Interesting new transportation Option: Whoosh - Autonomous Elevated Cable & Rail System

tonymu

tonymu

Premium Member
Original Poster
I just saw an interesting article about Sugar Land, Texas (Houston Suburb) looking to possibly implement Swyft Cities, Whoosh Autonomous Elevated Cable and Rail System. It looks like a better implementation of the skyliner gondolas. The vehicles all have their own motors and run on fixed cables and rails instead of like Disney's gondolas that attach to a moving cable. The Whoosh vehicles have batteries, air conditioning and heat, can make turns, and travel directly to YOUR destination bypassing other stations. Loading stations pull off the main lines so that they can be bypassed and they can be scaled to the size needed for each location. The system is easily expandable.
https://www.sugarlandtx.gov/2803/Autonomous-Elevated-Cable-Rail-System
https://swyftcities.com/
 
C

Comped

Well-Known Member
I don't think Disney is going to be doing any kind of transportation expansion for a while except for new bus routes. Skyliner expansion has not turned out anywhere near as rumored, and with the monorail on borrowed time at best, I don't think we're going to see much in the way of new transport modalities anytime soon.
 
danlb_2000

danlb_2000

Premium Member
tonymu said:
I just saw an interesting article about Sugar Land, Texas (Houston Suburb) looking to possibly implement Swyft Cities, Whoosh Autonomous Elevated Cable and Rail System. It looks like a better implementation of the skyliner gondolas. The vehicles all have their own motors and run on fixed cables and rails instead of like Disney's gondolas that attach to a moving cable. The Whoosh vehicles have batteries, air conditioning and heat, can make turns, and travel directly to YOUR destination bypassing other stations. Loading stations pull off the main lines so that they can be bypassed and they can be scaled to the size needed for each location. The system is easily expandable.
https://www.sugarlandtx.gov/2803/Autonomous-Elevated-Cable-Rail-System
https://swyftcities.com/
Click to expand...

Cool concept but it does suffer from one of the same problems as the Monorail, if one car breaks down it takes out the entire line.
 
S

swyftcities

New Member
Hi. Appreciate the shoutout! We are in discussions with some entertainment complexes, although Disney has historically had their transportation dialed in since the first Alweg monorail in 1959. The Skyliner is pretty cool, and WDW operates the equivalent of a major city transit system. But we're hoping to see Whoosh systems at entertainment complexes soon, relieving parking pressures, shutting guests around with nonstop trips to each destination. I think one of the things that makes Disney theme parks so special is that Walt & Roy understood that the right transportation forms an important part of the immersive experience from the second you set foot in the park.
 
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swyftcities

New Member
danlb_2000 said:
Cool concept but it does suffer from one of the same problems as the Monorail, if one car breaks down it takes out the entire line.
Click to expand...
Hi, because each vehicle propels itself independently, a breakdown of any vehicle or station (or even congestion) means all other vehicles can be dynamically re-routed to ensure that everyone else can safely and conveniently complete their trip.
 
danlb_2000

danlb_2000

Premium Member
swyftcities said:
Hi, because each vehicle propels itself independently, a breakdown of any vehicle or station (or even congestion) means all other vehicles can be dynamically re-routed to ensure that everyone else can safely and conveniently complete their trip.
Click to expand...

So all the vehicles behind the failed one can reverse direction and return to a station? Even if that is the case, you still have the monorail problem unless there are multiple paths to the destination.
 
monothingie

monothingie

Evil will always triumph, because good is dumb.
Premium Member
tonymu said:
I just saw an interesting article about Sugar Land, Texas (Houston Suburb) looking to possibly implement Swyft Cities, Whoosh Autonomous Elevated Cable and Rail System. It looks like a better implementation of the skyliner gondolas. The vehicles all have their own motors and run on fixed cables and rails instead of like Disney's gondolas that attach to a moving cable. The Whoosh vehicles have batteries, air conditioning and heat, can make turns, and travel directly to YOUR destination bypassing other stations. Loading stations pull off the main lines so that they can be bypassed and they can be scaled to the size needed for each location. The system is easily expandable.
https://www.sugarlandtx.gov/2803/Autonomous-Elevated-Cable-Rail-System
https://swyftcities.com/
Click to expand...
They are proposing a very similar system to replace the Air Train Monorail at Newark Airport in NJ.

Interestingly enough it will be made by Doppelmayr coincidentally.
 
britain

britain

Well-Known Member
I could see Disney consider something like this if they were building a new resort from scratch (Brazil?) they could integrate it into every hotel location. Seems like they’re too invested in Buses and Skyliner for WDW.

