Personal Rapid Transit in New Zealand - Future Transit Now

Ed Anderson has launched his new website for PRT International. He has had www.prtinternational.com   as a domain for a little while but has not felt he needed to launch a website until now. The website showcases his PRT technology which he is calling ITNS or an Intelligent Transportation Network System. Ed says ITNS synthesizes decades of research, development, design, and planning.

The launch of the website effectively shows Ed and his team are open for business and looking for opportunities to put ITNS to work. Read the current newsletter announcing the website launch here

The website was developed with assistance from our very own PRTNZ.com - a result of the working relationship between Ed and Will Wilson, the author of this site.

The change in government may herald some fast tracking to desparately needed rail electrification with ARC ready to order 35 electric trains. There are also expectations that work on the ring road route from Auckland South out to West Auckland might move forward more quickly. This infrastruture will be met by a regional fuel tax of 2c a litre from next July rising to 9.5c a litre by 2011.

Auckland City Mayor John Banks says government needed to have a greater focus on big projects requiring $1 billion of investment every year for the next 20 years. He signalled an intention to push for a $1 billion-plus underground city rail loop. It would be great for PRT to get on the agenda for his upcoming local economic summit.

Read the NZ Herald article here

What is being described as 'the current oil shock" with fuel prices expected to rise to $2.80 a litre for petrol and $2.50 for diesel, appears to be driving a "drive not to drive". The New Zealand Herald reports

"Consultants to the Government's new Transport Agency are recommending a smorgasbord of measures - including a national road pricing scheme and tax incentives for public transport passenger - to ensure those who are already driving less for economic reasons can continue doing so for decades to come." Read the article here

Nevertheless, the Green Party says Government was still spending far too much on new roads in defiance of the impact of high fuel prices. This may be borne out by an earlier report in the New Zealand Herald referring to a draft report which the Government's new Transport Agency is circulating among interested parties. The report "proposes building a four-lane motorway on a new alignment between Puhoi and Warkworth, and then an expressway of similar capacity over the 19km section to Wellsford.

The report also proposes pressing ahead with a realignment of the difficult Schedewys Hill section north of Puhoi, upgrading an extension of the Northwestern Motorway to a four-lane expressway to Brigham Creek Rd, and extending the Northern Busway to Silverdale. The realignment may form the first section of a future motorway." Read the article here

But here's the thing. In the face of increasing poplutation growth on the North Shore, increasing congestion, increasing greenhouse emissions and now increasing fuel prices why are our transport planners NOT looking at alternatives like PRT. Auckland Regional Council members have baulked at some of the roading suggestions above. The environmental impacts have also been noted. There has also been a request to the Transport Agency to work within the Auckland Growth Strategy which is partly aimed at controlling urban sprawl. But that is another point. If the Regional Council really want urban development to remain within "designated growth areas" then the appropriate transit paradigm should be the one that is flexible enough to accomodate that. PRT, at least conceptually, can provide that flexibility. It can go where people are. People are not forced to cluster to transit corridors like motorway ribbons or rail routes.

Extracted from Podcar City Conference Newsletter

On July 22, the City Council of Santa Cruz, CA, decided by a 6-1 vote to go ahead with an RFQ (Request for Qualification) with the aim of inviting PRT manufacturers to design, build and possibly operate a Podcar system between the City of Santa Cruz and the University of California Campus. The main objectives are to find solutions to increasing parking problems, congestion, and pollution and to lower greenhouse gas emissions. The RFQ clearly states the importance of aesthetics, seeking to insure that such a system does not detract from the City's renowned ambiance.

Several professors and researchers at University of California Santa Cruz support the Council decision, and recently an $80.000 grant was awarded to the University for Podcar related studies.

Read the article Podcar City Ithaca 2008 Conference - Newsletter #2

Excerpt from Podcar City conference newsletter

On Thursday July 17, 2008 Former Vice President Al Gore posed a
“Challenge to re-power America” by putting forth a framework of a plan
that is focused on addressing the significant global warming, climate
and economic issues of our time. He is seeking to shake up an energy
debate by challenging the United States to shift its entire electricity
sector to carbon-free wind, solar and geothermal power within 10 years,
and in part use that power to fuel a new fleet of electric vehicles.

Right on cue, PODCAR CITY: ITHACA offers a ground-breaking
international conference that purposely addresses these critical issues
by highlighting and discussing the most up to date and forward thinking
sustainable transit and land-use strategies in the world. On September
14 – 16, 2008, experts in the fields of climate-change, peak oil,
alternative energy, engineering, planning, and information technology
will convene in Ithaca, NY to explore alternatives to American cardependency
with an aim to accelerate the evolution of sustainable
cities, and thus a more socially and ecologically balanced planet.

Read the .pdf newsletter here

Extract from Transit Pulse - July August 2008

Suddenly our economic world is vastly different. Everyday decisions for all of us have changed too. The availability of oil has peaked. Cheap gas is a thing of the past. ATRA’s August 22nd seminar on urban design of PRT is timely. We must rearrange our lives and communities. In the near term, we need policies and programs to assist these changes. As we look forward to the middle of the 21st Century, we should envision the kinds of communities we want to create.

Read the whole article in .pdf format

Image is of MISTER PRT system