Urban Mobility 2011: Personal Rapid Transit

You seem sure the creators of PRT designs haven't considered all your fears, and compensated for those potentialities with design features.

well they're not discussing them in the video at all.

A Camera and a lock down feature will keep any problems monitored and contained. simple. heck the PRT could drop off the offender at the Cop Shop.

so one security guard for every twelve cars or so. Doesn't sound particularly cheap. Also removes the privacy factor which is why people like cars in the first place. I reiterate my zip car comment below.

There is no privacy in public. There is a camera anywhere there is a transaction of currency, take a look around you. I'm sure you have had a camera on you while in your car.

The 12 cars/ security guard thing i'm not sure where you get that number. There are automated monitoring devices in everything, motion sensors that detect if someone is in a PRT, smoke detectors, vibrations sensors, etc. and if someone feels like they are in danger you would put in a panic button and a phone(like an elevator). seems like a 1-2 person job per 50+ cars.

This security trip you are on is going a little too far and im not really sure where you get your info, security would be easier in these since they would be isolated to small groups of people, no mass bombings etc. So, stop being a negative Nancy and think about how this can help. Like they said in the video the biggest hurdle is financing it.

-"The 12 cars/ security guard thing i'm not sure where you get that number. "-
security companies do all sorts of tests to see how many monitors a security guard can keep track of. for constant surveilance that is the number. 4 at a time on a revolving system rotating every 30 sec or so.

-"..stop being a negative Nancy and think about how this can help."-
Bite me. I'll think what I want when i want thankyouverymuch. I am well aware of the uses here. This does not mean that potential problems should be ignored just so you can throw your hands up and dance around in circles ejaculating rainbows. This is still reality we are living in.

Would this be good if you can make it work? Sure. Are there ways to make it work? probably.
Things like this must be thought all the way through. These things could easily turn into another cabrini green debacle if not carefully dealt with. New ideas aren't necessarily good simply because they are new. Private use of public space is not a new problem. It needs to be considered.
This is why republicans make fun of liberals. And why liberals make fun of the tea party for that matter.

dogma is a model. it is not reality. Think it through.

The question is why did they get rid of it? There had to be a reason. Tradidtionally the problem with personal rapid transit is that it produces serious crime problems. You get a lot of muggings from people hiding in the cars and prostitutes using them as office space.

> Tradidtionally the problem with personal rapid transit is
> that it produces serious crime problems

Prior to Heathrow and Masdar, only one PRT system was put into operation on this world. I would love to see the West Virginia University PRT crime statistics you used to reach your conclusions, and how they compare with other urban rail systems of comparable size/ridership.

so would I.

It depends on the reason(s) 1000s need to be moved quickly. The common situations are:

1. Waiting for transit. You can see large numbers of people at bus stops and rail platforms because they have to wait until the arrival of their desired bus or train. PRT is on-demand like an elevator, people would depart immediately or very soon.

2. Populous locations. Serving a large number of people is a function of providing enough berths at PRT stations, short distances between stations in order to distribute demand, and having a large number of pods in the system.

If you are so against monorails and PRT systems, then please let us hear your suggestions for alternative means of urban transportation.

The Simpsons monorail video (Spamsons? Neologism!) is practically de rigeur for PRT comment threads. I'm surprised anyone still considers its inclusion to be original or witty.

I get minused for a simpsons video because someone said monorail?

I'm not against them. I'm saying the video is not addressing the problem that all public private spaces right down to bushes in parks traditionally have.

A method for accountability needs to be put in place. One example would be a zip car like system where to use one a person needs an account and a credit card, and is made personally responsible for the vehicle while s/he is using it.

Thank you for the link, it's great to know that people are working hard to make this form of transportation a reality.

Which is why there is an upgrade project now underway.

Vehicles in the Heathrow system are battery powered, in an areawide power failure they would continue to their destinations. The guideway serves as a walkway if evacuation is required; the ends of the vehicle are hatches.

Thank you for pointing this out, the PRT systems as well as monorails have several fail safe features which include emergency door release (as on conventional trains) and walkways alongside the tracks (even elevated ones) for people to walk to the next platforms should the need arise.

1. Some PRT designers plan walkways or other emergency egress procedures where they believe such would be required by local code.

2. Others believe that in a power failure it would be safer for riders to stay in their pods rather than get out on an elevated guideway, possibly at night and/or in bad weather. Under that design philosophy, the vehicle is designed to have very low odds of breakdown (e.g. simple design, critical system redundancy), and the ability for another pod to push a breakdown to the nearest station for safe deboarding.

Naturally, systems in the 2nd category are less viable as *public* systems if incompatible with local code. It is conceivable that PRT could be regulated under codes for elevators rather than transit, such as in a situation like a corporate campus where the PRT is wholly on private property.

I've entered the thread at the linked discussion.

You are correct it is absolutely proven technology, London's Heathrow airport, as mentioned in the video, shows that it is workable. However, governments have a difficult time accepting it for large scale transport, that is where they believe it is "unproven." It's that chicken/ egg dilemma, if you can't built a large scale mass transport system to prove it works then they have no reason to accept that it does.