Monorail Ascent 2006-01-30

I just posted a final pair of ape images here.

Tokyo has a few monorails. This was the first time I've seen one up close, and it was visually quite amazing. I kind of wish they would build more of these. You can actually drive under them.

That reminds me. Can you imagine if all the streets in New York City were shook up and landed in a tangle, and the subways all relocated above ground... The other day a friend casually mentioned that every day millions of hours of productive work time are lost in the streets of Tokyo. These twisting streets, virtually impossible to navigate without the aid of onboard satellite guidance systems, zigs and zag around former rice paddies, through bottle necking neighborhood alleys, and across countless railroad tracks. The city is fed by thousands and thousands of delivery trucks that never stop moving in and around the growing number of commuters in cars celebrating their freedom to drive in the sludge. Imagine if Tokyo were built for productivity, would that mean people wouldn't have to work 60 or 70 hours a week just to keep up? Would the economy of Japan be unleashed? I wonder if we'll ever know.

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