charge folks for their use.
- Ton's of Bridges would have to be built. I think we decided at least 25 would have to be created - we had an exact count based upon our proposed routes, but, can't remember.
- Certainly the new Pod Path's would need to be developed - I think we determined about 35 miles worth of new Road.
- Certainly there would be Supply / Demand issues during peak hours.
- During non-peak hours you would have to find a place to stash the 1000's of idle vehicles. Maybe on little "access spurs?"
- Would have to have A/C - would drive up the Energy demand.
- Privacy leads to vandalism: People writing on the seats, wall's etc. May need a security camera inside! You may have to require a ID and Credit Card to ride - review tapes for those responsible. You would sign-up for the feature at Resorts at check-in and other select locations.
- Do you require an adult to be present for kids under xx years?
- How much Swamp land are we traipsing over? Not sure.
Advantages:
- You can literally go from anywhere to anywhere.
- Extremely easy to expand the system for new Hotels / Parks / etc.
- Certainly more flexible then dedicated Monorail or Light Rail track.
- Despite the Swamp Ground issue - we could see see clear and identifiable paths for the large majority of our routing. There would be little disruption to existing infrastructure. But, there were a few potential obstacles (Central Line down Disney Vacation Club Way was one example.).
- A new revenue stream!
- Charge Folks a usage fee!
- Sponsors / Partners like Chevy may be all over it.
- Featured Video ad's in the vehicle.
- As cool as monorails!
- Cutting edge, and, could qualify for Federal Investment.
Certainly will not happen tomorrow, but, it was fun dreaming up!
