Campaign Objectives [Opinion]

the objective of this website/blog is to establish a reference system by 2010.

What is a reference system ?

Many organizations involved with transit might well consider a PRT system but they perceive the risk as too great. We are talking huge sums of money here. Every transit system in the world is a complex financial ecology between government, a number of transit providers, the passengers and the the public. It takes a lot to convince them.


Critcally from the transport engineering point of view there is no up front data on how 'attractive' ( to use a non technical term) the system is. That is it is difficult to predict how many people are likely to use the system. With out these numbers then its difficult to put a strong business plan together.

A reference system must be something which members of the public can travel on. It must be do at a small scale what the large system needs to do. A reference system must demonstrate all the key technologies operating and it must do so ideally with out a huge cost over run.

While some may produce objections to Personal Rapid Transit we must differentiate between objections to even bothering to see if it is workable (i.e the reference system) and objections to installing a network of systems in many cites.

For example if you belive PRT will never be cost effective then the you have nothing to fear from building a reference system. All the reference system will do is confirm your suspicions. Many of the oppositions to PRT are to the projections from the system designers.

In many ways the anti-prt lobby create a Catch 22 situation. "There are no current PRT systems. There fore your claims are based on your wild projections. We contend that your projections are dubious. We object to building even one PRT system based on these dubious predictions". Clearly this creates a self fore filling prophecy of objection.

A better way to do this would be - create a test system running with real people on it. If the cost over runs are extensively over that of a similar monorail/light rail system/software project then no other PRT systems should be build.

The real problem with evaluating a new system is that is like ALL new things there will be cost over runs. The cost over runs on the channel tunnel springs to mind and that wasn't using any fundamentally new technology ( just trains and holes). Even the introduction of new fleet of buses in London BBC Link had serious technical difficulties. So to imagine a wholly new PRT technology with no cost overruns is naive in the extreme. A perfect test would have two systems linked side by side so we could more fairly compare the results.

If PRT only offered a 1% or 2% improvement on the current situation then you might not argue that effort would be worth while. PRT does offer the most radical changes to transportation and the urban environment. This is the kind of change we desperately need.

What is personal rapid transit ?(non technical version)

It's best to explain this by way of a conceptual journey. You are at your home near Abbyvale and want to go to Bokton.

1) You walk to your local station. Ultimatly most local stations are quite close to domestic developments. The local ( one birth ) stations are quite small. For an elevated Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) System the station could be little more than an elevator on the ground level. On average the walk is the same kind of walk you do to walk to car parking (YMMV).

2) In the station you approach a large ticket machine. This machine lets you pick your destination station. You pay with a travel card ( pay as you go card),credit/debit card or money. Generally you then move to a 'bay' for local stations there are only bay but larger stations (sports arena/station,central stations) have multiple bays.

Like a lift, one door opens to another door and you can enter the carriage/pod/what-ever.

3) You sit on a seat. Like a lift once settled you click/press a 'go' button. Doors shut and your are off. Like a lift if the doors are blocked or the carriage/pod over loaded then the carriage/pod stays put and waits for someone/thing to get out. Unlike a lift you don't share with anyone else. Like a car you can be accompanied by who you choose and like a car everyone has to go to the same destination.

4) The carriage/pod then pulls out and travels along the guide way. Things which a PRT system doesn't do.
a) Stop at every station along the way ( like train/bus)
b) stop at every intersection along the way( like a car/bus)

due to items a) and b) you arrive at your destination station before a train/bus and in the right conditions before the car.

5) You arrive, get out. Unlike a car you don't need to look for parking.

For you the traveler it is that simple.


For some pictures check out
Ultra images/Video
More images
Videos

about me [opinion?]

About me

As promised some information about me. My background is as an Engineer with a green/environmental bias and I have work as a Programmer/Researcher into the field of pedestrian movement and have done so in the last 20 years. As such I come into contact with the fields of urban planning and transportation studies.

I also worked for some time in Georiga for the Georgia Regional Transport Authority - a quasi governmental body that was established to do something about pollution/congestion in Atlanta. It was close to being a smart growth led authority, with a strong emphasis on public transit. I left when I wanted to return to England after the birth of my first child. I'm back in the UK now doing more pedestrian research.

So I am not involved with any PRT program/company, I don't receive a penny from evangelizing any of these technologies. I'm not attached to ANY established transit technology and but I know enough about traffic modeling ect to understand the technicalities behind them.

I have a strong interest in how certain technologies are adopted and others are dropped. PRT (in my view) is an interesting case of a Cinderella technology. Some thing which may well change society and the environment for the better.

In general I love new technologies and I love to invent them as well ( see my other blog). I'm not an anti-progress Luddite I also don't think ANY thing new is necessary good.


Please feel free to comment - that's what it's there for.

About this blog

I've noticed that there is one blog which has a distinctively anti-PRT feel to it and I thought I would have a go at writing a more even handed one. This isn't to say I am 'fan' of PRT quite the reverse.

There are 80+ proposed PRT systems which cover the full spectrum from poorly considered through to 'ready to go'. I only personally approve of some of them. Some systems are proposed by designers and artists others have a strong engineering background. That is to say some are more workable than others. To be a PRT systems are PRT systems by dent of overlap between them.

To explain PRT is a word like CAR or BUS or Website. While one make of Car/Bus/Website might be fantastic ANY car may be either a pipe dream or a con scheme. Someone may extort money from you on one website but this doesn't mean that ALL websites or are evil and the internet is just a 'scam'. One car might have a technical fault or deficiency but this does not mean that EVERY car of EVERY design has the same fault.

This blog is an attempt to make a journal of the PRT community. I will post some of my own personal opinions but will endeavor to make sure you can tell opinion from fact.

check the other posts for some information about my background so you can make your own judgement on my bias.

For a link to the mother or all PRT websites click here

PRT home

What is Personal rapid transit

Personal rapid transit (PRT) is a transport method that offers on-demand non-stop transportation between any two points on a network of specially built guideways. PRT has been reinvented many times because it optimizes standard mathematical models used by transit-planners.
Because it is mathematically optimal, PRT developers and advocates say that it will provide more convenient service than cars, with the social advantages of public transport, and low (excellent) environmental impact. Some advocates estimate PRT's per-mile costs as ranging between $0.10/mile (the cost of a moped) to $0.01/mile (a bicycle is $0.03/mi


from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_rapid_transit