I wish I had such a cool school bus when I was young. The Windsled 'bus' carries school children of La Pointe, a remote village on an ice-locked island off the tip of mainland Wisconsin, to classes several weeks each year, with an operating cost of over $20,000 annually.
The windsled was built by Arnie and Ronald Nelson as a homegrown solution to their village's tricky circumstances. It is kept light on the skis by its forward motion and the way the design handles its four and a half tons over its 336 square feet. The 9,000-pound ice vehicle can accommodate around 20 students on padded benches and is propelled by its twin fans.
A School bus on Skis
The Windsled
Trend Themes
1. School Transportation Innovation - The Windsled demonstrates a disruptive innovation opportunity for transforming traditional school transportation methods.
2. Community-driven Solutions - The homegrown development of the Windsled highlights the potential for community-driven solutions in remote or challenging environments.
3. Sustainable Winter Transportation - The use of wind propulsion in the Windsled presents opportunities for sustainable transportation solutions in snow and ice-covered regions.
Industry Implications
1. Education - The Windsled showcases innovation opportunities for the education sector in terms of improving transportation for students.
2. Transportation - The development of the Windsled showcases potential disruption in the transportation industry, specifically in the winter and snow-covered regions.
3. Sustainable Energy - The use of wind as a propulsion method in the Windsled highlights opportunities for innovation in the sustainable energy industry.