Levitated Rail Line

Do you hate traffic? Do you wish that the public transportation was better where you live?

If there was a transportation system that could be built quickly with little disruption of current urban geography, while running with almost ninja like stealth upon completion, would you push for it to be built?

Well get ready to push, because I have the answer to many of the problems surrounding public transportation systems: dirigibles on guide wires. Let's call it, "levitated rail system" or "LRS."

A dirigible is an airship with a hard shell. The hard shell prevents the airship's shape from being altered by winds/air resistance, allowing the dirigible to fly faster and be built larger than a blimp.

I have used Los Angeles as an example, because we all know that Los Angeles has the most pathetic public transportation system of any major city.

These are the factors that I have identified that seem to have shaped the worthless Los Angeles public transportation system: geography, budget, public resistance, and corporate greed.

Geography: Los Angeles is subject to constant earthquakes. The levitated rail system would not carry the same dangers as any kind of actual railways traveling underground or on elevated rails. If there is an earthquake and any of the cabling breaks, the dirigibles will simply float up and away from the danger on the ground, to be piloted either manually or by remote control back to earth after the incident.

Budget: The LRS would cost less in the end because the infrastructure would be much simpler and easier to construct than any kind of traditional rail system. There would be no digging underground, no major demolition, and no building long stretches of elevated concrete structures. Towers to support the guild cables similar to cell phone towers and the cabling between them along with stations are the basic construction needs. Moreover, the budget can be offset by advertising sales and leasing space on the towers to cell phone companies.

Public Resistance: Since building this system would require very little intrusion into the existing urban landscape and would be very quiet and unintrusive in it's operation there will not be the kind of public resistance that would come along with the prospect of people being moved from their homes by virtue of eminent domain and other people finding a noisy, screeching train running next to or over their house. Furthermore, at this time most of the people in areas like Santa Monica who fought so heartily to stop any kind of rail from coming to their neighborhood, have either died or realized that they would be much better off if people rode a train to get to the beach rather than drive.

Corporate Greed: All the companies who in years past did everything in their power to hinder and destroy public transportation can no longer afford to open or subversive actions against public transportation or any other thing deemed good for the environment. In fact, many of these same companies may be enticed into funding the new system.

This system would be a good thing all around. And, even thought a city like Los Angeles doesn't really need more help with tourism, it would definitely be another tourist attraction for Los Angeles or something that would put any other city on the map.

This is what my LRS coverage map for Los Angeles would look like. Let's do it!