Schweeb: Is The Human-Powered Monorail The Transportation Of The Future? (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

The Schweeb, the world's only human powered monorail, is a futuristic attempt at eco-friendly transportation. These pedal powered pods resemble a recumbent bicycle but ride much more rapidly and require only fifty percent of the energy necessary to power a racing bicycle. The Schweeb is currently only used as a racing vehicle at the Schweeb campus in New Zealand. But get your pedals into gear because the Schweeb could be migrating to a city near you soon.

Treehugger quotes Schweeb inventor Geoffrey Barnett:

The result is the most efficient vehicle on earth, the most inexpensive infrastructure of any proposed urban transit and one of the highest capacity systems available - potentially delivering thousand's of people per hour in a very small airspace. All this with zero carbon emissions and no parking worries or cost!

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Two riders pedal the human powered monorail.

Watch this profile of the Schweeb.

Comments

[dreadylocks]

Yeah but what if you get stuck behind a slow person? No way to go around....

[Progress08]

They could wire it into the power grid and install solar panels on top of and have terminal stations. It's got to be cheaper than building a rail network and overall cheaper than a bussing system, plus you can participate at your leisure rather than waitin around. If, instead of pedal power the pods ran 50 watt engines that put them up 15 mph you could get around quite easily in most mid-sized cities where more people commute from the suburbs. If there were any mechanical or motor failure you could run parallel lines (say three wide) and have switch points interspersed on the line.

[BabblingBrooks]

Since there were 3000 record LOW temps set in the USA in July, perhaps we should be planning ahead for global cooling.

I know, one summer does not make a swallow, or something like that.

[Poyda]

And 12,000 record HIGH temps set in the USA in July. But, who cares about making up statistics like a babbling twit, when the thought of never ending mid-eastern oil dependence at ever increasing prices sounds so darn delicious.

[BabblingBrooks]

Might be semi-fun for a couple miles. But the transportation of the future?

C'est de rire, mon ami!

[quasar]

Looks uncomfortable. Make a good amusement park ride though.

[Tony Rusi]

http://home.comcast.net/~jeff_wills/vector/vector.htm

If you really want to make this schweeb idea sing join the IHPVA. The Vector went 65 mph in the 80's.

The greenspeed is pretty close

http://www.greenspeed.com.au/Glyde.htm

http://www.go-one.us/

http://www.aerorider.com/

http://www.leitra.dk/news.php

http://www.blueskydsn.com/kit.html

[Whycee54]

So what happens if the pod in front of you doesn't go fast enough? Then you are going to have Schweeb rage and such! TSK TSK TSK.

[bangagong]

Can't pass? Top speed would be the speed of the slowest peddler. In some groups the only guy peddling would be the one in back. Put a cowl on a bike.

[Crass Innuendo]

Laboratory mice and pet hamsters the world over are laughing..­.

[verticallychallenged]

Flintstones, meet the Jetsons...­.

[notreallyabadguy]

nice one.

[JimBozo]

Seconded!

[dreadylocks]

upvote

[mioffe]

Entertainment could be like this. Sport needs more freedom from each others.
In this case one person could be a problem for hundreds.
Transportation must be electrical movement of small cart by road, completely automated on road without intersection.

[TryToBeFlexible]

Yuck, here in Florida, they would be 140 degrees inside on hot sunny days, would stink to high heaven, as would you by the time you got to work. Can't take toddlers to drop them off on the way. Load it up with heavy groceries, and you would have a heart attack by the time you go home. What happens when you are halfway home, and your toe-blisters become unbearable?

What a joke. You are kidding, right?

[doctorwang]

Good point- in Phoenix it typically hits 110 during the summer. I can envision people passing out and frying in these tubes- literally.

[paulbikes]

I'm a little mixed on this one, but i definitely like it. Take the most efficient human powered vehicle, the recumbent bicycle, and drastically reduce both rolling and air resistance. Pretty neat, ill stick to my road bike for now, but maybe someday...

[DrJohnnySkeptic]

There's something similar to this in the opening sequence of "Futurama".

[JScott]

and some of the other rides I've seen at other amusement parks.