Even in Russia the Simpsons did it

[Gr.Viper 131]

Mid 200x Moscow (and Russia) got its first... monorail.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow_Monorail

The track length is a touch under 3 miles, the cost of construction and maintenance were and are high, and not even the tourists want a ride.

Now the talk is, that the thing is going to get closed down and dismantled...

 

Funny thing is, that's exactly what happens in SimCity, if instead of pre-planning a public transport network, I build just one line for siths and giggles.

Edited April 24, 2012 by Gr.Viper

[B52STRATO 215]

This project seems as stillborn as the current one to re-install tramways in most of the cities ... who were freed of them more than half a century ago !

[FastCargo 412]

I think monorail systems are really one of those things that needs to have a perfect storm of conditions to be effective...and even then, you may have to make compromises to accommodate realities.

 

Vancouver, BC installed an elevated train system for the Olympics. It was very expensive because it was so expansive. Elevated in some places, buried in others. But in the end, it works pretty well. Far reaching, cheap, and frequent service. It may not ever make it's money back in absolute coin, but there are side benefits of it being in place...image, less traffic congestion, etc.

 

FC

[+Swordsman422 61]

I live in Atlanta. We have a hyperdeveloped rapid transit system that can take you into five counties with partnering service in two more. Congestion is still awful. Then again, when planners began to lay out this city in the 1870's they envisioned a maximum population of around 200,000 since we were the terminus for only 1 railroad at the time. And as time passed, they must have let the street layouts be designed by residents of the sanatorium. I don't know of another city that has this many one way streets next to each other, or this many damned Peachtree streets. Your statement, FC, is dead on the money and that's no pun intended.

[Gr.Viper 131]

And as time passed, they must have let the street layouts be designed by residents of the sanatorium.

Then Moscow was planned by a fortress designer. Here's our live congestion map http://maps.yandex.ru/?ll=37.617671%2C55.755768&spn=1.290894%2C0.614126&z=10&l=map%2Ctrf&trfm=cur

Note that huge areas inside the big circle have no tracked roads inside them. That's because there aren't any big roads there - only backyards of apartment buildings, narrow driveways with cars parked on the curb and other stuff of that sort. So, both the enemy tanks and, you know, the people who live here for decades have to use the that "web" choke point layout to get anywhere besides a grocery. Oh, and the possible ways to widen those roads are now gone, because the space reserved for that ages ago was sold to shopping malls and offices.