Posted on August 6, 2008 - by CDS, 0 Comments

Avoid Interaction With Other Humans in New Train Design

If you’ve ever had to use public transportation to commute to and from work, you may appreciate this new “isolated pod” commute train design. When I lived in San Jose and worked on San Francisco, I often took the Cal Train or BART. In the San Luis area, where I live now, commuting is not an issue at all (ahhh, sigh of relief). I do remember the horrors of sharing my personal space with dozens of grumpy, strange, annoying, unsanitary, possibly contagious fellow commuters…. not to mention the condition of the vehicle itself. Being a rather phobic person, I can definitely appreciate the design of this new train, which provides a small personal space completely isolated from other commuters. However, it’s obviously not the most efficient way of doing things. Less people per train equals higher carbon footprint, and higher cost. I suppose it’s more of a novelty or luxury item.

“Now I will admit that the old roomettes on trans-continental trains were rather nice, or that the new private suites on the Airbus 380 look quite comfortable; privacy while travelling can be nice. ”

Source: Treehugger