Most useless ship I've ever seen

[Mikey]

I guess it's one of those "we'll never know" things - you're right, of course, but there was also a distinct paucity of vehicles.

[Sionnach Glic]

That's a good point, Seafort, we can't be sure that civilian transporters exist. For all we know they just use shuttles and transport pods to get around.

[Mark]

True. I was basing my assumption of civilian transporters on a couple of the non cannon books, and the fact that they have them on civilian ships, which I suppose on further reflection, wouldn't NESSESSARILY indicate there existance on a planet for public use.

[Teaos]

There is also the fact that it could be classified technology. Maybe civies arent alowed it to stop it spreading around.

[Mikey]

Why? PD concerns wouldn't affect the typical citizen of the UFP, and I don't think there's anybody out there without transporters already.

[Sionnach Glic]

Presumably there's a still a few races out there that have space tech, but not transporter tech. As such it'd probably be a good idea to keep it out of the hands of Joe Bloggs.

True. I was basing my assumption of civilian transporters on a couple of the non cannon books,

Well, you've pointed out the problem with that yourself: they're non canon.

and the fact that they have them on civilian ships, which I suppose on further reflection, wouldn't NESSESSARILY indicate there existance on a planet for public use.

A minor, but important, correction:
we've seen them on science ships, which are run by Starfleet. Because of that they can hardly be used to see what a normal citizen has access to.

[Captain Seafort]

Why? PD concerns wouldn't affect the typical citizen of the UFP, and I don't think there's anybody out there without transporters already.

It might be a security concern rather than a PD one, to stop hostile races getting their hands on Fed technology. The Cardies, Romulans, etc, may have transporters, but that's no reason to let them have a look at Federation transporters.

[Deepcrush]

Give me a sec to puke... Ok, I'm good.

I agree with Seafort. There are a lot of things you don't want floating around. If they capture UFP they could learn to copy it, block it, find a way too improve their own, etc. Some things are best left where the civis just can't get their hands on it. Anything a civis can buy is something your enemy can buy.

[Captain Picard's Hair]

Give me a sec to puke... Ok, I'm good.

I agree with Seafort. There are a lot of things you don't want floating around. If they capture UFP they could learn to copy it, block it, find a way too improve their own, etc. Some things are best left where the civis just can't get their hands on it. Anything a civis can buy is something your enemy can buy.

Anyone can get on a jetliner and fly around the globe, but military jets have capabilities (speed, stealth, sensors, not to mention weapons, of course) which civilian planes will never be allowed to touch. Transports would be like the jumbo jets, and some people may be able to get their hands on things like the Raven, which would be like a privately owned plane.

[Chris Propst]

Well, I doubt it's technology that floats around to anyone who wants it. I mean, think about just planetary security. Couldn't somebody just beam somebody elsewhere on the planet into space; murder with no evidence? Sure the 24th century is idyllic, but I doubt such a potentially dangerous technology would be without restriction. I imagine private transporters being rigged only to transport the biological signiatures of their owners.

[Teaos]

It seems to be treated like a bus. Anyone can use it to get around.

[Sionnach Glic]

Anyone in Starfleet with permission to use them, yes. No random crewman has ever been seen walking on or off them unless ordered to do so, and no civillian models have ever been seen.

[Graham Kennedy]

Well, I doubt it's technology that floats around to anyone who wants it. I mean, think about just planetary security. Couldn't somebody just beam somebody elsewhere on the planet into space; murder with no evidence? Sure the 24th century is idyllic, but I doubt such a potentially dangerous technology would be without restriction. I imagine private transporters being rigged only to transport the biological signiatures of their owners.

And imagine cars driven into pedestrians willy nilly. Imagine guns designed to kill masses of people. Surely such potentially murderous devices would never be allowed in public hands... but they are.

You could put a couple of restrictions onto transporter computer control systems that would make them much safer, I imagine. Such as, only allow objects to be beamed to a position no more than a few cm above the ground. Don't allow objects to be beamed into a solid object. And no doubt transporters could be designed with security locks and such... all sorts of features to make them safer, and make using them for murder harder and easier to track. Never going to be 100% effective of course, but what is?

[stitch626]

Safety... and transporters? This is Starfleet we're talking about.
On a serious note, I agree with most, if not all, of what Graham said.

[Mark]

It's just that I can't see the Federation civilian populace allowing a tech like transporters to be restricted only to Starfleet. It's too useful