modern forms of omnibus

Transrapid at the Emsland test facility in Germany. Maglev (magnetic levitation) trains are a favorite of sci-fi writers.

from the wikipedia article on public transportation, a listing of modern forms of public transport. (Check out the list itself, which has a link to each form on it):

Road

1. Bush taxi


2. Share taxi including minibus and maxi-taxi


3. Auto rickshaw


4. Bus normally serving a regular fixed route but could include a variable route, divert-on-demand service.


5. Bush taxi of West and Central Africa


6. Trolleybus


7. Jitney or Songthaew


8. Limousine


9. Matatu, of East Africa


10. Motor coach


11. Paratransit


12. Rickshaw


13. Taxicab


14. Transit bus


15. Vanpool


16. Vehicle for hire


17. Velotaxi


18. Community bicycle programs

Rail

1. Automated guideway transit (AGT), also called Peoplemover


2. Cable car on rails, used in cities, a streetcar (tram} pulled by a cable


3. Cable car on rails, used in mountains.


4. Cable car suspended from a cable.


5. Rack railway (or rack and pinion railway)


6. Elevated railroad, such as the Chicago 'L'


7. Light rail a tram-like system with no significant sections of the route shared with cars or pedestrians, such as the San Diego Trolley or the St. Louis, MO Metrolink


8. Magnetic levitation train (Maglev)


9. Metro (also known as 'subway' or 'underground')


10. Rubber-tired metro


11. Advanced Rapid Transit


12. Monorail


13. Train, including commuter train and high-speed rail


14. Tram (or tramway, trolley, streetcar)

Water

1. Ferry, including hydrofoil, catamaran and hovercraft


2. Water taxi

Air

1. Airliner


2. Helicopter

(Only in some countries. For all intents and purposes, in deregulated countries air travel is private transportation. Governments do not control pricing, routes, aircraft or schedules.)

Sloped or vertical

1. Aerial tramway also called cable car or cableway, vehicle suspended from aerial cables


2. Chairlift


3. Conveyor transport (term includes escalators and horizontal or slightly inclined moving sidewalk - "Travolator")


4. Escalator


5. Elevator or lift


6. Funicular, used in mountains, tram-like vehicle on rails pulled by a cable up and down a very steep slope.


7. Gondola lift

Some of these types are often not for use by the general public, e.g. elevators in offices and apartment buildings, buses for personnel or school children, etc.

Emerging transportation technologies

1. Group rapid transit


2. Dual mode transit


3. Personal rapid transit


4. Automated highway systems


5. Bus rapid transit


6. Maglev rapid transit

Comments

[Faith Base]

Some of the "emerging technologies" are in the
jet-pack-Hindenburg area.

In other words they just don't work, have been "emerging" for decades and are pushed by scammers and swindlers.

Personal rapid transit, dual mode, etc. prime scam fodder.

[claire]

hmmm. the article on personal rapid transit says that London and Dubai each have a project scheduled to open in 2008. but i don't know anything besides what wikipedia says.

i guess it depends on your definition of "emerging."

[Christian M. Fuchs]

Emerging:
http://vectus.se/eng_testbanan.html
http://kinetic.seattle.wa.us/nxtlevel/prt/jea-newproj.html

Scam:
http://www.lightrailnow.org/facts/fa_prt001.htm

at the moment, you have to live in a city with a very high-density population in order to find transit that's competitive with cars. as a result, most transit systems are heavily subsidized but don't really alleviate roadway congestion.

so, one of two things will happen: the majority of us will live in apartments or condominiums near line-haul transit, or we'll invest in something better.

[Josh]

I agree with Christian M. Fuchs! You need a pretty happening city for it to happen.