[ISSUE CONTEST ENTRY - SUBMITTED] Track to the Future

[Minskiev]

Hello, GI. It is I.

Title WIP as always.

Note: I'll try to add references and whatnot, but I cba right now

[title] Track to the Future
[description] Following the release of several new popular concept vehicles, relying on the power of magnetism, or rather magnetic tiles below them to push them upwards, several lobbyists, cavemen, sci-fi fanatics, and your idiosyncratic Public Transport Minister have come to you to make national infrastructure support these new modes of transport.

[validity] high Scientific Advancement, doesn't have No Cars

[option1] "Say @@LEADER@@, oh glorious Leader, wouldn't it be just great, just perfect if we got people off the streets and onto new magnetic sidewalks?" rhetorically asks @@RANDOMNAME_1@@, a high-up in the company behind the vehicles. "If you gave us only a little money, we'd be able to get around quicker and look fancy while doing it, not to mention distancing ourselves from relying on fuel. What's not to love?" @@HIS@@ assistant passes @@HIM@@ a hoverboard. "Woah, this is heavy."
[effect] everyone knows not to jump on your hoverboard

[option2] "What's not to love? We'd be defying everything we've previously known about how the world works!" bellows Tiff Bannen, who lives under a rock down the street. "Allowing these things to fly two feet above the air would have catastrophic consequences! And what's next? Medicine? Sliced bread? We simply cannot allow this in good faith, @@LEADER@@. And I won't bark around the wrong bush either; we should ban technology while we're at it."
[effect] kids are delighted to be able to ride their rock bicycles without training wheels

[option3] "What's not to love?!" roars your balding Public Transport Minister @@RANDOMFIRSTNAME@@ Strickland, looking down at the zeros on the sheet @@RANDOMFIRSTNAME_1@@ gave them. "Do you know how much this would cost us? All the sidewalks we'd need to rip up and replace with pricey magnetic tiles? Throughout all of @@NAME@@? Traffic would be even worse than before with all the displaced pedestrians! It'd even disrupt phone signals! Science is nice, but more money for my mortg- I mean, our public transportation, is better. Stop trying to do our job for us, and instead let us finish that rail project." He proceeds to comb his nonexistent hair.
[effect] the paint over bike paths is now greener

[option4.1] "What's not to love? Just imagine being able to fly anywhere you go; it'd be amazing!" exclaims @@RANDOMNAME@@, lost in @@HIS@@ own hovertrain of thought. "It'd completely end traffic, make commuting ludicrously faster, and everybody would win! Except the poor, but nothing new there, I guess. @@LEADER@@, forget hoverboards; work on building flying cars, and flying boats, and flying trains, and flying planes- err, because where we're going, we won't need roads!"
[effect] reports of both bird poop and flying vehicles have skyrocketed
[optionvalidity] doesn't have No Planes

[option4.2] "What's not to love? Just imagine being able to fly anywhere you go; it'd be amazing!" exclaims @@RANDOMNAME@@, lost in @@HIS@@ own hovertrain of thought. "It'd completely end traffic, make commuting ludicrously faster, and everybody would win! Except the poor, but nothing new there, I guess. @@LEADER@@, forget hoverboards; work on building flying cars, and flying boats, and flying trains, and flying planes because where we're going, we won't need roads!"
[effect] reports of both bird poop and flying vehicles have skyrocketed
[optionvalidity] has No Planes

[Minskiev]

Filler

[Sacara]

I don't understand the issue here. Why has half of downtown @@CAPITAL@@ destroyed? Do trikes inevitably lead to destruction? I'm confused.

[Daarwyrth]

I think to make the premise work here you need to do a few things:

First, downscale. The destruction of half a downtown is a bit excessive, especially for a three-wheeled car. You can however scale it to a big accident that caused several deaths and injuries and blocked traffic for a very long time. It's less exciting than destroying half a downtown, but it is slightly more realistic.

