DISPATCH · Nº 0705
One pod is a ride. Eight pods are a train.
El Segundo Motors' answer to “less car, more people mover”: a street train of short electric pods, each with its own motor, batteries and job, that couples into eight cars for a beach Saturday and comes apart into one pod at midnight. Concept; targets, not promises.
The Segundo Line is a concept by Michael Hoydich: a people mover sized to the day.
High Tide: 6 to 8 cars for beach Saturdays and game days. Half Tide: 3 to 4 cars for weekday peaks to Metro rail. Low Tide: 2 cars for middays and evenings. Slack Tide: 1 pod on call at night.
Ten proposed car types share the work: Pilot; Open; Quiver for boards and bikes; Level for step-free access; Galley; Hold for cargo; Bandstand stage; Tender power; Seminar, a classroom for the University of El Segundo; and Hush, the quiet car.
No towed riders is the design principle: every car would drive, brake and steer itself, coupling only at hubs. A human dispatcher approves what AI proposes. These capabilities remain engineering targets, not a validated system or a claim of road legality.
Phase 0 is Saturday Tide, targeted for summer 2027: four leased low-speed shuttles operating as a radio-linked virtual train from Smoky Hollow to the beach on ten Saturdays, for a concept budget of $145k to $260k. Couplers get built only if riders show up. No vehicles, funding, dates or route permissions are booked or approved.
The companion links below open the full Segundo Line concept and Michael’s public microsite.
Michael Hoydich with Claude Opus 5.5, Claude Sonnet 5.5, Claude Haiku 5.5, Claude Fable 5.1, ChatGPT image generation and Codex
Credits and process labels reflect Michael’s supplied account, not independent verification.
Concept. Not affiliated with the City of El Segundo, LA Metro or any agency.
