Reply #45: Yes, it would take up a whole lane

[muriel_volestrangler]

You can't have it overhanging the sidewalk. That's where slow, unprotected pedestrians stand and walk. (a) They probably need the room they have now; (b) you can't take 2 foot of their space, and put a hard object moving at speed (25 mph?) in it, without a very obvious dividing line - either a fence, or (ta-da!) a kerb. So you'd have to install something else along the whole length anyway.

Your seat needs to be wide enough to seat 2 people. That would save at most 18 inches off the width of a car (which actually puts you in the realms of the standard rail gauge of 4' 8.5"). Given that you need a bit of safety room between the vulnerable pedestrians and the carriages, you're back to the width that a parked car takes up (which has the advantage of moving so slowly that you don't need room between it and pedestrians).

So what you'd have to do is just take up the whole space that cars now park in. And there's enough room in that for a double track. I also don't see why getting on to your monorail is any easier than getting on to a bus or light rail system.