People Mover Comparison
| Features |
FlyRails |
Ground |
Monorail |
| Commute Time |
Stations are on a 1 km grid so it is less than a 1 km walk to any station. Since there is one person per vehicle
there is no stopping for other people. Commuters don't stop until until they reach their destination. No waiting
for transfers. No waiting for the train to arrive. Commuters don't wait for the vehicle ... vehicles wait for the commuter. |
During peak commute times ground traffic grinds to a halt. At peak commute times the average car speed is
13 km/h in Bangkok while busses average 7 km/h. In London commuters had faster commutes in the horse-and-buggy days. |
Frequent stops add to commute times. Because there are so few stations much of the commute time is spent getting
to the station using slow ground vehicles. Also, commuters must wait for the next train which can take over 7 minutes.
A transfer to a different line can also take over 7 minutes. |
| Comfort |
No bumps, only smooth and quiet. No dizzying switchbacks and stop-and-go traffic.
Shortest commute possible: no stops! Easy neighborhood walk to the station. |
Subject to bumpy roads, hairpin curves, noisy traffic, and tedious driving in high traffic.
Long waits sitting in traffic is boring and tedious. Long waits and accidents cause can
cause great discomfort. |
Relatively quiet and smooth but getting to a station using ground traffic is not so comfortable. Also
waiting for trains to arrive in huge crowds can be quite discomforting.
|
| Maintenance |
Vehicles and rails are easily maintained. Infrastructure not affected by weather or flooding.
Failure of a single vehicle does not dramatically affect system performance. |
Vehicles, especially on bad roads, are subject to failure and traffic accidents. Roads fall apart in the
cold or extreme heat, and water causes erosion.
Flooding can cause big maintenance issues. |
Relatively low-cost maintenance. Failure of a single vehicle is expensive and can bring down the entire line.
Maintenance must be more rigorous due to safety issues.
|
| Aesthetic |
Unobtrusive, small, and blends into the neighborhood. Very quiet. Views of neighborhoods from the
20-foot high vehicle. Does not require removal of plant life or neighborhood buildings.
|
Obtrusive, noisy, polluting, and dusty. Construction requires the destruction of landscaping and culturally
important Neighborhood buildings. Blocks views and separates neighborhoods.
|
Huge overhead pillars and tracks darken neighborhoods. Construction requires removal of plant life and historical buildings. |
| Environmental |
Very low impact. No soil erosion and very little impact on plant and animal life. Tiny footprint: 6 inch radius pole
every 30 feet ... similar to power poles. Small non-polluting vehicles. Human powered vehicles possible. Totally eco-friendly |
High impact, huge footprint. Lots of soil erosion especially in wet climates. 5 to 30 foot strip eliminates plant life
and blocks and kills animals and severs neighborhoods. Allows all kinds of polluting vehicles. Massive concrete
use generates greenhouse gas emission and ground-level smog. In the U.S., on average, 1/3 of a city's land is
used for roads and other car-related essentials!
|
Huge impact on neighborhood during construction. Uses massive amounts of concrete a major contributor to global
warming. Low-polluting vehicles. |
| Cost |
FlyRails are inexpensive and don't require expensive soil and drainage preparation. Land clearing is not necessary.
The shortest route can be used. Low rail maintenance cost. Small footprint means less expensive land costs.
Modular construction keeps labor costs low. Build only what you can afford; easy to expand later.
Commuters no longer
have the expense of maintaining a private vehicle. |
Roads use huge amounts of expensive asphalt or concrete with rebar. Expensive soil and drainage preparation.
Big footprint requires high preparation costs and uses lots of valuable real estate (1/3 of a city's land). High
maintenance costs. Labor intense construction. Expensive road building equipment.
|
Big initial cost outlay. Lots of expensive concrete and rails. Long construction time requiring expensive removal
of existing homes and businesses. Requires expensive construction equipment and skilled labor.
|
| Traffic |
Does not interfere with ground or pedestrian traffic. Easy to navigate even narrow busy urban routes without stopping.
Stations are on a 1 km. grid, all within walking distance. Amazingly, a single FlyRails line can move as many people as a 3-lane freeway! |
Interferes with everything. Puts pedestrians, bicycles, and all ground vehicles at risk. 1.2 million deaths/year
from vehicle accidents ... 5 times that of wars. Navigating vehicles in high traffic is difficult, slow, dangerous and tedious.
|
Except for the large pillars does not interfere with ground or pedestrian traffic. Extremely safe ... one fatality
in the 20th century. Because there are so few stations ground traffic is still required to get commuters to the stations. |