OwenAug 14, 2023
Genius explanation of congestion and marginal trips.
Show thread🚲Aug 14, 2023
@owen @sanae This makes me wonder if there have ever been any interesting experiments in public transit but for stuff. A lot of things need to move around a city, and some of the same arguments for it being inefficient for humans to travel by car still hold for things too.
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A cursory look into this reveals the burgeoning field of “freight on transit” which seems to mostly be patents and papers at the moment, with a couple exceptions (like the Zurich trash tram).

I wonder about bespoke goods transportation too. Obviously trains within cities exist, and there have been some elaborate vacuum tube networks in small areas before. Has anyone built a network of tiny tunnels for delivery robots, for example? What wacky stuff is out there?

Aug 14, 2023 at 5:25pmWeb
Show threadDan MillerAug 14, 2023
@dx If sidewalks count, there's stuff like this, although I think adoption has slowed down recently (don't quote me on that, though). https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2021/11/05/the-future-of-delivery-robots/?sh=24a148837337
The Future Of Delivery Robots

Delivery robots – just a few years ago, the stuff of pure science fiction – are now very much a reality and quickly becoming a part of everyday life for many of us. In fact, I will usually come across five or six when I go for an evening jog in my hometown of Milton Keynes, England!

Forbes