Secondly, I think you need to establish briefly in the premise why three-wheeled cars are dangerous or can cause danger to traffic. What's causing three-wheeled cars to be more dangerous, is it the lack of a fourth wheel and so less stability? Are people inexperienced in using the vehicle? Are the roads not designed to accommodate these vehicles? I think establishing that would help a lot in having a focus in this issue.

For example, if the roads of @@NAME@@ the issue for not accommodating such vehicles, you could have the issue focus be about @@DEMONYMADJECTIVE@@ roads being ill suited for new, perhaps better modes of transport, and whether something should be done to accommodate future vehicle designs.

[Minskiev]

I don't understand the issue here. Why has half of downtown @@CAPITAL@@ destroyed? Do trikes inevitably lead to destruction? I'm confused.

It's partially based on the Reliant Robin, a three-wheeled car notorious for flipping over. Cars flipping all over the place would lead to a good bit of destruction, no?

I think to make the premise work here you need to do a few things:

First, downscale. The destruction of half a downtown is a bit excessive, especially for a three-wheeled car. You can however scale it to a big accident that caused several deaths and injuries and blocked traffic for a very long time. It's less exciting than destroying half a downtown, but it is slightly more realistic.

In hindsight, yes, that's a bit much. I'll scale it down.

Secondly, I think you need to establish briefly in the premise why three-wheeled cars are dangerous or can cause danger to traffic. What's causing three-wheeled cars to be more dangerous, is it the lack of a fourth wheel and so less stability? Are people inexperienced in using the vehicle? Are the roads not designed to accommodate these vehicles? I think establishing that would help a lot in having a focus in this issue.

Sure, since that seems to be Sacara's concern as well.

For example, if the roads of @@NAME@@ the issue for not accommodating such vehicles, you could have the issue focus be about @@DEMONYMADJECTIVE@@ roads being ill suited for new, perhaps better modes of transport, and whether something should be done to accommodate future vehicle designs.

Interesting idea.

[Bears Armed]

I don't understand the issue here. Why has half of downtown @@CAPITAL@@ destroyed? Do trikes inevitably lead to destruction? I'm confused.

It's partially based on the Reliant Robin, a three-wheeled car notorious for flipping over. Cars flipping all over the place would lead to a good bit of destruction, no?.

The Reliant Robin -- which people in the UK are actually allowed to drive if they have only a motorcycle licence, rather than a "proper" driving licence -- has a shell of fairly lightweight plastic that probably couldn't cause much "destruction": Somebody with whom I used to work used one, and he said that when it blew over on one windy day he just got out, stood it back upright again (It was that light...), got back in, and drove on.

[Minskiev]

It's partially based on the Reliant Robin, a three-wheeled car notorious for flipping over. Cars flipping all over the place would lead to a good bit of destruction, no?.

The Reliant Robin -- which people in the UK are actually allowed to drive if they have only a motorcycle licence, rather than a "proper" driving licence -- has a shell of fairly lightweight plastic that probably couldn't cause much "destruction": Somebody with whom I used to work used one, and he said that when it blew over on one windy day he just got out, stood it back upright again (It was that light...), got back in, and drove on.

It's made of fibreglass, right? Even still, you probably wouldn't want that thing driving into a stop sign. I also never said that these three-wheeled cars = the Reliant Robin. If they're able to crash into buildings, they're probably not able to be flipped over as easily.

However thanks for the info; that's pretty interesting.

Edit: wtf why did I just say fibreglass I'm not British

[Minskiev]

Bump I guess.

[Candensia]

My biggest concern is I don't exactly buy the premise as currently presented. You've made three-wheeled cars out to be unstable, but unstable compared to what? Compared to four wheeled cars? Maybe. Compared to regular motorcycles? I doubt it.

You've said that you were partially inspired by the reliant robin, but also that the reliant robin isn't what's being discussed here. So my question is, what exactly are we dealing with? Three-wheeled motorcycles, or three wheeled, covered cars?

