[sustran] Overhead monorails

[Christopher Zegras]

At 04:40 AM 25/09/97 +0900, sustran-discuss wrote:
>
>  I like elevated monorails because they cut CO2 emissions and provide
>good entertaining views....
Since HPV's
>are relatively non polluting and because of their lower power and speed,
>they can operate among pedestrians quite safely and without creating
>expectation or perceptions of danger that interfere with the enjoyment
>of locationg adjacent to carways.

In urban areas, elevated infrastructure-- whether road, rail or monorail --
may provide entertaining views and efficient traffic flow, but their
interruption of urban space is far from non-polluting (from an aesthetic
perspective), and typically do more to create dead urban space underneath,
than anything else.  The recently inaugurated Line 5 of the Santiago Metro
has a long elevated section which basically slices the neighborhood in half.
Those views might be entertaining for the riders, but how about those that
are now the subject of those views?

cz
 Christopher Zegras       http://www.iiec.org                 /\   /^\
 Instituto Internacional para la Conservacion de Energia /^\ /_o\ /   \
 General Flores 150, Providencia, Santiago, CHILE       /^^^/_\< /^^^^^\
 Tel: (56 2) 236 9232 Fax: 236 9233                    /   (*)/(*)      \