Charlotte and the Triangle are kicking around ways to waste money on light rail. Just today The News & Observer opined on the matter:
North Raleigh may be connected to downtown, for instance, with rail service. The daily rush-hour mess on Capital Boulevard is proof that some passenger rail link is a good idea. Ditto with the notion of light rail or bus rapid transit to move commuters along the U.S. 15-501 corridor between Durham and Chapel Hill.
But more robust transit options, particularly inside of cities, would be needed in any event. That’s due to the sheer number of daily commuters and the region’s steady influx of new residents. The challenge now is to think in terms of a truly regional transit network, with a coordinated mix of components.
But to prove there’s nothing new under the sun, at least in the way of transit ideas. check this out from 1932. They call it an “endless belt system” and people are transported through tubes in a technology, they said then, that had “recently been developed by Westinghouse.”
I’m sure this great idea died as a result of lobbying by the auto and asphalt lobbies.
(Link via Instapundit)
UPDATE: After looking at the drawing of the “belt train” in the magazine linked above, I’m wondering just how it makes that 90-degree turn coming up.