[Minskiev]

My biggest concern is I don't exactly buy the premise as currently presented. You've made three-wheeled cars out to be unstable, but unstable compared to what? Compared to four wheeled cars? Maybe. Compared to regular motorcycles? I doubt it.

You've said that you were partially inspired by the reliant robin, but also that the reliant robin isn't what's being discussed here. So my question is, what exactly are we dealing with? Three-wheeled motorcycles, or three wheeled, covered cars?

Three-wheeled car. I guess I'll clarify that.

[Minskiev]

Bump to get it off the second page.

[Noahs Second Country]

Honestly, I don't think this premise will work out. I don't see how 3 wheeled vehicles are inherently faster, nor do I see how that's really an advantage in everyday life to your citizens. In addition, three-wheeled vehicles are not really problematic, the accident/destruction is likely more a result of the driver than the vehicle. There are plenty of popular cars and motorcycles out there with 3 wheels and I can't think of any controversy over them.

[Minskiev]

Honestly, I don't think this premise will work out. I don't see how 3 wheeled vehicles are inherently faster, nor do I see how that's really an advantage in everyday life to your citizens. In addition, three-wheeled vehicles are not really problematic, the accident/destruction is likely more a result of the driver than the vehicle. There are plenty of popular cars and motorcycles out there with 3 wheels and I can't think of any controversy over them.

They're lighter, specifically. If there's less weight to lug around, you can go faster, no? And occasionally faster can benefit people. Nations without speed limits would appreciate a way to get around quicker.

Additionally, I tried to portray these vehicles as poorly designed. The question is whether I should generalize this issue to be about vehicle design regulations / road construction being able to accommodate newer vehicles.

[Noahs Second Country]

Honestly, I don't think this premise will work out. I don't see how 3 wheeled vehicles are inherently faster, nor do I see how that's really an advantage in everyday life to your citizens. In addition, three-wheeled vehicles are not really problematic, the accident/destruction is likely more a result of the driver than the vehicle. There are plenty of popular cars and motorcycles out there with 3 wheels and I can't think of any controversy over them.

They're lighter, specifically. If there's less weight to lug around, you can go faster, no? And occasionally faster can benefit people. Nations without speed limits would appreciate a way to get around quicker.

Additionally, I tried to portray these vehicles as poorly designed. The question is whether I should generalize this issue to be about vehicle design regulations / road construction being able to accommodate newer vehicles.

I don't think this is true. The engine and parts are largely the same, so the power:weight ratio with three-wheeled vehicles vs four-wheeled vehicles is no different, as the weight you save by cutting the wheel is negligible. The only advantage a three-wheeled vehicle provides (at least that I can think of) is the cost per vehicle, since you save a wheel and some raw materials. Maybe they are quicker to accelerate? Still, there's a reason why all modern supercars have 4 wheels.

[Minskiev]

They're lighter, specifically. If there's less weight to lug around, you can go faster, no? And occasionally faster can benefit people. Nations without speed limits would appreciate a way to get around quicker.

Additionally, I tried to portray these vehicles as poorly designed. The question is whether I should generalize this issue to be about vehicle design regulations / road construction being able to accommodate newer vehicles.

I don't think this is true. The engine and parts are largely the same, so the power:weight ratio with three-wheeled vehicles vs four-wheeled vehicles is no different, as the weight you save by cutting the wheel is negligible. The only advantage a three-wheeled vehicle provides (at least that I can think of) is the cost per vehicle, since you save a wheel and some raw materials. Maybe they are quicker to accelerate? Still, there's a reason why all modern supercars have 4 wheels.

Probably because three-wheeled cars wouldn't have fantastic control at high speeds. The cars aren't supposed to be something that a sensible person would drive. They're supposed to appeal to a thrill-seeking audience, and the more cautious are fighting against them.

