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What if we tore up a few streets in each city and turned them into canals? Then we could swim to work. (In winter here in Toronto we could skate.) To travel efficiently by water, we could create little swim-assist devices (same idea as an electric bike) that we don. We can lie on our backs and zoom along.
(A good helmet would be an asset.) The swim-assist would propel us and also provide a little float-assist.
There's no need to change clothes after the swim-commute: just stand in the public body-dryer for a few minutes.
Some canals could also allow motorized vehicles, such as trolley-boats, and some would be (like bicycle lanes), swimmers or swim-assist only.
Barclaycard Water Slide Ad (youTube)
http://www.youtube....watch?v=mQ1PeXPNCrM
I think this is the one... [prufrax, Jun 24 2009]
Flume
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flume
[swimswim, Jun 24 2009]
you mean like Florida?
http://www.activepl...wim_inthe_Canal.jpg
[xandram, Jun 25 2009]
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//here in Toronto// you'd be pretty hard-pressed to find a street that runs level for more than a hundred yards... lift locks I suppose, but that would tend to snarl traffic a bit.... [+] for the picture though. |
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My old office was about 100' off a river, my house ~1000'. I
seriously thought about kayaking (if I'd had a kayak). I
believe, as a rule, small boats, even human powered, are
more efficient than swimming, as they have noticeably less
water resistance. Otherwise I like the idea, although it's
probably impossible to implement. |
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A coracle is the classic man-portable boat. They are generally designed to be carried on your back when you venture on dry land. |
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//You mean like Venice? //
Swim? <incredulously>In Venice? </i>
You've never been to Venice, have you [21Quest]? |
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I'm sure there was an ad for Barclaycard (or somesuch credit card) along these lines not too long ago. |
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Guy strips off office clothes to reveal swimming trunks and then climbs into a water slide that runs from his office to his home via the supermarket, library etc... |
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Great idea, except that the canals might gather too much debris, storm runoff, etc. from the city. A cool modification would be to make these canals raised and made of transparent plexiglass. A scheme to circulate the water (i.e., overflow the canals slightly and catch the water at the bottom for use in watering grass, flowers, etc.) might make it a lot more appealing. |
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If you want to go to the next logical step, you could have "lazy rivers" on which you tube to work (they would be one way, of course, with the adjacent "river" flowing in the opposite direction). |
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Cowtamer refers to a flume (the raised waterway, not the lazy river; but maybe both). Great idea, and see link. |
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