Aha, here comes the bus. You board the bus and pay for your ticket. You put your bag, loose change, etc. into a tray and the bus driver places it in a rack behind him, handing you a ticket for it. (Perhaps a cloakroom-style attendant handles this part.)

You then go through a narrow, bouncy-walled entrance into the main part of the bus, which is a bouncy castle. Bouncy walls, bouncy floor, bouncy roof! Yey!

You bounce around, laughing, reliving your childhood, tumbling into the sides as the bus turns, etc. Boing!

Small port-hole windows in the walls allow you to see where you're going. When you want to stop you press one of the buttons, which are recessed in the walls somewhat to avoid accidental contact. Then you exit through the entrance, collecting your bag on the way.

Boarding times would be slower with the single entrance-exit to the main bouncy castle bit, and the need to collect belongings, though helpful passengers would exit the bouncy castle part and collect their belongings in time before the bus stops. But the extra fun would more than compensate for the slower journey time - in fact, you'd be glad to stay on for longer!

Now, I recognise that brittle-boned oldies, boring people, and sane people might not be too fond of this bus (though it would make life interesting for ticket inspectors!), so I'm prepared to be reasonable. Only 50% of buses will be bussy castles, so if you really want to, you can wait for next bus, which will be a normal one. Coward. ;-)

Marketing slogan: "Don't be boring, be boinging!"
-- imaginality, Apr 10 2006

"reliving your childhood"

I'm not sure this would do it, my childhood didn't include bounce houses.

Although anything that livens up mass transit can't be all bad. If I could commute like this I'd be in great shape, or have no knees left.
-- normzone, Apr 10 2006


<pictures [normzone] with little weird see-through gaps between thighs and calves where his knees used to be>

back to topic- Seems like you would have really limit the number of people on at one time or you'd have flying teeth and cracked noggins all over the place.

<thinks a moment> I like it. Let's do it! Bouncy bun for you
-- NotTheSharpestSpoon, Apr 11 2006


Do you leave your shoes in the rack also? Your bouncy floor will quickly be covered in grime otherwise. How do you compensate for the inevitable slowing down in service that will result from people queueing to collect their belongings at each stop? How do you manage the conflict between those wishing to collect and get off and those wishing to get on and deposit? Buses stink at the best of times (so do enclosed bouncy castles as I recall: a potent mix of hot rubber, sweat and feet)how will you cope with the inevitable deterioration in odour that will attend a combining of these two stinky things?

Don't get me wrong, I think the main idea is superb, just needs a few more details filling out.
-- DocBrown, Apr 11 2006


Cheers for the feedback, guys. And those are good points, Doc. Let's see...

//Do you leave your shoes in the rack also?//

Yep. There will be a sign at the bus stop saying, "To assist the driver, please have the correct change, and your shoes, ready."

//How do you compensate for the inevitable slowing down in service that will result from people queueing to collect their belongings at each stop? //

Partially alleviated by people exiting the bouncy bit and collecting their belongings a moment or two before the bus stops. Otherwise, I don't compensate for it. Passengers on the bussy castle are happy to have a slightly longer journey - more time to bounce.

//How do you manage the conflict between those wishing to collect and get off and those wishing to get on and deposit?//

Maybe by keeping the bus doors closed while passengers collect their belongings, then let them off while the new passengers board.

//[...]how will you cope with the inevitable deterioration in odour[...]?//

This is the trickiest one to solve. Possible solutions:

1. Open-top bouncy castle part (or maybe with a pagoda roof thingy over it to keep the rain off).

2. Back of bus opens, like van doors, so that the bus can air during breaks (most buses, at least here in NZ, seem to pause for a few minutes at either end of the route, and sometimes in between).

3. Plenty of strongly-scented soft rubber or sponge balls to make the air smell nicer, and as a bonus give people the chance to have sponge ball fights.

4. Clothes pegs. ;-)
-- imaginality, Apr 13 2006



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