Transit X SkyTran automated pods.

Another public meeting was held Tuesday night on the Boston 2024 Olympic bid. It went as one would expect: there was a lot of angry grumbling; some questioned how the city would pay for the games; and others begged Olympic organizers to put a reasonable referendum on the 2016 ballot.

Along the way, a transportation proposal was pitched, too. A very, very bold, possibly obnoxious, but undeniably jaw-dropping one: “Transit X.”

 

 

The so-called Transit X – a $1 billion, privately funded, 50-mile-long transit system seemingly straight out of a Steven Spielberg film – is likely out of the realm of possibility. But we’re going to talk about it anyway.

The first slide of the 16-slide Transit X proposal (full version available on the website) asks: “Wouldn’t it be great to have a limo on-call that could speed through a city faster than an emergency vehicle and pay the cost of a bus fare?”

Of course it would. This particular system would feature two-person automated pods, designed to “zip non-stop above traffic between mini-stations.” The futuristic transportation would operate in all weather conditions, 24 hours a day, zipping station to station, “suspended under a sleek guide-way.”

Transit Option X Boston system map.

 

An automated Transit X pod.

The $1 billion Transit X would zip across Boston, Somerville, Cambridge and Arlington, serving 500,000 daily riders. The proposal claims a 4-mile pod trip would “always” take 5 minutes.

The privately funded automated-pod system would be rolled out in five phases (for five Olympic rings), starting with a $10 million “Private Ring” in July 2015. The final ring – a $100 million public ring – would be completed in 2024, ideally before the start of the Olympics.

The Transit Option X rollout plan.

And this is where one would drop the mic.

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