Freelance TravellerEconomy Passage
This article originally appeared in the November/December 2012 issue. The reprint (in this form) in the January/February 2025 issue was edited for clarification of some ideas and for consistency of sources.
Economy Passage is an alternative to Low Passage, eliminating the need for cryoberths in commercial ships. I do not see them eliminating cryoberths completely, as cryoberths do have advantages in some situations, such as preservation of the mortally ill or wounded during transport to competent medical attention.
Two well-known Traveller elements combine with some easily-designed custom equipment to create the Economy Passage: Fast Drug and Med Scanners already exist; the transfer bunk and the grav gurney are custom-designed.
Fast Drug
Fast Drug is described as a survival drug that slows the metabolism of the recipient, causing time to seem to speed up by a factor of 60:1, so for each minute of perceived time, an hour actually passes. Standard Fast Drug comes in pill form and a single dose lasts 60 days. Fast Drug is available at TL 9 and has a retail price of Cr200 per dose.
As Fast Drug is well-established in the milieu, there are no intrinsic dangers to the passenger from its use. Sleeping in a protected environment, monitored by machines, significantly reduces the physical dangers to someone living at such a slow rate.
A technology not discussed in Traveller material to date, but available today in the ‘real world’, is Non-Invasive Drug Administration (NIDA). Most readers will be familiar with it in the form of the hypospray from Star Trek. At current technology levels (TL8-9), the apparatus is bulkier than depicted in the series, but works on the same principle, and can be used to replace injection or intravenous administration. Here, rather than pill form with binders, fillers, and time-release agents, the drug is supplied in pure form, shipped as molecular powder, and dissolved or suspended in a liquid for administration as required. This also allows controlling the dose for time of effect. Because it is not pressed into pills it requires less processing by the pharmaceutical manufacturer, and thus a lower production cost (and therefore lower cost per administered dose to recipients). See the section on “Calculating the Cost of Economy Passage” for cost and availability of Fast Drug in this form.
Med Scanners
| Med Scanners | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TL | Compact | Regular | ||
| Mass (kg) | Cost (Cr) | Mass (kg) | Cost (Cr) | |
| 8 | 1.5 | 7500 | 11.25 | 30000 |
| 9 | 0.5 | 1500 | 3.75 | 6000 |
| 11 | 0.2 | 500 | 1.50 | 2000 |
| 13 | 0.1 | 250 | 0.75 | 1000 |
| The volume of any compact med scanner is negligible; a regular med scanner is 1l | ||||
Med scanners come in two sizes, compact and regular. The compact med scanner can provide vital readings in a matter of seconds, record those readings, and be set to alert on certain conditions, for example if the breathing rate, blood pressure, heart rate, or blood glucose drops below or climbs above a particular range. They include a NIDA function and are capable of administering up to three different drugs. A compact med scanner is used with a single patient. The regular version can do what the compact one does, and can interface with and monitor a large number of compact scanners on a rotating basis. It also includes a complete expert system diagnosis computer, which allows individuals with little or no medical skill to diagnose and treat illness and injury on an emergency basis.
Transfer Bunks
| Transfer Bunks | |
|---|---|
| TL | Cost (Cr) |
| 9 | 1,750 |
| 11 | 750 |
| 13 | 500 |
The accommodations for our economy passengers take the form of what I call a transfer bunk. In the design sequences for seats in Fire, Fusion, and Steel, the only difference between the first three types of seats is volume. I interpret this as providing flexibility for exact size. I therefore decide that the mass of a transfer bunk will be about 75kg including the med scanner, air circulation equipment, enclosures, a specialized low power computer, comm gear, and the magic fingers in the mattress to prevent bedsores. The transfer bunk also contains a power source so that it can be disconnected from ship power and relocated to a ground facility if needed. The cost is Cr250 plus the cost of the med scanner. Add the mass for the passenger and baggage allowance and you have what you need.
