Invention of the Day

So I got off the subway today and figured I would transfer to the bus in order to go the 8 blocks to my house (I was feeling lazy). Luckily, when I exited the subway station, I saw the bus waiting right across the street. I raced to catch it, and made it before the doors closed, but noticed that it was packed to the gills. I decided I was better off walking than taking part in the human tuna can.

A funny thing then happened. I ended up walking the 8 blocks significantly faster than the bus was able to drive. I noticed that there were 3 main things that slowed down the bus:

1) Having to load passengers
2) Having the passengers take turns swiping their Metrocards (50% probably do it wrong the first time and get one of the most annoying beeping sounds ever synthesized)
3) The huge bus having to wait for a traffic opening in order to pull out from the curbside bus stop.

I thus present you with a vision of the bus of the future. I was discussing with my girlfriend today how every generation thinks they have reached the technological apogee, and can't envision of any future innovation. But, they always do come. So here are the three solutions to the above mentioned problems:

1,2) Based on a variety of sensors and telecommunication, the bus will convey in real-time to the various stops along the route how many seats/spots are available. People will arrive at the bus station and swipe their phones or some other form of virtual currency systems to reserve a spot. They will also see in real time on a digital map how far away the bus is (and could potentially choose which bus they want to ride on).

3) There will then be some (glowing) markers on the floor where they stand as the bus is approaching. This will Star-Trek like particalize them into the spots on the bus. The bus will not have to stop in traffic but will simply continue driving. If the Star-Trek technology is not available, and the bus does have to pull over for some sort of loading contraption, it will be in communication with all the cars driving by, and they will be forced to stop as the bus is pulling out. This can be done literally, by reducing the cars speed (don't worry, it's safe, as the cars all around the passing car will react to this as well), or by warning drivers that if they don't stop an e-ticket will be filed and e-mailed to them.


Walla. We solved the bus problem. But then I realize, that if we have the Star-Trek technology, who needs a bus. Beam me up Scottie!

P.S. - For the record, I found that image after I wrote this post and searched Google Images for "Beam me up Scottie." Apparently, I have a mind double.