Ground Vehicles in Trek

[Aldaron]

We dont' really see any ground vehicles in ST except for the Argo, IIRC. My default assumption was that ground vehicles were pretty much 'speeders, ala Star Wars, but when I sat and thought about it, we actually have no evidence for this.

Does anyone else have any ideas? The reason I'm asking is that I'm kind of sketching out a planetary exploration type series based in a scientific outpost/colony, where the colony usually has little or no access to ships or transporters, and will need to travel large distances cross-country. Plus, I kind of figured that exploration is as much about the journey as the end.

Ideas?

[Phoenix]

There's a fine section on ground vehicles in Steve Long's Dominion War Sourcebook. You can get a zipped copy of it from Owen's "Memory Icon" site under the Spacedock section.

[Aldaron]

Thanks, Phoenix - I haven't read thru the Spacedock stuff for a while, and had forgotten about the DWS ground-vehicles stuff. I'll have to check the ESO, as well, having now been reminded!

[The Tatterdemalion King]

We see some hover-cars in "All Good Things," but aside from that, public transit rules in the Federation.

[IceGiant]

In DS9 they mention hoppers for transporting ground troops if I remember correctly. My guess is that they are ground based shuttles.

[spyone]

Most of what we have seen suggests there are little or no land vehicles in the Federation: most every vehicle flies. People do seem fond of walking, though.

I agree they have a niche, though. As you said, sometimes it is about the journey, and a slow vehicle moving along the ground offers a chance to look around while still covering more ground than would be possible on foot.

IIRC, there was a video game a few yars ago set in the Star Trek universe that was about building a colony,and it had a variety of vehicles, though the only one I can recall at the moment was a hover-tank. It might be a good place to start, idea-wise.

[Tricky]

If you consider the Trek reboot canon, then we see that before Kirk even got into SF, Highway patrolmen(bots?) were issued "speeder bikes" (interesting aside: there was to be footage of Surrack, Spock's dad, racing home on a 'speeder bike' in the movie, but it was cut), so if the tech was being used by local law enforcement, it probably would be the norm everywhere.
But then what about the Argo (other than a chance to have a vehicle that looks like Master Chief should be driving in a Trek movie)?

Perhaps the FED/SF uses all sorts of stuff: there seems to be a lot of environmental factors that limit use of basic ST technology (nebula's scramble sheilds and sensors, ionic distrubances prevent transport, EVERYTHING screws up the holodeck ), so perhaps they use both hover car/speeders and wheeled vehicles. It also, like in the Firefly series, could be question of resources: A land speeder might eat up fuel or energy, while the FED equivelant of a SUV might be fuel efficent by comparison.

That last point could even be part of your series:FED citizens complaining about having to go in 'primative' wheeled vehicles using 300 mpg fuel cells, instead of the super convienent hover busses they are used to using!

[JALU3]

I agree they have a niche, though. As you said, sometimes it is about the journey, and a slow vehicle moving along the ground offers a chance to look around while still covering more ground than would be possible on foot.

Walking, good for you, but for journeys when you have the option, overrated. Says Kevin Smith.

Vehicles need not be bad, even for the environment, look at that Bike on B5

Sure private transportation is least efficient at moving a mass amount of people. But it's not about moving a mass amount of people. I mean seriously if for recreation you can parachute from orbit, there have to be vehicles somewhere!

[spyone]

Yes, there will be private transportation, but everything we've seen would indicate that most private transportation flies.
I mean, think about it: wouldn't you prefer a car that flies? There would still be "roads" (dedicated travel lanes), but since they are not physical things but rather designated areas, they require no physical infrastructure. If they are high enough, birds are unlikely to be an issue, meaning they do not interfere with wildlife at all. The advantages go on and on.

However, trek has provided plenty of precedent for something flummoxing the tech (usually to prevent technology from short-circuiting the plot), so there are probably worlds where Federation anti-grav doesn't work, and people use "primitive" wheeled vehicles.

As for the Argo, .... Patrick Stewart is apparently a fan of off-roading. And product placement may have been involved.
The relevant bits are near the middle of Part 2 (sub-part 5, specifically), but the whole review is worth the time.