The Gazoop community is always on the lookout for new trends and breakthroughs in the

transportation industry, and lately a company called SkyTran has been causing a little public buzz. These high-speed

transportation pods are looking to overtake the transportation industry, but what does this mean for Gazoop, and for

cab companies at large? Fortunately, according to our magic crystal ball, not very much!

SkyTran is driverless monorail that hovers 20 feet above the ground. According to SkyTran CEO Jerry Sanders, they

can travel at 155 miles per hour, requires very little electricity to operate, and can cut a two-hour taxi commute

down to 10 minutes. SkyTran is already operating in Israel, and if all goes well, they will be in Nigeria by the

end of 2016. Still, why are we so confident that cab companies will prevail?

Let's say that the SkyTran pods operate exactly as planned. They are faster than cab companies and require no driver.

Still, as with any monorail, they can only get you to and from a fixed point in the city. Once people hop off the

SkyTran and walk down the stairs, guess who they are going to rely on next . . . that's right, cab companies!

We at Gazoop also pose this question to SkyTran: can you take a pod straight to your doorstep? Will a pod wait for

you outside of a building as you finish up whatever it is that you needed to do? Does a SkyTran pod have a spacious

trunk for your luggage? No, no, and no. With cab companies, however -- yes, yes, and yes!

We encourage you to comment below and let Gazoop know if you would trust a vehicle suspended 20 feet in the air

with no driver to get you around safely? As for our answer, "heck no"! Look, we're sure that Jerry Sanders is

doing all he can to keep the SkyTran pods safe and secure, but we'll be the first to admit that it took a long, long

time to work out all of the safety issues with motor vehicles. We would be very suprised if this new form of

Besides, SkyTran is currently only operating in one city in the entire world. The system is costly to implement and

convincing city officials to take a huge gamble on this new monorail requires a lot of negotiating. Basically, don't

expect this form of competition to emerge in your city any time.

Even though SkyTran is not going to become a threat any time soon (if at all), we wanted to get the word out before

anyone gets nervous. If you have been wondering if these new monorails are a serious threat, then relax! Cab

companies have survived much, much worse and are here to stay.

Gazoop Blog

Is SkyTran a Threat to Cab Companies?