Second Life Transport Authority
NOTE: THIS ARTICLE IS UNDER DEVELOPMENT. ESTIMATED FINISH DATE: MAY 10TH 2014
Under this name are the vehicles released in traffic by AnnMarie Otoole (also known as AnnMarie Oleander). The name comes from the initiales written on some of the vehicle bases and vehicles, where it appears sometimes as SL Transport Agency and SL Transit Authority. Second Life Transport Authority (or SLTA) is the largest transport company by the number of vehicles and the second largest company by land coverage, after the Yava Script Pods. It is a well organised company, with its own bases and a multitude of vehicles. If we consider the high number of bases, the amount of land holdings and the high variety of vehicles, SLTA is in first place at logistic potential.
Bases
The vast majority of bases look like gas stations, only that you don't find gas. Some stations have the sign SLTA or have modified names after oil compaies (like Hell after Shell). Important names from the auto industry are also present. Land is owned by the group Convicts. There, a traveler will most often find a vehicle waiting for passengers. Not all bases look like gas stations, some of them have unconventional design. Many other vehicles can be rezzed on command. Still, position of all bases is not known. From a total of 70 SLTA bases, about half are listed below:
- Banyan sim
- Timescape sim
- Cavedweller sim
- Roclaren sim
- Muskeg sim
- Birchwood sim
- Seyfert sim
- Gergonne sim
- Plusia sim
- Apoda sim
- Crumbi sim
- Manduca sim
- Lupulinus sim
- Epirrita sim
- Putiki Fold sim
- Yeot sim
- Eunpyung sim
- Straminsky sim
- Borgatti sim
- Effingham sim
- Horseshoe sim
- Westport sim
- Netherbeck sim
- Dauphin sim
- Svan sim
- Eldora sim
- St Maur sim
- Gangkhar sim
- Snicket sim
Vehicles
There is a huge list of vehicles available at the SLTA bases and on the roads. The list includes everything, from classic and old cars to trunks, garbage cars and even micro-cars created for pocket avatars. Majority of them are freebie vehicles. Their presence is noted also by the engine sound they create and many times by the huge amount of smoke. It is not a good idea to stay in front of a SLTA vehicle, majority of them are not phantom and might push you away.
The list of vehicles include:
- 1923 Model T
- Bethillac Fleetwood
- Bugatti Royal
- Carbon Copy MGB
- Carbon Copy Austin Haley
- Carbon Copy Midget
- Chevy Impala Convertable
- Chrysle Convertable
- Duncan Farm Truck
- Garbage Car
- Ice Cream Car
- Tanker
- M60 Tank
- Oui Coupe Roadster (micro car)
- SL Transportation Bus
- Steam Tractor
- V-Metrobus
- Yellow Taxi Cab
and not only.
Movement
SLTA cars are roaming vehicles. They don't make a tour. They have a program that allows them to move and find their way along the roads. Many people call them drunk cars.
It is very important to know that not all SLTA cars behave the same. Some of them have a really chaotic movement, some are more clever. Not all cars have the same speed. There are vehicles that have a constant speed, while others are pushed by a multitude of small impulse. The speed is usually lower then that of the Yava script pods, a very important thing that helps avatars survive sim crossings. Also, there are a few vehicles that slow or even stop at a sim crossing.
These vehicles have a very interesting behavior. They turn left or right, avoiding obstacles. They know where is the border of the road. If the road ends or they hit an obstacle, they turn back and try a different approach.
Still, sometimes SLTA vehicles behave strange. There have been observed vehicles running out of road, getting blocked at parcel borders or even flying. Sometimes, these cars end up in the top of a tree. This is the risk of the ride and this makes the ride mor einteresting.
There are convertable vehicles that become boats and move on water surface. Also, on Heterocera they follow the Guide and run on the railway.
Passenger Commands
Vehicles allow a few commands: Touch to start, touch to stop, touch the engine hood for reverse. When somebody climbs on board, usually a message tells this. Passengers have a chance to purchase one free car plus a movement script for 100 L$.
Vehicle removal
There is a function that removes used or stocked vehicles from the roads. Other vehicles are auto-returned when they got stocked.
Land coverage
SLTA vehicles are found on all roads of major continents, but their density varies up to high limits. They are most often found close to the bases. In some parts of the grid, like the inner atoll of Heterocera, they are extremely rare. An estimation made by Second Life Geography team is that vehicle frequence vary from one at every 10 minutes to one at a day.
Land coverage depends on continent. SLTA vehicles can often be found on roads of Sansara, on Satori, Jeogeot or Corsica ,a bit mroe rare in Heterocera and more rare in Gaeta 5 or Sharp Continent. They are not seen on unconnected roads (like some roads of Nautilus, fragments of roads in Gaeta 5 or Gaeta 1, Bay City or the mountain road in Heterocera. Inside Zindra, their presence has not been observed. Roads of Zindra don't allow objects entry in many places and as a direct result no transport company can operate there properly.
Importance
SLTA vehicles are owned using multiple accounts and that made a bit difficult the estimation of their number. About 80% of all roaming vehicles found on continental roads are SLTA owned. Since there are a lot of bases releasing vehicles into traffic, these vehicles have a very good land coverage.
These vehicles are not made for tours, they don't follow a specific route. They take passengers into the unknown because you never know for sure where they will go. There have been seen passengers on the SLTA cars, usually not for long distances. Residents sometimes thake a moving vehicle to reach faster their destinations. The main importance of these vehicles is decorative, roads would have no reason to exist without vehicles to move on their surface. It makes a road much more realistic when vehicles are seen on it and they move like a vehicle should do. Travellers that don't have their own cars or don't find a rezz zone take these vehicles when they are available.
As they provide free transportation, there have been noticed situations when a SLTA car has 3 or more passengers. The Yava Script Pods are too small for more then two people. The random movement of these vehicles makes the trip really interesting, since there is no way to clearly know where the car will go. There are cases when a vehicle is followed by its passengers for hours. The fact that speed is much slower, makes a sim crash more unlikely. Tourists taking SLTA vehicles have a higher chance of discovering unknown places because SLTA vehicles don't follow a route.
The other importance of SLTA vehicles is that their presence encouraged also other people to make automated vehicles.
Comments
On the sites, forums and groups, there are many discussions about SLTA vehicles. Some people want them to be removed from the roads, while some people like them to exist on roads.