“Is Germany’s monorail the public transport of the future?” asks this video from German news source DW News. In accordance with Betteridge’s Law, the answer is a resounding “No!”
The selling point of this not-really-a-monorail (see 4:18 of above video) is that it will work on existing tracks and so doesn’t need new infrastructure built for it. The first problem is that, so far, it can’t cross switches. The second problem is that it is slow compared with almost any other form of motorized travel.
The real problem is another law that this “monocab” crashes into: the Antiplanner’s Law of Transportation Infrastructure, which states that any transport system that requires its own dedicated infrastructure will not be able to compete with transport systems that can use existing, shared infrastructure. While the monocab supposedly won’t require new infrastructure, I can’t see any major railroad agreeing to allow these fragile passenger vehicles on the same tracks as the 5,000-ton freight trains that are commonly found on class I railroads.
Once class I railroads are excluded, there isn’t much left. The United States has about 136,000 miles of railroad routes, of which 92,000 miles are class I railroads that are almost all too busy to host anything like this. The other 44,000 miles are less used but simply don’t go most places that people want to go.
Instead of wasting time and money working on systems that require infrastructure that isn’t available, people should figure out how to make our existing infrastructure work better.
Fortunately, some of that work has already been done. A mere 98 years ago, some smart people produced an omnibus, or “bus” for short, that can go on any of the nation’s 4 million miles of roads. Admittedly, they should probably be confined to the 1.3 million miles of non-local roads, 364,000 of which are in urban areas. That’s still a lot more than the 136,000 miles of railroads, most of which aren’t in urban areas.
The bad news is that the vaunted “experts” that run the nation’s transit systems haven’t figured out how to fill more than 7 or 8 seats of a 40-seat bus. The key is to route the buses to go where people want to go; instead, they route most buses to go to downtowns that are the origins or destinations of only a small number of urban trips. That’s not a problem that will be solved by a monorail or any form of rail transit.
Look, Randal, your dismissal of new transit solutions and your obsession with buses isn’t pragmatism; it’s a refusal to see beyond the status quo. It’s time to face the facts about rail transit.
The idea that “transit doesn’t go where people want to go” is often an American problem, stemming from underfunding and sprawling urban development. Germany proves that with proper investment and smart urban planning, rail transit works much better and moves people more efficiently. Don’t blame the mode; blame the policy.
Your beloved buses can’t escape the laws of physics that make rail superior.
Steel on steel means vastly lower friction and rolling resistance than rubber tires on asphalt. This translates directly to a smooth, continuous glide, free from the constant jarring vibrations of road vehicles.
Fixed, engineered guideways eliminate the need for constant steering corrections, swerving, and battling potholes. This ensures a stable, linear movement that prevents the lateral jolts and motion sickness common on buses.
Greater mass and inertia in trains provide inherent stability, dampening bumps and resulting in a more “planted” ride compared to lighter, more easily jostled buses.
Beyond comfort, trains simply provide far more space. A single rail car is wider and often longer than an entire bus, and trains are almost always multi-car units. Which means:
– Vastly higher passenger capacity with more room to breathe.
– Wider aisles and more comfortable seating.
– Dedicated space for luggage, strollers, and bikes—amenities buses can barely accommodate.
This isn’t an opinion; it’s a design reality. Rail transit, unconstrained by road limits, is built for mass capacity and passenger comfort, leading to a genuinely superior travel experience. That’s why it attracts more riders, as proven by research over and over again, Randal.