Maybe DL Forward?
 
danlb_2000

danlb_2000

Premium Member
britain said:
I could see Disney consider something like this if they were building a new resort from scratch (Brazil?) they could integrate it into every hotel location. Seems like they’re too invested in Buses and Skyliner for WDW.

Maybe DL Forward?
Click to expand...

This does have a big advantage over the Skyliner in that it could more easily connect a large number of destinations. although I doubt Disney would spend the money to do that.
 
S

swyftcities

New Member
danlb_2000 said:
So all the vehicles behind the failed one can reverse direction and return to a station? Even if that is the case, you still have the monorail problem unless there are multiple paths to the destination.
Click to expand...
That is correct. Each vehicle is autonomous and can switch lines. Systems will be laid out like a network or grid with multiple paths to each destination. And yes, if needed, they can even reverse course. So even if it's let's say, a loop with 3, 4, 5 stations, if a stalled vehicle blocks a section, you could run vehicles forwards-and-backwards along the remaining sections of the loop (although vehicle throughput would be dramatically reduced in that type of scenario)
 
Goofyernmost

Goofyernmost

Well-Known Member
denyuntilcaught said:
Really? I thought Disney was juiced to expand the Skyliner.
Click to expand...
I think the are still juiced and will probably incorporate one from TTC to Animal Kingdom for the next set up. Until they trash the monorails (which I hope they never do until after I'm dead) I don't see the need. If they did end the monorail the part that will end is the TTC to Epcot route. Than they would run gondolas from Epcot to TTC thereby linking every park with TTC keeping a smaller fleet of monorail trains just to circle the seven seas lagoon like it all started. Then they would still have to use buses to connect to the resorts not served by the skyliner system. I don't see the complete resort connection happening because that cost would be mind blowing.

Going back to the original Monorail setup would do two things that might help to keep them at WDW. First it would mean that they would have fewer trains needed (at least two, but probably more as backup). That would give more excess trains allowing them to rebuild from front to back all the trains in a regular, more certain schedule.

Second, it might make it more reasonable to replace with new ones over time and not need to replace them all at once. Doing that change would mean we would still have that Original Monorail route along with a larger capacity Skyliner system.
 
Goofyernmost

Goofyernmost

Well-Known Member
swyftcities said:
That is correct. Each vehicle is autonomous and can switch lines. Systems will be laid out like a network or grid with multiple paths to each destination. And yes, if needed, they can even reverse course. So even if it's let's say, a loop with 3, 4, 5 stations, if a stalled vehicle blocks a section, you could run vehicles forwards-and-backwards along the remaining sections of the loop (although vehicle throughput would be dramatically reduced in that type of scenario)
Click to expand...
I know I am probably not the brightest bulb on the tree, but I can't even picture how that would work. It seems like you are saying is that it is like you were driving your car there and just changing your mind and either going to a different place or turning around and going back. We can't even get motor vehicles to do that without killing thousands of people everyday. It would take a lot of "splainin" for me to picture how that possibly can work. I'm not saying it can't, I'm saying that nothing makes me easily understand even slightly how that would function physically.
 
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Eric Graham

Well-Known Member
Sounds like a pretty cool concept addressed in this page. In my opinion,the skyliner is a very fun thing to do. I probably don't have the talent at all, but perhaps maybe it may be a fun idea to have someone photograph all of the skyliner's individual cars and put them into some medium like a book or postcards for sale in the stores, etc. Just a thought! But, in actuality, it's really a gift I would like for me to be honest. Have a great night.
 
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Disney Irish

Disney Irish

Premium Member
Sounds like a variation on the many POD PRT systems that have been proposed for many decades but never really catch on outside of a few installations.

I like the idea and hope it catches on in many locations as I think it has the capability to handle lots of traffic in many metro areas.
 
danlb_2000

danlb_2000

Premium Member
swyftcities said:
That is correct. Each vehicle is autonomous and can switch lines. Systems will be laid out like a network or grid with multiple paths to each destination. And yes, if needed, they can even reverse course. So even if it's let's say, a loop with 3, 4, 5 stations, if a stalled vehicle blocks a section, you could run vehicles forwards-and-backwards along the remaining sections of the loop (although vehicle throughput would be dramatically reduced in that type of scenario)
Click to expand...

What is the best case throughput? BTW, thanks for answering questions about this system, not that we have any sway over Disney here.
 

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