Post by Steven Dale
Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) is a theoretical transit technology, the theory being that in order for public transit to compete with the private automobile, it must mimic the attributes of the car.
PRT is typically imagined to have the following attributes:
1. People ride in personal vehicles of up to 4 people.
2. Vehicles are available on-demand.
3. Vehicles travel (typically) on a network of elevated guideways.
4. Off-line stations mean there is no need to stop at intermediary stations or transfer between lines.
PRT is admittedly appealing, but I think it’s mostly smoke-and-mirrors. The technology’s embrace of off-line stations is also admirable, but somewhat misguided. The appeal of off-line stations is that vehicles don’t need to stop at intermediary stations, thereby increasing overall travel speed. The trouble, however, is the need for a huge fleet of self-propelled vehicles to accomplish this feat. To achieve the same result with current rail (or maybe Cable Propelled Transit) technology, one would only have to mimic (and reverse) a technique used in 19th century known as coach slipping.
Could PRT be the transit technology of the future? Sure, why not? I try really hard in my work not to be partisan and if PRT were successfully demoed I’d be the first to jump behind it. After all, I’m the guy that thinks we should commute to work in ski lifts.
Trouble is, PRT has never actually been demonstrated. The idea is over 50 years old and it has never once been implemented. Systems at the University of West Virginia and London Heathrow call themselves PRT, but are in fact, not due to their lack of network capabilities. They are really, just small vehicle people movers.
Some day, PRT may happen and, if so, great. But I doubt it. After all, we already have Personal Rapid Transit. We just use the terms “cars,” “feet,” and “bicycles” instead.
What do you think? Is PRT the technology of the future?
Creative Commons image by Skybum
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