Everybody who is going to use this
conveyance gets these sort of roller skates
with wheels that go sideways instead of
forwards that fit over their shoes.
Now we make a track with grooves in it
that the wheels of these things fit into.
There is also a ridge on these tracks that
pushes
up on a wheel in the center of the
bottom of these skates. This deactivates
the brakes of the skates. These brakes
also have a centrifugal speed detection
system, so the wheels are locked when
you're trying to walk but when you're
slowing down they brake at a reasonable
rate.
Now, we angle this track so that a person
with skates standing on it would roll down
it sideways, and we place another angled
track down and to one side. As the person
rolls towards the bottom of the track
they're on. they simply step up onto the
other track. Lots of these constitute the
path the traveller follows. Using it would
be like climbing stairs.
What about people colliding? Well, we can
either have a passing lane or a centrifugal
system can check if the user's speed is
higher than the speed on the current
track, as indicated by the ridge on the
track, and brake if it is.
What about getting on and intersections?
Glad you asked. The tracks are paired like
roads, the two of the pair going in
opposite directions. At intersections, one
of the pairs goes up steeply to a raised
platform, with the platform height being
according to the standard speed on those
tracks. This platform is accessible by stairs
to enter the track system if it's busy; if it's
not busy, you can just walk onto it and
start rolling. On the platform, the two
tracks of the pair that goes up pull apart
and let you either go straight, make a
right turn, or make a U-turn. To make a
left turn, make a U-turn and then turn
right. Everybody has slowed to a walking
pace on the raised platform, so you can
just walk onto the track.