 October 2, 2014 - 12:07am | I take it for granted that cabs in the Frontier are cheap. But then I was working on Public Transportation on the SF Wiki, then it hits me: If cars run on 1 SEU per km (half that for cycles), and 1 SEU costs 5 credits, then how can the cab companies afford to keep their cars running by charging customers 2 credits for the first km traveled, and 1 credit for each km after that? The only way this makes sense is if the power is somehow subsidized, or customers have to supply their own power. Hell, it is so much cheaper to take a cab, that there is no economic reason to ever own or rent a car or bike! The only way I can think of to fix this, is by raising the cost by, at the vary least, five times itself, if not more. |
 October 2, 2014 - 4:24am | Perhaps they pick up their power in bulk at Cosco? I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 October 2, 2014 - 5:26am | Is that a grid - like...trollies or some public ...electrical outlet that they can hook up to? |
October 2, 2014 - 5:39am | Trolleys require catenary wires hanging above the street. They're rather ugly and unbefitting of Port Loren, the Jewel of the Jewel of the Frontier, home of the Council of Worlds and GPC's headquarters. Besides there is the monorail. A cab, ie a ground or hover car would be powered by a Type 2 parabattery which you would recharge during down time at end of day. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 October 2, 2014 - 7:27am | Perhaps their power is beamed to them and they don't have parabatteries, as such (except for emergencies). That aside, yes, they are somewhat cheap! |
 October 2, 2014 - 9:14am | Taxi stands have those recharging pads which are feed off the grid or by solar power stations. They do not use standard parabatteries. Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
 October 2, 2014 - 10:23am | If cars run on 1 SEU per km (half that for cycles), and 1 SEU costs 5 credits An SEU costs 5 credits only if you're buying it in the smallest available form (20SEU powerclip). However, for the type 1 & 2 parabatteries that cycles & cars use respectively, it costs 1.2 credits per SEU and only 1 credit/SEU to recharge. Which still isn't profitable as they are barely breaking even (until you consider maintneance and initial vehicle acquisition costs). I paid $30 (plus a tip) to traverse less than ten miles last time I utilized one here --- which was some time prior to the $4+/gallon fuel fiasco --- and the rates have gone up considerably since then. The rates here are currently $3 for the first 1/13 mile and 30¢ per 1/13 mile after...or roughly $4 per mile plus the initial $3. I would have no qualms boosting the rates in my game, it certainly reflects reality. |
 October 19, 2014 - 1:37am | In my campaign, large cities have public access to electricity generated by solar and other methods. However, this is only in heavily populated regions of "first-world" planets. Because taxis are mostly limited to cities, they have access to free recharging. |
October 19, 2014 - 3:17pm | Wiki editor Sings-With-Spirits pointed out that generators can produce power cheaply. A Power Generator can charge-up a Parabattery of the same Type in an hour, and the daily cost is relatively cheap. After running up the numbers, it seems that all Power Generators produces 100 SEU per credit put into them. So anyone running the recharge stations (along with the cabs) would be making a tidy profit! |
October 21, 2014 - 5:38am | I think the generator tech needs some looking into. there is a set charge for running a generator but a generator can be solar, wind, petro powered. Lets face it, a disel generator should not cost the same as a solar or wind generator. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
October 21, 2014 - 11:19pm | I think the generator tech needs some looking into. there is a set charge for running a generator but a generator can be solar, wind, petro powered. Lets face it, a disel generator should not cost the same as a solar or wind generator. On the SF Wiki, the issue of the generators have cropped up. The rulebook list no weight, so it can be assumed that they are fairly heavy. The daily costs makes sense if one uses fuels, but renewable energy should be something a person can place somewhere to milk the environment for free power. Different forms of power sources should have different levels of output and upkeep costs. Personally, I would use plasma gasification as the default type of generator. |
