The Trampoline Sidewalk: The Best Way To Walk To Work

This is being called extreme walking, but it looks more like extreme bouncing to me. First of all, how great would it be to walk to work? I walk to work every day from my bedroom to my home office. Nah, I do have to get out in traffic every now and then. I much prefer to take the train than to drive my car though. If I lived anywhere near this trampoline-style sidewalk, I’d walk to work every chance I could.

This reminds me a little bit of those moving sidewalks in the airport, only way better since this is outside. It’s called Fast Track, and it was a trampoline sidewalk in Russia that gave a whole new meaning to commuting from place to place. It was created by Salto Architects as a way to liven up the day-to-day moving that we all do to get from one place to another. Unfortunately, it was only set up during the Archstoyanie Festival so it’s not a permanent part of the environment.

This particular trampoline sidewalk was only 170 meters long, but I could see this type of thing being installed all over the city. Everyone would want to get outside to get some bouncing exercise. The only thing is, you would have to be careful about what you were carrying. A cup of coffee, your smartphone or anything fragile could spell disaster as you leave yourself at the mercy of this trampoline and gravity. I bet you’d get to work faster than walking too. I think you can cover more distance by bouncing than by taking traditional steps. According to Salto’s website, “Fast Track is an integral part of park infrastructure, it is a road and an installation at the same time.” This is a half-practical and half-art display of how we could make our lives just a little more cheerful and a little less serious. Love it!