The baggage allowance can be whatever you decide; perhaps 10kg, like Low Passage. I allow up to 125kg for the passenger and baggage for a total mass of a transfer bunk of 200kg. The volume for stowage of baggage is included in the transfer bunk.
The computer interfaces with the med scanner and comm gear and can access the ship’s computer to download (only) entertainments such as books, movies and music. The only output device is a “cloth” touch screen, typically mounted over the head of the bed which can produce flat images, low-res 3D, and sound.
Transfer bunks are typically 0.8m wide × 2m long and stacked four or more high (depending on deck heights). They are usually spaced 1m between the opening side and any obstructions at a minimum to allow for operational room. On ships with large Economy Passenger sections, the bunks can be placed on tracks so they can be slid from side to side to share the 1m between multiple racks of bunks.
Grav Gurney
Next, we need a gurney to move the economy passengers from where they go to sleep to the transfer bunk assigned to them for the voyage. If a starship has a sickbay then there is probably already a gurney onboard. If not, you can use my design or design one of your own.
| Grav Gurneys | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| TL | Mass (kg) | Cost (Cr) | Lateral Thrust |
| 9 | 91.216 | 11,726 | 8% |
| 10 | 47.936 | 11,025 | 12% |
| 12 | 28.821 | 10,528 | 16% |
All grav gurneys are 70cm wide by 2m long with a height that varies with TL, and have 5kN of CG thrust, a portion of which can be used laterally as indicated in the table. The integrated electronics package includes a CM 1.00 CP 1.00 computer, gyrocompass, radar altimeter, transponder, voice activation system, follow-along radar, and inertial positioning.
Gurneys come with a set of preprogrammed commands for basic operations. Programming new commands only requires a basic computer task. Combining commands can allow more efficient operation, such as using ‘find center of gravity’ with ‘follow tilt’ to allow the operator to ride on the gurney with the patient at a faster rate than would be possible with a simple ‘follow operator’ command.
Calculating the Cost of Economy Passage
As with any form of passage, a ship operator is going to want to cover costs and make a reasonable profit. For Economy Passage, the cost factors are as follows:
- Cost of Fast Drug
- Cost of Passage Space
- Cost of Life Support
Cost of Fast Drug
As defined in Classic Traveller Book 2: Starships, Fast Drug slows down the patient’s metabolism at a ratio of 60:1—that is, for every hour that the patient experiences subjectively, sixty hours of “real time” passes. It is administered in pill form, and the effect lasts for 60 days of “real time”. The cost in the 1977 edition is Cr200 per dose; this was raised to Cr2000 in the 1981 edition. It can be countered early by an antidote; one dose of the antidote costs Cr900 per dose. Thus, in theory, the standard Fast Drug + Antidote could be used for Economy Passage at a cost of Cr1100 (per 1977 prices) or Cr2900 (per 1981 prices).
The alternative proposed is that the drug is administered in a quantity that would not require early administration of an antidote, thus saving the cost of the antidote, and, since the full amount of the standard dose would not be required, reducing the cost of the Fast Drug itself as well. We calculate the reduced dose as follows:
The standard dose is good for 24 hours of perceived time, and the patient is under its influence for 60×24, or 1440 hours of real time. Barring misjump, one jump lasts for 168 hours, ±10%, or from 151 hours to 184 hours. Obviously, we should use the higher figure for calculating the dose, and add some time at both ends of the trip to allow for transferring an already-prepared passenger between the starport facilities and the ship facilities. Allowing a full eight hours on each end for passenger transfer and medical monitoring for initiation and recovery brings the total time to 200 hours.
200 hours is 13⁸⁄₉% of 1440 hours (200÷1440), so the amount (and cost) of the dose should be 13⁸⁄₉% of the standard, or Cr27⁷⁄₉ (Cr200×13⁸⁄₉%) by 1977 rules, or Cr277⁷⁄₉ (Cr2000×13⁸⁄₉%) by 1981 rules. We will use the 1981 cost, but round down to Cr275 (and pad other costs to compensate).
