This lord of the ring circles campus in eight minutes, makes twelve 20-second stops, and doesn’t need to refuel. Nature friends cried foul until the data came back on the clean technology that is a monorail. It was considered sacrilegious to run it through the agricultural campus, but students have all-in-all enjoyed the scenic pass-through. One student, formerly identified as a walker, now identifies as a rider, described the new loop as the best thing since ramen noodles (that is high praise from a college student). Campus officials have agreed, that much of their increased application volume is due in part to their interest in ‘setting the standard when it comes to campus mobility.’ The system has spawned an entire new curriculum in the transportation department. While the cost may have been more than most campuses would consider investing, OSU’s immense alumni network, and Innovation District investors saw this as an opportunity to gain leverage when it comes to attractions and amenities to bring in new talent and ideas. In the Big 10, there certainly isn’t any other campuses willing to invest in their infrastructure with such a magnitude.
Problem: Distance + Weather + Safety. This monorail solution capitalizes on the expanded distance commuters add-on to their morning transit after arriving on campus. It leverages ‘no traffic’ between stops to become as efficient a process as can be delivered. Its twelves stops boast the 5-minute maximum walk time from each station. It uses second floor boarding, doubling as an accessible mobility option and a fast mobility solution while providing the optimal deterrent of non-academic users.
