Google gave the Shweeb $1,000,000.

What are your testosterone levels at they gotta be really low

This is like a bad dream about the Sinclair C5 meeting the Simpson's "Monorail" Guy...a fun park is about right for this...

the idea could still work ala a scsi scheduling app and all electric motors and robotic switching

@nevan o'connell looks like I’m not the only one

This may sound creepy but my brother spotted what we both thought was you in town and we waited for an NZ video to confirm

The sweet is still fun though

You can't forget "Cars, but literally no improvement"

There is an inane obsession of tech bros with pods. They watched too mutch jetsons or something.

@Bane That's a fair point, but none of the cities I've lived in have had good enough transit that going car-free was practical. Not to mention the problem of how to evacuate if there's a natural disaster.

@MxBirdnose If you live near work, you'll probably pay more, but if you don't own a car it'll balance out. An average payment for a used car seems to be around $500/month. Say I got a cheaper one but then added insurance and upkeep, it'd be ~$600. In my area (suburb kinda far out from Washington D.C.), a 1 bed/1 bath apartment costs ~$1800/month. If I moved to an area where many tech employers are, it'd be around ~$2050/month. So, even after adding $150/month of bus or Metro fees, it'd be cheaper to live close to work as long as I don't own a car.

@Derva Kommt von hinten People hear cool words and will just repeat them before checking what they mean

how is it low-key? he very explicity said that this invention was garbage xD

Thing got a million dollars when it literally has the worst cons of both bikes and trains and clearly wasn't the future of transport. I'd be angry too

@mvwilHe wouldn’t have to hate them if they weren’t pointless and obstructive

You don't hear about it, you just wander around and it finds you. Or you can just follow the distant screams

Maybe it's cause it's so close to Rotorua?

Same but like now I wanna go on it.

You gotta give it a shot mate

Just... don't meet him off camera.

@AaaaNinja These days, it often is.

You make it sound like it's a great accomplishment for people to be people.

that's just any british narrator

Oh wow you should be a critic.

Walking or having a zoo with bikes/high platforms would be way easier

Going over an area at your own speed and leisure whilst getting a nice view ... GOLF CART!

*Jurassic Park theme plays in the distance*

@Tyiriel i was thinking of people trying to go across a cliff or over streams and stuff

@AbyssEyes Bigger brain idea: Build a high walkway and let people walk to sightsee what they want on a path.

"RAMMING SPEED!" About a day later "we gather here to mourn the loss of John Arthur Scott, who died at 36 in a tragic Schweeb accident."

Wish we could do this with bikes. And people.

@tommy karrick It really is such a wild idea that I wish Scott had remarked on more. Imagine the cries of "Ramming speed!"

Now if only i could do that to slow walkers in front of me

In New Zealand there a road signs telling you to get out the way and pull over if a faster car is behind you. Fantastic imho

@Alex From Google? Probably found the one suit there who still had an idea of "fun" and said "Ramming speed!"

@Winjin still fetched a million...i wonder how

No! walking is one of your main competitors, Shweeb! and it's got you hard beat with overtaking alone! Why draw attention to the possibility of just walking to wherever the Shweeb station is?

"Stop making Shweeb happen; its' not going to happen"

GoPro's (or a similar competitor) have ever so more awesome stabilisation.

@xxxtensioncord There are plenty of other rider-controlled attractions that work just fine and don't have that problem. You just have to time the releases, so that people don't bump into each other much.

@Pierce Johnson Wow! I bet you're fun at parties...

Yes, but it takes longer and is limited to certain design requirements of foot paths, whereas this would be more for riding over sections of the park that would work well for footpaths, or driving around park features to show them off in a more integrated and interesting way. This would be more of a hybrid ride/single person transit, like gondolas between park sections, but able to move much faster with more curves more like a pedal powered roller coaster.

Feet work great too for those who are able

@xxxtensioncord On this note, I'm curious how hard the proposed physical impact on slower pods would be when faster pods ram into them. Would Granny be okay if someone ran into her pod?

@Дмитрий П. Folks in Africa wouldn't want to spend the money constructing the monorail railway when they could just pave a road and use it for bicycles, motorbikes, golf carts, and the occasional automobile. The road would be less money and have more uses.

