The return of pneumatic tubes
Pneumatic tubes, once associated with old banks and mail systems, are quietly thriving in modern settings like hospitals, trash collection networks, and some retail operations. Commenters weigh their advantages—speed, isolation from foot traffic, low operating cost after installation—against high upfront infrastructure costs and inflexibility compared with autonomous robots or human couriers. The conversation broadens into how cities and buildings might design future logistics, from underground delivery tunnels and ceiling rails to household laundry chutes, and why many of these ideas remain niche despite clear efficiency and safety benefits in specific environments.
City- and Facility-Scale Logistics Ideas
- Several commenters imagine citywide or intra-city tube networks for parcels, food, or trash, sometimes as smaller, freight-only “hyperloop”-like systems.
- Existing concepts cited: Swiss Cargo Sous Terrain (underground robot tunnels, criticized for a decade of PR with no deployment) and Pipedream (small underground robot delivery system near Atlanta).
- Alternatives proposed: small electric vehicles on rails in narrow tunnels; lightweight elevated rails for delivery pods. Many note that human couriers on mopeds remain cheaper in practice.
Robots vs Tubes in Hospitals and Buildings
- Some argue modern semi-autonomous robots could replace pneumatic tubes for small-item transport.
- Counterpoints: robots share space with patients and staff, can be safety hazards or nuisances in crowded corridors, and are slower than tubes.
- Pneumatic systems are seen as fast, low-friction once installed; cited cost for a large hospital is roughly a few hundred thousand dollars, though remodel costs are unclear.
- Overhead rail systems are suggested but raise fire-safety and structural concerns.
Trash Management via Pneumatic Networks
- Roosevelt Island’s underground pneumatic trash system is praised for eliminating sidewalk piles.
- Broader NYC trash issues discussed: lack of alleys, on-street parking, billing and illegal dumping complications, and tradeoffs between temporary piles and permanent dumpsters.
- Some advocate Amsterdam-style underground bins; feasibility in dense, utility-cluttered sidewalks is debated.
Data Transport and “Sneakernet” Humor
- Thread veers into jokes about using capsules full of SSDs, jumbo jets, and even container ships or spacecraft as ultra–high-bandwidth “links.”
- Rough back-of-envelope comparisons note far higher data density for SSDs than tapes, and enormous potential bandwidth of freight aircraft or ships.
Historical and Ongoing Uses
- Examples span: old mail railways and city mail tubes (NYC, London, Chicago), hospital specimens, trash systems, banks and Costcos moving cash, retail stores dispatching goods, Belgian car inspections, and department-store change handling.
- One view claims hospitals are the only modern use, but multiple comments contradict this with current examples.
Home and Niche Applications
- Interest in residential systems like Laundry Jet (pneumatic laundry chute) and central vac analogies; concerns center on blockages, reliability, and fire code.
- Some fantasize about home tubes for pizza or packages, and about aesthetic devices like solari boards/flip-disc displays.
Technical Notes
- For lab samples (e.g., blood), damage is attributed more to acceleration/deceleration at tube endpoints than to top speed, limiting practical operating speeds.