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Redesign of Mechanical and Static
 Pedestrian Overpasses as part of the Hallitube
 System. (Minimalist Overpasses)
 


Overpasses in the US are currently rare. Jaywalking and traffic-halting foot passenger crossings bring city traffic to a crawl. Asian countries have solved this only partially. By aggressively providing gating around streets they limit crossing to over and underpasses which do not inhibit traffic. But these arepn unpopular solutions, and expensive.  Who wants  to ascend a stair and then walk down again with shopping bags just to cross a street ? And how are they built ? Most nonescalator pedestrian overpasses could have four people walking side-by-side, and yet they are deserted. Why the thickness ? The whole structure is safer. Overpasses are the right solution, but not in the way we are building them now, they are just not being used. And forcing their use would be highly unpopular. Build automatic escalators into them ? Too expensive, because we will need thousands and thousands, and escalators are complex systems consisting of hundreds of parts. They break down frequently.  Use elevators ? Also too expensive, and people don't want to wait. What is left, how do we get people up there cheaply ?  By using the same approach making Hallitubes possible : User skill dependent technology.  We will integrate a kevlar conveyor belt with the overpass, very similar to the expensive people movers in airports. Except here, it is a tape, not a series of separate pieces running in a rail, prone to breakdown while offering a smooth ride. What is the downside of a conveyor belt ? Two disadvantages: the ride is not smooth, and you will have to learn how to negotiate it without handholds. When you  get your driver's license, there will be an adjacent training area.  Yes, you have the skill to learn to ride a conveyor belt. Lesson I is on anticipating the next roller: a conveyor belt is suspended on them, at least in the cheap ones we need. Lesson II is on falling. Instead of an expensive secondary structure with running armrests. like in an escalator, the sides of the conveyor have a flexible netting/cushions functioning as catch basket. During your license test you will have to drop into this netting a few times, but soon you won't need it. Your stance is with feet separated, standing almost sideways, with your knees flexed, to compensate for the slight unevenness of the rollers.(Image shown does not use netting. We are currently leaning to a design with armrests having a gel solution smeared on them. This is cheap in reducing friction, most trained users will never touch it. This way you cross the road quickly, and, yes, with shopping bags, it is just a question of training.  But even before the production of mechanical overpasses, static overpasses need to be redesigned  for new construction to be thin and flexible, with width so that two people can just squeeze by each other, using steel tubing.  They need to become minimalist bridges.  The MOP when widely implemented will increase traffic by about 10-15 mph. in cities. How often have you seen whole lines of cars coming to a halt to let a pedestrian cross ?

 
On the right, you see a 21st century reincarnation of the paternoster lift, with a side benefit of releasing pressure on vertebrae/disks during use. Before the advent of the modern lift, paternoster lifts moved continuously, you had to quickly jump in to catch them. Here, two or more handles are moving up and down a post attached to an overpass. On the ground is a thick inflated cushion laid in an excavation. To take the lift, you simply hang on to the handle, and it pulls you up in seconds. Not shown in the image is a "pullout  tray" which could be installed if people even after training find it difficult to swing onto the overpass path. One could also recess the chain carrying the handles, so that the handle is carried over the path. On the right in the image, a user is bending his knees, he has let go early of the handle and is jumping into the cushion. Usage of these PN-lifts will require a license which can be taken in minutes,testing you ability to hold on to a handle during upmotion. The handl es are of course much thinner than shown in the image. This is not a complex device, the handles travel permanently along the chain, powered by a small electro motor. But it will vastly improve traffic as pedestrian lights can be turned on far less frequently. In joining, you become part of an  athletic club, forfeiting any right to litigation.

What about the handicapped? The handicapped will in the future be traffic-integrated, and reach their destination by arriving from their vehicle on the side of the street they need, or cross on infrequently operated pedestrian crossings with lights. A portion of the funds allocated for the Hallitube Referendum go to van services. The net effect of the referendum will be to increase handicapped mobility.
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