Look, its a monorail Doesnt matter how cheap it would be, its a linear line. Its like bike but now its hanging and you could get stuck in traffic. At best it would be like a sliding hanger

@Abi Gail monorails, gondolas, elevated tram ways === price. price and price. you can put this (steel rails + cabin at 1/10 of any high tech) it's like "i do not need a bicycle cause we have car", yes, sure... you do not need but some people in Africa/Arabs/India do want to have cheap bicycles

@Abi Gail monorails, gondolas and elevated tram ways all have higher construction costs and running costs, for a cheap local wildlife exploring solution these could fill that gap

@Abi Gail That's not as fun. And more boring for kids since they can't race one another.

@SharienGaming lmao. Someones never heard of induced demand

@Hubris Inc Adam something really thinks that putting some fuckin Choo choos in the city will make us a type II civilization

@Patrick O "Oh no, car traffic and car deaths, who could've seen this coming? Wait, what's global warming?"

@Rob Schellinger that's a perfectly cromulent word.

damn it, invented the train again

@Mister Dayne Oh my gosh that gave me an idea! Remember the Tom Scott video of the aerial bucket way? When they decommission it, they should put a modified Schweeb where the people going down assist the people going up. It's brilliant!

It could be a simple way of getting from A to B between points in a massive wooded area or something. Rather than wandering through nature, why not get there 12 times faster and glide through the trees, slalom style

I've been on it before, and I can assure you that it is not a "minimal amount of exercise"!

Family ones need multiple race tracks, like the kids RC cars. Like four parallels to race each other. Except I'm not sure how corners would work, as the shoulders will be wildly different in length.

imagine these high in the air around like a mountain or a body of water

@Safe-Keeper That isn't impossible. If you can do that, you would qualify for the tour de' france but not necessarily win. n

@Cornelius the Crow Tamer try going 60 kmh on a regular bike. But you can deliberately not get it if you want to, of course.

​@Eoin Doyle Have them run partially electric so that there is never more than a small speed difference between pods, when they collide the rear pod should only be going maybe 5mph faster than the front one. being able to form trains on the fly but still run individually as needed is by far the best unique feature here, something that cannot be accomplished with cars, bikes, or actual trains. since everything is moving together, there should never be a rush hour/traffic jam situation unless the system is malfunctioning.

@AStupidlyLongNameThatsLongerThanMyPreviousNameLolz Unless you've been on it, you don't know... ;)

@Udi Shomer For larger cities, yes. But for smaller cities, towns and villages, liquid fueled cars are the only practical option. You're not going to get on your ebike and ride it 100km at 25km/h. Especially if your ebike battery can only do about 50km range anyway. I have an electric car, and I have just upgraded my bike to an ebike... And while these are great for my smaller trips, and have saved thousands of dollars in fuel, they're not a one-size-fits-all solution.

@Udi Shomer not to mention how comfortable long distsnce trains are. Id much rathsr be in a diner csr than esting mcdonalds in an suv

@Zynel cars are the most inefficient form of ground transport, both in terms of cost per km/mile, and in term of externalities (pollution, noise, danger to other road users, co2 emissions, use of public space). Buses, Metro systems, trams, bicycles, e-bikes, trains and walking are all much more efficient.

@Levin how so? Not attacking you, just want to hear your take.

@Seph Reed cars are objectively poor forms of transport

@Chaosvolt there are nation states other than the USA, bike lanes exist

@John Roach He turned millions into more than a hundred billion..

@Vera Tabbynx Ah but the self driving disables itself shorty before an accident so all issues are down to the driver /s

@Alucard maybe Elon could buy the Schweeb and waterproof it and provide it as an unsolicited craft for underwater rescue and insinuate that actual professional rescuers are pedophiles when he doesn't get his way for something he wasn't asked to participate in

@KasimirFreeman Those sound like great policies! He should also legalize murder while he's at it. (He might as well)

I'm absolutely Shweebing about this!

Peak comedy.

Shweeb, formerly Chuck.

*grunts* Take my like, damnit. XDD

Time to get Shweebty! - rick

@Pierce Johnson If it's not up to spec, sure I guess.

Is there a chance the track could bend?

'e be one o' us now!

That, and the rollercoaster kick.

@Vitor de LimaIt’s just such a shame that they’re pretending it’s a form of transport.