Cost of Passage Space
In Classic Traveller Book 2: Starships, High and Mid passengers required staterooms (at 4 tons displacement each) and Low passengers required a Low Berth (at one-half ton displacement each). As described, a Transfer Bunk’s displacement, including stowage for the passenger’s baggage allowance, is one-quarter ton, and costs less than Cr10,000 complete. Given that a Low Passage costs Cr1,000 and the Low Berth costs Cr50,000 to install, we can set the price of the use of the Transfer Bunk at Cr10,000÷50, or Cr200 (which includes some “padding” of the costs for rounding purposes).
Cost of Life Support
Per Classic Traveller Book 2: Starships, the per-jump cost of life support is Cr2,000 per stateroom whether occupied or not, and Cr100 per occupied Low Berth. Since the Economy passenger’s requirements should not be more than ¹⁄₆₀ of the cost of a Mid passenger, life support should be less than Cr35 per jump (Cr2,000÷60=33.33), unless we wish to assume that the medical monitoring will incur an additional cost (which we can set at the same Cr100 as for a Low Berth, for simplicity), Thus, we can say that the cost of life support for an Economy Passage will be less than Cr150 per jump.
Totaling up the costs as calculated (or set by fiat) above, we have Cr275 (Fast Drug)+Cr200 (Transfer Bunk)+Cr150 (Life Support and Monitoring)=Cr625. Setting the cost by fiat to the same Cr1,000 as a low passage yields a healthy profit. As the Economy Passage is safer than Low Passage, it may be desirable to charge a premium.
Tips and Tricks
Sleeper Under the Bed
You could add a transfer bunk for each stateroom without any added volume requirement if your staterooms have built-in beds on the same wall as the door. Consider the illustration: The four numbered doors open into identical 3m × 3m staterooms. #1 shows the normal layout. #2 shows what is under the bed: two sets of 50cm × 55cm drawers, and a baggage area and bunk for an economy passenger to hibernate the trip away.
All you need is 60cm or so clearance beneath the bed. #3 shows the transfer bunk slid out into the passageway for access. This could be crew country or passenger territory.
The Fast Watch
Fast Watch could replace Frozen Watch. The Imperium could use a slightly different formula or dosing which gives a ratio of 61:1.
For a trooper a year of Fast Watch will seem like 24 days. Standing what feels like a 6-hour watch in battledress ready for action will actually be 15 days and 6 hours, which will be followed by 18 hours off-watch and off the drug. For each year of Fast Watch the actual age of the trooper will be 342 days less than the chronological age. It is important, of course, to determine how long it takes for the body to return to normal after drug administration stops—in case the trooper is actually needed for action.
Dose Timing and Other Considerations
If an economy-passage dose of Fast Drug is calculated to keep the passenger “under” for 200 hours in real time, the passenger will experience 200÷60=3⅓ hours (3 hours 20 minutes) of perceived time. This is well under a full night’s sleep, and most people will wake up briefly at most once during this period. For those who do not generally sleep well, or for those whose normal sleep schedule does not align well with the start of the journey, sleep aids (soporifics) can be used. The intent is that the passenger should be asleep (and Fast Drug administered) eight hours before being brought aboard the ship. If the passenger should wake during the trip and be unable to return to sleep immediately (within perceived minutes), the entertainment capabilities of the Transfer Bunk may be used.
Upon arrival at the destination spaceport, Economy passengers are removed from the ship and placed in a recovery facility. The amount of time spent there may be anywhere up to 48 hours.
As with any passenger-carrying starship, a ship’s medic is required. For the purpose of calculating the number of medics (and their qualifications) required, treat each Economy passenger as equivalent to two Low passengers.
Editor’s note: Clearly, there’s nothing stopping you from ruling that the Fast Drug time ratio is something other than 60:1 for Economy Passage. However, using that ratio, the Economy Passenger that sleeps under the influence of Fast Drug for eight days of ‘ship time’ will only experience a bit over three hours of ‘personal time’. Proper timing of administration of Fast Drug after sleep begins may allow for more psychological comfort for the passenger on one-Jump trips.