A History Of Travel And Tubes

by Zoë Pollock

Jennifer Ouellette explains the history of pneumatic tube systems (think old school canister ATMs):

We have more efficient means nowadays of delivering messages (email, twitter, text messaging, etc.) but some folks still think pneumatic tube systems could be useful for, say, delivering food via pipeline. That’s the concept behind Foodtubes, a UK-based project that proposes the creation of high-speed pneumatic pipelines connecting every major city in the UK. Food items would be placed in canisters and sent zipping along the nearly 2000 miles of pneumatic tubes. It would be a major capital investment, to be sure, but might cut down on the number of delivery trucks currently clogging up London’s roadways.