@PhysicsGamer it's just small problem and it's solvable. like trains work (they also can not "hit each other"), same here: some electrofield -> if cab in 5 metres from another -> it triggers brakes. the question is price: if you do it "perfect" how much cheaper it will than monorails or other solutions.

There's also the rather glaringly unsolved problem of what happens if you slam into someone at speed. Bike collisions can _hurt_ and this thing is meant to go faster than most people on bikes...

@M M 1. Bike lanes keep bikes safe from cars. 2. As for not worrying about maintenance, a normal utility bike needs literally 0 (not exaggerated) maintanance (except for flat tires) so there's nothing to worry about. With the Shweeb however, since a single broken unit causes the entire line to jam, you need to worry about the maintenance of every single unit on the line. Not being able to overtake makes other unit's failure YOUR problem too. Not so for bikes. 3. As for worrying about the weather when riding a bicycle, well, as my mom used to say, you're not made of sugar, you won't melt in the rain :) 4. The 'not worrying about your bike being stolen' is a fair point, altough I would worry a Shweeb would become target of vandalism, since it'd be relatively easy to disable the entire line

@velox Keeps riders safe from cars, protects riders from inclement weather and poor road conditions, and allows riders to not have to worry about maintenance or their bike breaking down (tires, gears, etc) or their bike being stolen. I think university campuses would be a great place for something like this. My biggest concern is how safe is it from someone actively trying to open it from the inside in a dangerous place and conversely how easy is it for someone to exit in the case of an emergency?

And reckless spending like that is why they have to fire tens of thousands of people (also their core product is now garbage)

Turns out they were just looking for the future of amusement park rides. With that much money to spare, it's worth it.

That or it's a corporate income tax writeoff.

It worked in Secret of Mana, it worked in Super Mario 64, how much more proof do we need?

Mostly because it tears your skin off but people that make a big deal out of that just hate fun

@Marten different cultures sadly, and if it prevented even one fatal accident a year it'd be worth it with how much people try to get over on businesses and government

@Axion I agree that the whole traffic situation needs to be taken into consideration. But that's definitely possible. Here in The Netherlands we quite a few university campuses where thousands of students cycle on any given day and site traffic is extremely minimal and mostly seperated and at slow speeds. Risks for cyclists is very minimal, while throughput is huge and the costs for the university are also very low.

@Marten it's safer than a bike and removes the getting hit by site traffic equation

Hmm, Still doubt it. Like Tom said in the video: it doesn't really have any benefits over a regular bike path. In theory it might go a bit faster than a bike, but not by a whole lot (modern e-bikes can go 40 km/h) and I doubt it will be beneficial when you count the time you need to get to a station, wait for a pod, get on and off, etc

@littlejack Ramming speed!

Have to be highly elevated so that the animals can't reach it. Trying to pedal away with little human noodle legs won't cut it when an elephant decides to reach up and investigate the cab.

@P00p00face1234 Yes but the idea is that dedicated bike infrastructure while increasing safety would also be cheaper to build and maintain and would be just more accessible to everyone.

So, like a train you pedal.

@ａｎｏ ｎｙｍ For a sea-faring creature, maybe. Terrestrial folk with any shred of dignity should dissolve back into the ground again.

@P00p00face1234 If a city has actual infrastructure for biking - i.e. Dedicated bike lanes which are physically separated from traffic - on the other hand...

@DarkIzo Going to my lectures on that thing would be incredibly fun

@Vitor de Lima The thing about this sort of project is that as you fix the problems with it, in short order you end up with either a bike or a train. Maybe a gondela/cable car if you intend to use it in certain Very specific niches.

Near where I grew up there is a small theme park that has a small, two person per car, pedal monorail. It's geared down a long way so it's very slow, but suitable for children. It goes out over some of the theme park and then returns.

@Mileyard Gigahertz But that's where slow and quick lanes would come in. Setting up a combined 4 lane (2 quick & 2 slow - 1 of each going in both directions) rail would even allow you to swerve people into the other lane if something breaks down somewhere on a track. Just have contingencies mostly. It's nice and fun to talk to about biking - but if nobody is going to do it, this is the next best thing we can reliably PUSH on people. Being rural sucks when you get neither though of course too!

or for getting around medium to large sizes campus

Looks like there's two lines next to each other.

