Transportation

I'm not going to make any new vehicles, or rules, here. I'll let FASA pull their own wiener out of that pooch.

Airports

Airports in 2054 (or there-bouts) are a security nightmare; for the passenger, that is. Since the corporations are basically foreign entities, they all treat each other with quite the paranoid attitude. Customs is most times just short of a full cavity search with large pointy metal objects. Electrified. One good thing: You only have to go through customs once per direction. Most corps and governments realized that a little paranoia is a good thing, but too much is a bad thing.

Getting around an airport isn't too hard. Trains, buses, trams and quick hover transports are readily available (although not always for free) as well as local helicopter or vectored-thrust transport to the surrounding community.

Interterritory Transport

In Seattle and want to get to Denver? No problem. You don't have to pack yourself into a duffel bag and smuggle yourself in a panzer (unless you like that sort of thing). The fastest way, of course, is air transport (NAGRL/NAGNA). Alternatives are available, though. Trains still exist, although not as widespread as they are in Germany of today. The old Amtrak lines are still in place and used by the high-speed express trains.

Trains, also, do not go everywhere. Some territories won't allow them through. You'll have to get off at a station that has a bus station that will service that territory.

Vehicles

Cars, Cars, Cars. Ain't America great! (OK, Italy's pretty cool too!)

All production cars built and sold in North America (and most likely Europe as well) have full seatbelts/harnesses, airbags, side impact airbags, porous gel (ala Judge Dredd comics), and a few other safety devices. They also have tinted glass as a standard feature and the headlights come on automatically (you can't turn them off without installing a kill switch). They also have auto locking doors and idiot-proof locks.

If a vehicle has a pilot rating (most do) then the vehicle will have some rudimentary sensors. The level of the pilot can be used for the simpler rolls that might come into play.

Vehicle Control Rigs

VCRs are a full VR rig in which the character's senses are overlaid with the data needed to fully, and efficiently, control the vehicle. Certain muscle signals are intercepted and interpreted as a direct vehicle control (i.e. acceleration and braking). Signals such as these do not make it to the physical body part; instead they directly manipulate the vehicle. Other muscle signals are left untouched by the VCR so that the rigger is able to do things like manipulate a radio or some other manual control. (An enterprising rigger with a good electronics skill could route almost anything and everything through the vehicle's rig.)

And what about full VR? Deckers can have reality filters, why can't a rigger? After all, if the rigger is rigging from within a vehicle he can support a hell of alot more hardware and electronics than any decker. Plus, the effects are all internal to the vehicle and the rigger.

A vanilla rig (one without a custom filter) would simply place a comprehensive set of heads-up displays in the rigger's field of view (on his optic nerve) and interpret a standard set of muscle signals. These standard signals are known to all riggers and are simple to execute (i.e. right foot is the accelerator, and left foot is the brake).

Jacks

If a vehicle is rigged then it will have a rigger connection port. This port accepts the standard interface jack which is reminiscent of those big headphone jacks your dad used to use. (I used to use them too, but you don't need to know that.) This is the standard type of jack connector in use in 2054. The plug is about .5cm in diameter and about 2cm in length. The main body of the jack is stainless steel polished to a nice sheen. The end has a grabber knob at the tip and some conductive rings just below that. The cable can be made from a variety of material: glass fiber, plastic, metal sheath, etc... It can be connected to the jack with most any type of connector: straight, perpindicular or even with a u-joint.

The ports usually have some type of quick release cover. The most common of these is a sphincter valve that automatically opens upon detection of a jack making it's presence known.

Electric Vehicles

Electric vehicles have become quite popular for the city-dwelling. Recharge times are easily handled by parking at a recharge post/port during the day, or at home at night. Many Mass-transit vehicles are run off of electricity in conjunction with solar power. These vehicles are almost totally non-polluting.

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