Clean Green Cars: Shweeb, the human-powered monorail, makes hamsters jealous

Shweeb, the human-powered monorail, makes hamsters jealous

Schweeb pedal-powered monorail - click above for more

As big fans of pedal-powered vehicles, we’d like to suggest that Schweeb change their name to something that doesn’t sound quite so much like “dweeb.” Sure, riders look a bit like hamsters moving through a Habitrail, but that doesn’t mean they’re not respectable. We think.

Right now, the Schweeb can’t be used for transportation. Instead, it’s a fun racing experience in New Zealand. Apparently, the system of enclosed pedal pods requires half the energy of a racing bike. But the idea is meant to be used as a possible inter-city vehicle replacement. These weatherproof pods can reach 56 mph (when you’re really pedaling) and the more people are in a pod train, the more efficient it can get. Schweeb calls the pods:

the most efficient vehicle on earth, the most inexpensive infrastructure of any proposed urban transit and one of the highest capacity systems available - potentially delivering thousand’s of people per hour in a very small airspace. All this with zero carbon emissions and no parking worries or cost!

We like it, but we also like the tubes they use to get around in Futurama. Whatever makes the PUMA look boring is OK by us. Watch some videos of the Schweeb in action after the jump.

Gallery: Schweeb Human-powered monorail