Heathrow’s Personal Rapid Transport Concept

admin@dynamicusgroup.com (Eve Pearce) — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 17:32:59 GMT

Implications of the Breakthrough in Heathrow’s Personal Rapid Transport Concept

The debate as to whether or not the innovative Personal Rapid Transport (PRT) concept is gaining momentum has finally been put to rest. A successful trial of the system’s prototype was conducted at the Heathrow Airport in May 2011. The trial involved inspirational rides in low-energy and battery-powered four-sitter auto pods over a four-kilometer elevated and specialized track. The first phase of the Heathrow PRT remotely connected Terminal 5 to two different stations within the N3 Business Car Park.

Significantly, this was the second time in a row that an auto pod PRT prototype was rolled out successfully in a high traffic area. The Masdar City PRT, a rapid mass transit project that was similarly premised on the automated pods and dedicated tracks concept, was the first ever successful trial.

Would More Drivers Use Mass Transit if It Mimicked Private Cars?

willwnz@gmail.com (Will Wilson) — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 08:57:20 GMT

Picture courtesy of http://www.theatlanticcities.com

Yes, a very good question.The question is posed in this Atlantic Cities article.

People like cars because they are indeed personal and have great flexibility. But of course you need a road to run on (mostly anyway). And we all know what that is like at peak hour! The notion of PRT mirroring car like convenience is very attractive. A non-stop, point-to-point on-demand pod-car running on public infrastructure - just like cars running on a road. The big difference of course is your pod-car has no driver and is automated.

Changing the transit paradigm – flexing your routes

admin@dynamicusgroup.com (Will Wilson) — Sat, 29 Sep 2012 05:30:52 GMT

Here is another example of the need to shift our current transit paradigm. More on Personal Rapid Transit, this time in Los Angeles. A consortium of design and transit people (Southern California Institute of Architecture [SCI-Arc], The Architect’s Newspaper and LA Metro in LA) have recently addressed the challenge.

"That's the crux of our idea: leveraging existing data streams to optimize the public transit system"

You've seen Google tablet now Google PRT?

willwnz@gmail.com (Will Wilson) — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 03:22:44 GMT

Google are trying to get an 1,100 person housing complex into place at North Bayshore near their Mountain View headquarters. Mayor Mike Kasperzak is keen to support that move and has proposed a PRT solution to connect the housing complex to Google. Google founder Larry Page has previously expressed interest in PRT and there is a possibility that Google could fund this proposal

Read the article here

http://mv-voice.com/news/show_story.php?id=5829

Image courtesy www.techfreep.com

Bill Ford: A future beyond gridlock

admin@dynamicusgroup.com (Will Wilson) — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 22:40:21 GMT

Bill Ford is the great grand son of Henry Ford and he grew up inside the massive Ford Motor Co. So when he worries about cars' impact on the environment, and about our growing global gridlock problem, it's worth a listen. His vision for the future of mobility includes "smart roads," even smarter public transport and going green like never before.

Ultra PRT public trials start at Heathrow

admin@dynamicusgroup.com (Will Wilson) — Fri, 06 May 2011 03:50:23 GMT

Railway Gazzette has reported that Ultra PRT has commenced public passenger trials this week at its Heathrow airport installation. The trials follow live testing carried out late last year to date using airport staff. In live testing in Januray of this year Ultra PRT completed a total of 164 vehicle journeys between the car park stations and Terminal 5 using a fleet of 18 vehicles. "This would be the equivalent of moving 656 passengers an hour on the 1.9km journey each way, assuming occupancy of four people in each vehicle" noted an Ultra PRT public statement. All systems performed well and no issues were reported.

As has been pointed out here, while Ultra PRT's system is the second to get going (Masdar city is the first) this system has a greater real world application than the one at Masdar. The good news is that it is starting to prove real world viability for the PRT paradigm albeit in a limited size track. No doubt Auckland airport should be looking at these developments closely if they are not already doing so. A PRT system would be ideal not only for a loop connecting both National and International airports but creating a link to Manukau City. At the moment the proposed rail link from Manukau station to the airport is expected to cost some $700m and will take a lot of resource consents to achieve. A PRT system could be in for less than half that cost.

The Heathrow system is expected to go fully live in July with the 21 pod vehicles operating 22 hours a day.

Image courtesy of Ultra PRT

Buses better for Airport link?

admin@dynamicusgroup.com (Will Wilson) — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 01:56:42 GMT

Michael Barnett has raised the question of buses as an alternative to rail links. Given the substantial costs associated with the CBD rail tunnel, North Shore crossing and airport rail link, who wouldn't be casting around for lower cost alternatives. In his recent NZ Herald article he noted

Ed Anderson presents at NJTPA

willwnz@gmail.com (Will Wilson) — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 13:17:58 GMT

PRT International's Ed Anderson will be giving a special presentation at the New Jersey Transportation and Planning Authority in Newark NJ.

Dr Anderson has been working for many years to acquaint planners and decision makers with the potential of an optimized version of PRT for solving urban transportation problems. This program, which is scheduled from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM, will be a great opportunity to hear from a thought leader who has contributed significantly to the field of Personal Rapid Transit, and to engage in a lively exchange of ideas on the subject.

Outside the box solutions needed in economic climate

willwnz@gmail.com (Will Wilson) — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 17:35:06 GMT

Time for Auckland PRT study

It is easy to be sympathetic to Auckland Council Transport Chairman Mike Lee's recent frustration. Transport MInister Steven Joyce has displayed a less than enthusiastic reaction to the business case for the $2b Auckland central city rail tunnel.

True, at about 3.5km long this amounts to some $570m a kilometre bearing in mind it is tunnelling under CBD. But the benefits have been indicated and it is long overdue. If you are an Aucklander, it is also easy to sympathise with Mike Lee's; threat that if central government do not get this right - to quote

"what comes roaring out of Auckland's underground rail link could end up running down the National Government."

Masdar PRT pods take a hit

willwnz@gmail.com (Will Wilson) — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 16:22:24 GMT

As indicated in earlier articles following Masdar City's progress, a recent article has confirmed PRT podcars will not be running as previously planned. They will only run as a pilot project from the gate to the recently opened building that houses the Masdar Institute, a post-graduate university with a focus on clean energy.