By Charles Carter, 31/10/22
Bulgarian transport design studio Half Company has developed an urban mobility concept that comprises a network of mini, single-person cable cars or ‘pods’ moved around by autonomous bots.
The company says the system, called Halfgrid, creates a better urban environment by freeing up street level for pedestrians, as well as reducing congestion, noise and pollution from cars.
How does it work?
Static steel cables are installed in a grid system mainly above streets in mid to large sized cities.
Individual person-sized pods are booked from A to B via an app and autonomous bots move the pods across the cable network.
An AI orchestrates the fleet of pods ensuring optimal routing and positioning of pods.
Multiple pod stations are situated across the network to move people from ground level to join the cable network overhead.
As well a single-person rides, the pods can be used by couples on a date, mothers or fathers with their baby, people carrying bikes and goods deliveries.
What are the potential benefits?
Utilising untapped mobility capacity in the sky could help to alleviate congestion and allow for more pedestrian areas.
The same argument is also used for flying taxis, yet could this cable system do the same job with less noise and less energy compared with thousands of drones whizzing overhead?
Perhaps, although the mini cable car network would need a lot more physical infrastructure.
Questions for you. Comment below
- First thought that comes into your head?
- Pros and cons according to you?
- Other applications of this approach?
- What could this be combined with?
