Turbolifts

[Captain Picard's Hair]

Turbolifts have always been taken for granted in Trek; the episode "The Royale," though dreadful, did show a Starfleet officer's reaction to elevators as we know them.

Question is, how is this almost magical evolution of the elevator possible? There can't always be a lift waiting for you at any stop on the ship at all times. For one thing, it'd mean that there's a stack of turbolift cars filling the shaft, one at each deck - none of them capable of moving!

[Monroe]

I'm not familiar with the episode but I have wondered why they don't wait more than a few seconds.

[sunnyside]

Memory Alpha, which is supposed to only use cannon/semi-cannon sources says.

"In a Galaxy-class starship, turbolifts are regulated by turbolift control and an average of ten turbolift cars are in service at any one time. Some peak usage times, such as change-of-shift, can call for a doubling of the turbolift cars with only a 22% decrease in efficiency. The reason this is possible is because the turboshaft network is designed with the specific purpose to allow multi-access loops and thus permitting a flexible route for each turbolift car."

So it sounds like cars can be added to the system as needed. So when you request the turbolift it might pop out a car just for you which would be there almost immediatly. Extra traffic would tend to just affect the time it takes to reach your destination.

[Tiberius]

I'd say that internal sensors are keeping track of everyone as well. if it detects a person headed for a turbolift, it sends one to the lift stop they are headed to.

[Mikey]

I'd say that internal sensors are keeping track of everyone as well. if it detects a person headed for a turbolift, it sends one to the lift stop they are headed to.

Excellent idea. But in general, it seems that the turbolift system is more like an internal light rail than anything else, with a corresponding increase in capacity for high-volume travel times.

[mlsnoopy]

Commandstaff doesn't have a problem geting a ride but how is that with an ordinery crewman. Do they have dedicated lifts for the bridge an other important departments, like enginering and main sickbay. Do turbolifts only go up and down.

[Mikey]

I had thought that turbolifts went laterally as well as vertically, but I don't go much into the TM's or things like that, so perhaps someone else can shed more light. And Tiberuius' idea of tracking people and supplying cars when necessary could be applied to senior/ranking officers only, except in emergencies.

[Captain Seafort]

And Tiberuius' idea of tracking people and supplying cars when necessary could be applied to senior/ranking officers only, except in emergencies.

Why that way round - I'd apply it generally most of the time and limit it to serior officers in emergencies. They're the ones the ship depends on the most to operate at maxium effectiveness.

Congratulations on the promotion.

[Mikey]

Thanks!

I had thought of expanding the availability during emergencies because during normal operations, junior staff and enlisted crew could wait for a lift, while during an emergency situation, we would:

#1 - expect that non-essential personnel are going to be out of the way and not requiring a lift anyway, and

#2 - require that essential personnel, even if not senior staff, get to where they're needed ASAP.

[Jabber Swarky]

Umm, forgive my limited/Skewed knowlege of the ST canon, but..

Whats wrong with stairs? o.o

...Though.. semi answering myself here.. i suppose that you can only really have one person on a flight of stairs at once unless everyones going the same way, and you can fall down stairs. That and Turbolifts are easier to seal in events of depressurisation.

Though, on the other hand, in an emergency you dont have to wait for the stairs to arrive =p

[Aaron]

Umm, forgive my limited/Skewed knowlege of the ST canon, but..

Whats wrong with stairs? o.o

...Though.. semi answering myself here.. i suppose that you can only really have one person on a flight of stairs at once unless everyones going the same way, and you can fall down stairs. That and Turbolifts are easier to seal in events of depressurisation.

Though, on the other hand, in an emergency you dont have to wait for the stairs to arrive =p

The pre-refit TOS Enterprise had numerous ladders going between decks. I believe the central cast used them several times.

[Blackstar the Chakat]

Whats wrong with stairs? o.o

Well there was talk about having a set of stairs in TNG, but for a main staircase or possibly any staircase, it would have to be three stories tall to look realistic. It might be possible with CGI technology to do it on a regular basis now a days, but back then they were limited in that regard.

[sunnyside]

Commandstaff doesn't have a problem geting a ride but how is that with an ordinery crewman. Do they have dedicated lifts for the bridge an other important departments, like enginering and main sickbay. Do turbolifts only go up and down.

There have been some Okudagrams(sp) I do believe that show networks that move laterally. And if they didn't move laterally there would be lots of walking to get from a bridge to a rear shuttlebay.

[Captain Picard's Hair]

The lifts would have to be able to move laterally in order to allow travel to any location in the ship, which they seem to be able to do. Consider the fairly frequent main-bridge-to-engine-room trips.

Automatic rerouting is something I thought of, and it would also nicely explain why nobody needs to press an elevator button like we do today. Still, even with this system, it is quite remarkable that we never, even once, see a delay. It just seems to stretch credibility.

[Mikey]

That particular credibility stretch is so small compared to some others that I'd consider it negligible.