@Jons LG "Subways but above roads" is just streetcars.

@jonslg240 You literally described public transport... just use the train goofy

I could see it on a zoo or a national park, a long ride with a tour in front and the end. Sure Chairlifts exist and are probably a more calm option but this could be fun.

@Jons LG Did you even watch the video. This, and ALL systems even remotely similar to it where you have "individual pods", literally WILL NOT WORK. Imagine being in rush hour traffic, but it is physically impossible to change lanes. That's what systems like this would boil down to if it were to "replace cars" as you think this would do. Working from home is doing more for replacing cars than these "revolutions to transportation" ever will.

These would be nice in the alps as a ride..without peddling.

Mono.......Doh!!!!

@Tjena Donn *golf claps admirably*

This one in particular had been there twice

@Ozma It glides as softly as a cloud

I think like 6

I'm glad they didn't do another take.

@Ryan Payne At XCOR I put serious design effort into how I would skydive from the Lynx rocket plane from 100 km up, including subscale drop tests of spacesuited models with a wingsuit and "unicorn horn" shock spike on the helmet. Damn shame we went out of business before we got it flying.

@Ryan Payne I would ride that

@tinwatchman "Sauntered vaguely downward."

If anything, that makes it stand out for me as a brilliant and cheap carnival ride. No one would stop the clock for an actual transit system like this, but it literally screams amusement park to me.

@N T Yep, I see what you did there 😁 Thing is, a trolley bus (or any bus really) runs on it's own schedule... or, in my area at least, doesn't run on the schedule that it claims to. The personal pod idea means no waiting in the rain for a bus that's full, or late, or never turns up at all.

Well no because not everybody likes to ride bikes... far from it.

@Slartibartfast tynsol And then because an individual pod is not very efficient, let's put more people in it. It would need to run along a set series of stations, or just stops, that would be distributed around the city, and it would have to have accommodations for people who need to go elsewhere, so let's have a few lines of them. Oh wait, that's a trolley bus.

Where I live there are bike lanes. I have a bike. It even has electric pedal assist. My office is less than 10km from my front door. Even so, I drive most of the time. Am I just a lazy person? Possibly, but in my defense I did try it. Arriving for a day in the office dripping sweat is not great. There are showers, but not many, and no lockers so even if I get de-stinked I'll have a pongy bag under my desk. Even leaving that to one side, most people will jump in the car when the clouds leak. The idea of a personal pod for commuting - cheap and simple and weather proof - has appeal. Something like this but on wheels (probably 3 or 4), not rails, and powered externally (tram style pickups?) could be a winner. Could be arranged so there are powered sections that give you height, then you coast to the next one. Just a thought...

@PenguinSushi you can definitely have a ton of bike lanes that don't connect. And it wouldn't work

As well as being in control, it also probably helps that he's in a supine position and the down slopes never exceed 10-20 degrees. Apart from Alpine coasters, the closest "proper" roller coaster I can think of like this is Air/Galactica at Alton Towers.

@pyropulse and thats why he probly gives great hugs

I'd say a big part of it is he knows he's in control of that, in a coaster you just sit down and strap in.

Monorail vs roller coaster? Hardly the same thing.

@Christa Nice On that wildly swinging thing in the video, I'd be quite worried about eating one of the posts supporting the rails if I'm honest

Why didn't they buy a few hundred velomobiles, and worked with local governments to build a fast bicycle network? Velomobiles go fast, can go anywhere, make your employees healthier, and it could turn the disasterous money pit of US urban planning into something maintainable. All the money saved, compared to company cars and fuel, could finance facilities like parkings and repair shops.

@Matthew C Thats like 4-5 google engineer's yearly salary.

At its completion at a cost of $83 million in January 1943, the Pentagon was the world's largest office building, covering 29 acres (12 hectares)-including a 5-acre (2-hectare) central court-and Chief of staff "God dam it where's the president gone again" Aid- "he doing another lab of the 7 floor"

I'm not sure if they have kept this since the addition of electric pedal assist, but they kept a weekly and all time leaderboard of lap times here. Being based in Rotorua, a mecca for mountain bikers, you'd often see big names in the sport fighting for top spot after visiting the town for races/events

Probably wanted a track at the office to ride around in. Could you imagine the Apple building encircled by these tracks?