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Paris had a moving sidewalk in 1900, and a Thomas Edison film captured it (2020)

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Re: Paris had a moving sidewalk in 1900, and a Thomas Edison film captured it (2020)

#91

Post by bobthepanda »

Animats wrote: post #78
bobthepanda wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People have tried faster moving walkways many times. The problem is getting humans on and off such a system safely in a way that is easy to maintain. In practice, everyday transportation systems need to accommodate a wide variety of users safely, like a toddler, or a commuter holding a cup of coffee, or a grandmother with a walker.

> People have tried faster moving walkways many times. The problem is getting humans on and off such a system safely in a way that is easy to maintain. Right. You can build it, but not make it ADA-compliant. One subway station in France tried a 4km/h moving sidewalk, but the accident rate was too high. The Paris system was really two trains on parallel tracks. Here's the mechanism.[1] Same concept as buses and trains…

it is worth noting that we have transportation systems where you get into a slow moving vehicle that then speeds up. the cable car is a lot safer than a faster moving sidewalk because you can just get inside and sit down securely.

of course, it takes up a lot more space and costs a lot more money.

Re: Paris had a moving sidewalk in 1900, and a Thomas Edison film captured it (2020)

#92

Post by cogman10 »

bluGill wrote: post #80
cogman10 wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Walkable cities are too small to have the wealth of options a car (or transit) city does. It's counter intuitive but it's quiet the opposite. I've lived in the UK for a while and in some pretty walkable cities. Even in the smaller cities, what you'd find is a wealth of different shops and options catering to all sorts of needs. But then just consider that when you are walking you are being exposed to all the shops…

That depends on what you are looking for. There are plenty of shops for the common needs - but if you want an odd niche no small walkable area can support it. How many magic stories can your city support? Even something like a guitar shop need a very dense area for people who live in walking distance to be enough to support it. I can think of dozens of other niches - many smaller the above examples.

> but if you want an odd niche no small walkable area can support it.

You'd be really surprised. I knew smaller cities with shops dedicated to Warhammer 40k. [1] (Surprisingly, still in business :) )

> Even something like a guitar shop need a very dense area for people who live in walking distance to be enough to support it.

A guitar shop just needs enough people interested in guitars. Being walkable doesn't mean there's no transit. Usually, walkable cities will have a city center where the shops are concentrated and if the city is big enough, you'll end up with a bus station in the city center. In fact, the referenced city has several of those shops. [2]

This isn't a large city, it's around 100,000. It's also fairly isolated. Nobody is coming to this city to get a guitar.

[1] https://maps.app.goo.gl/nzmGkPKBCJi9xCAb7

[2] https://maps.app.goo.gl/gB46tVVRa195NkNs8

Re: Paris had a moving sidewalk in 1900, and a Thomas Edison film captured it (2020)

#93

Post by swores »

Animats wrote: post #78
bobthepanda wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People have tried faster moving walkways many times. The problem is getting humans on and off such a system safely in a way that is easy to maintain. In practice, everyday transportation systems need to accommodate a wide variety of users safely, like a toddler, or a commuter holding a cup of coffee, or a grandmother with a walker.

> People have tried faster moving walkways many times. The problem is getting humans on and off such a system safely in a way that is easy to maintain. Right. You can build it, but not make it ADA-compliant. One subway station in France tried a 4km/h moving sidewalk, but the accident rate was too high. The Paris system was really two trains on parallel tracks. Here's the mechanism.[1] Same concept as buses and trains…

The too-fast one in Paris was 12km/h, not 4km/h which would be OK.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moving_walkway#Trottoir_roulan...

Re: Paris had a moving sidewalk in 1900, and a Thomas Edison film captured it (2020)

#94

Post by Animats »

bobthepanda wrote: post #91
Animats wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> People have tried faster moving walkways many times. The problem is getting humans on and off such a system safely in a way that is easy to maintain. Right. You can build it, but not make it ADA-compliant. One subway station in France tried a 4km/h moving sidewalk, but the accident rate was too high. The Paris system was really two trains on parallel tracks. Here's the mechanism.[1] Same concept as buses and trains…

it is worth noting that we have transportation systems where you get into a slow moving vehicle that then speeds up. the cable car is a lot safer than a faster moving sidewalk because you can just get inside and sit down securely. of course, it takes up a lot more space and costs a lot more money.

That's been tried. Never Stop Railway, 1924.[1] The drive system is a variable pitch screw between the rails. Large screw pitch between stations for fast travel, much tighter pitch in stations for very slow movement along the platform.

Never tried again with that kind of drive, although there are park rides where the loading platform moves. This requires safety devices and staff to prevent people jams at the end of the platform.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EX_MlWL7YKM

Re: Paris had a moving sidewalk in 1900, and a Thomas Edison film captured it (2020)

#98

Post by bobthepanda »

Animats wrote: post #94
bobthepanda wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it is worth noting that we have transportation systems where you get into a slow moving vehicle that then speeds up. the cable car is a lot safer than a faster moving sidewalk because you can just get inside and sit down securely. of course, it takes up a lot more space and costs a lot more money.

That's been tried. Never Stop Railway, 1924.[1] The drive system is a variable pitch screw between the rails. Large screw pitch between stations for fast travel, much tighter pitch in stations for very slow movement along the platform. Never tried again with that kind of drive, although there are park rides where the loading platform moves. This requires safety devices and staff to prevent people jams at the end of t…

I'm talking about aerial cable cars, which are plenty in use around the world today. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/X5qjnryYWQY

They are pretty common tourist transports in mountainous areas and ski resorts. They're even being used for regular public transport now. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdTE4TCqkZo

Re: Paris had a moving sidewalk in 1900, and a Thomas Edison film captured it (2020)

#99

Post by tfvlrue »

al_borland wrote: post #34
ItsHarper wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe it's to allow room for the handrail belt to wear down, which brings its speed closer to the stairs until it starts de-syncing in the opposite direction. If it started perfectly, you'd have to replace the belt more frequently to maintain the same level of tolerance.

If I’m understanding what you’re saying, couldn’t that be solved with some kind of belt tensioner?

According to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZ8ehplVFp4&t=636 the handrail is driven by a friction wheel that wears out over time, so its diameter gradually decreases and the handrail speed slows down (until it gets too out of sync, and the friction wheel is replaced).

Re: Paris had a moving sidewalk in 1900, and a Thomas Edison film captured it (2020)

#100

Post by kristopolous »

joshdavham wrote: post #95

Somewhat off-topic, but why are all the men in the film wearing hats? Was this some sort of dress code?

Almost every man wore a hat until the 1960s. There's a bunch of weird culture about this.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_Hat_Riot for instance

There's lots of pictures of the event if you search

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