[Noahs Second Country]

Probably because three-wheeled cars wouldn't have fantastic control at high speeds. The cars aren't supposed to be something that a sensible person would drive. They're supposed to appeal to a thrill-seeking audience, and the more cautious are fighting against them.

Motorcycles exist, even some with 3 wheels. But feel free to carry on, I won't bother you anymore

[Minskiev]

Probably because three-wheeled cars wouldn't have fantastic control at high speeds. The cars aren't supposed to be something that a sensible person would drive. They're supposed to appeal to a thrill-seeking audience, and the more cautious are fighting against them.

Motorcycles exist, even some with 3 wheels. But feel free to carry on, I won't bother you anymore

Sure, but motorcycles aren't intrinsically dangerous. Mostly. Sorta.

[Minskiev]

Bump. I know I should make the options longer.

[Wille-Harlia]

Is the Public Transport Minister being a lion some sort of reference?

[Minskiev]

Is the Public Transport Minister being a lion some sort of reference?

I kinda naturally used roar as the verb, then thought to just carry it through. I don't know particularly why I did that.

[The Atlae Isles]

I'm a bit confused by the premise. So new magnetic vehicles have been invented, cool. What do the magnetic sidewalks have anything to do with this? How do they work? From what I can gather I think you're supposed to use a hovercraft type thing?

In what ways are these vehicles better besides the allure of being futuristic? Do they require less fuel or none at all?

Why is the Public Transport Minister in charge of this when it appears that these vehicles will be personally operated like with cars? Wouldn't they be more concerned with like high speed rail?

What disadvantages do these new personally operated magnetic vehicles have? At this point, Option 2 is super imbalanced. Maybe there haven't been enough studies about how protracted exposure to magnetism effects health, or something.

[Bears Armed]

I'm a bit confused by the premise. So new magnetic vehicles have been invented, cool. What do the magnetic sidewalks have anything to do with this? How do they work? From what I can gather I think you're supposed to use a hovercraft type thing?

In what ways are these vehicles better besides the allure of being futuristic? Do they require less fuel or none at all?

Why is the Public Transport Minister in charge of this when it appears that these vehicles will be personally operated like with cars? Wouldn't they be more concerned with like high speed rail?

What disadvantages do these new personally operated magnetic vehicles have? At this point, Option 2 is super imbalanced. Maybe there haven't been enough studies about how protracted exposure to magnetism effects health, or something.

It would probably mess-up nearby people's mobile phones, laptop computers, vehicle-function computer chips, & so on...

[Minskiev]

I'm a bit confused by the premise. So new magnetic vehicles have been invented, cool. What do the magnetic sidewalks have anything to do with this? How do they work? From what I can gather I think you're supposed to use a hovercraft type thing?

In what ways are these vehicles better besides the allure of being futuristic? Do they require less fuel or none at all?

Why is the Public Transport Minister in charge of this when it appears that these vehicles will be personally operated like with cars? Wouldn't they be more concerned with like high speed rail?

What disadvantages do these new personally operated magnetic vehicles have? At this point, Option 2 is super imbalanced. Maybe there haven't been enough studies about how protracted exposure to magnetism effects health, or something.

The hoverboard's repelled upwards by magnets on the sidewalk beneath it.

But I'll clear some things up.

Dang, think I might have to change Option 2 a lot. I liked that one

[Trotterdam]

Magnetizing all sidewalks in the nation? That sounds both expensive and likely to cause all sorts of unpleasant side effects.

[Minskiev]

Magnetizing all sidewalks in the nation? That sounds both expensive and likely to cause all sorts of unpleasant side effects.

Not at once, but yeah. It might be. But think of the boosts to Scientific Advancement! We issue-answerers don't really read the options usually, we just see stat go up and click button. NS isn't too realistic. I reckon taxes would go up and science and whatnot too. Maybe cars down. Rudeness up. Who knows.

My point is, well, what's your point?