PRT or Podcars: either way it’s a sound concept
I’ve been following the evolving world of Personal Rapid Transit1 (PRT) for several years now via a Google Alert and I’ve recently noticed a change in the terminology the media has used to talk about the issue. Over the last couple of months a lot of news stories have begun referring to PRT as Podcars, a change that confused me for a while until I realized that this shift was concurrent with the approach of the Podcar City: Ithaca international conference (the second annual occurrence of that conference, the first having taken place in Sweden in October 2007) that just wrapped up in Ithaca, NY. A further comparison of the Google search results for the terms ‘podcar’ and ‘personal rapid transit’ reveals that the switch in terminology has the interesting effect of bringing up a fresher set of results, since “Personal Rapid Transit” has been a term in use for 30 years (and has collected quite a group of naysayers over that time) but “podcar” is a newer term and is only contained in news stories and websites that are very “fresh”/recent.
In my opinion, now that the technology is actually maturing and being seriously considered and built by governments and planners around the world2, the switch in terminology is a great thing since it distances the newest crop of podcar ideas from the failed PRT projects of the past which are what give the technology’s detractors their fire.
I’m not trying to legitimize those who oppose Podcars/PRT (quite the opposite, I have a few choice words for those types but this isn’t the post for that), but I am saying that from a marketing standpoint I think the switch is just good PR (even if it wasn’t organized by anybody, which it doesn’t seem to have been as it seems to have happened in an organic sort of way).
1Basically the idea is to use today’s incredible computer powers and networking concepts to build a new type of public transit that wouldn’t have been possible even 10 years ago (yes, I know PRT was already a fully grown concept 10 years ago, but I think today we can build networks much better than we could have then) network of small PRT/podcar guideways across an area that needs public transit. When you want to go somewhere you walk or bike less than a quarter mile to the nearest podcar station, get in a waiting podcar (the size of a very small car, with seating for 3-4 people) and enter your destination station. The system then takes you straight there with no stops. Because the podcars are small and light, the guideways can be fairly small and low-cost to install, meaning the podcar technology can have a much higher density of track and stations than light rail can. Also, because it’s automated the system can run 24/7, greatly increasing profit margins.
2Exhibit A: Heathrow Airport in England is building a small PRT/podcar system between the new Terminal 5 and a parking complex that’s set to open in early 2009 and the airport has plans to expand the system over the entire airport if it proves itself at Terminal 5.
Exhibit B: I’ve read several times the management of PRT/podcar companies saying that “there’s a long list of people that want to be second [to build a modern Podcar system]” (see this PDF document, page 4 for one such quote), meaning that if and when the Heathrow PRT proves the technology, many, many decision makers will begin to seriously look into implementing this technology in their own cities and towns.
Exhibit C: the City of Santa Cruz, CA apparently doesn’t feel the need to wait for the Heathrow project to be completed before beginning the process that could lead to a Podcar system in their city (PDF document, page 1), as the City Council voted 6-1 in July to approve a “Request for Qualification” to invite PRT/Podcar companies to design, build and operate a system in that city.
So you see, the PRT/Podcar idea is like a good wine: it only gets better with age (I am of course using that purely as a metaphor as I am underage and also bound by the rules of my Christian University, so: no drinking), and the people working on PRT have had over 3 decades to “age”/mature the technology that has begun to be known as Podcars. The technology is now ready and decision makers are starting to take notice. I have every faith that the Heathrow system will prove itself quite well, and that within the next couple of years there will be a huge uptick in the interest paid to this amazing concept by decision makers in every level of government, and that soon we’ll all begin to see Podcar systems being built in a city near us.
And to those of you who still doubt this technology I have two things to say: first is that if you haven’t looked at it in detail in a while you might do to look again, I’ve personally noticed that the technology has gotten a lot better looking in just the couple of years that I’ve been watching this issue; and second is: if you don’t believe me, just wait and see. If the first few PRT/Podcar systems don’t convince you, I don’t know what to say.
Anyway. There’s my 2 cents (10 cents?) on Podcars for the evening.
Cheerio!
-j
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September 19th, 2008 at 1:42
For more on Personal Rapid Transit: http://www.prtstrategies.com.
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September 23rd, 2008 at 12:19
[...] today about America’s new nationalized financial system OR invest 93l OR more about Podcars OR [...]
October 10th, 2008 at 2:43
Hi there-
I live in Santa Cruz and am a member of our local PRT citizens’ group. As you may be aware, things tend to move slowly in government, and so even though the vote happened in July, it was just this past Wednesday, October 7th, that the official RFQ packets went out to vendors. We’ll see what comes back and where we go from there. I am also excited to see what happens at Heathrow in the next few months. You are right: if the technology seems solid and practical to airport travelers, they will take tales back to their own towns, which could easily lead to a “stampede to be second.”
I’m not personally a fan of the ULTra system being used at Heathrow, but I admit it has many good points. It and the Vectus system being demoed in Sweden seem too heavy and industrial for our aesthetically-minded beach town. The silicon valley geeks around here have a crush on the SkyTran system that uses inductrack maglev, and I must admit my admiration of the technology, as well as it’s very minimal footprint in conceptual drawings, but I also have some doubt that it will be ready to deploy for PRT/podcar purposes anytime soon. The rumor is that they will try to put up a demo system at NASA/Ames in Mountain View in the next year or so, but like so many things associated with PRT, I will believe it when I see it. Skyweb Express seems to be the best system design that has working prototype hardware to back up its claims; while MISTER PRT, if actually practical (as I know of no demo system at present) may actually be the most reasonable system for Santa Cruz, especially as it harkens back to the overhead tram ride that has been a beloved fixture at our boardwalk amusement park for decades.
The issuing of the RFQ was a significant milestone for us, and we’re all excited to see what the next year will bring. Keep watching!
-Jim Merritt, member, Santa Cruz PRT, Inc.
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jimmy Reply:
October 10th, 2008 at 11:29
James,
Thanks for the message and info! I agree with you about the different types of systems and I look forward to seeing how this process plays out in your city! I’m very excited that you seem to be closer than any other city in America to building a system.
Thanks again for the message.
-jimmy
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October 19th, 2008 at 4:37
[...] Both the policy of it and the actual modes of transport; from the personal automobile to the Podcar, from freight trains to Maglev trains to private jets to 500-passenger jumbo jets, from electric [...]
October 20th, 2008 at 7:15
I am really excited to see a city wide implementation soon…I think the current energy crisis and the goal for sustainable transport will ultimately drive the policy makers to experiment and adopt innovative concepts such as PRT. I think if it works PRT will be a paradigm shift in the way we travel hence forth.
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jimmy Reply:
October 20th, 2008 at 9:38
I agree. The saying is that “everyone wants to be second” to install PRT and I hope that the small installation at Heathrow Airport in London will be enough of a system to be considered the “first” system. I expect it will be and that in the next couple of years dozens of cities, airports and office parks around the world will begin not only seriously considering this form of transit, but choosing it as well.
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May 25th, 2009 at 8:06
I follow this topic and I note a marketing problem
Why Podcar(s) plural? because they always come with concrete guide ways. The guide ways, when above traffic cause the system to move very efficiently, but without guide ways the podcar works just fine.
That brings up the plural concept. Why not Pod Car as in: “Santa Cruz city council votes to buy a single pod cal and run it along the boardwalk street at the beach. Total cost of trial, $100,000″ or something like that.
The mistake here is why the guide ways are involved. It is not a technology issue, these cras cn follow a painted line along the road and pause for pedestrians without serious safety issues.
Japan, France have all run Pod Buses, pos trams o unmodified streets.
I emailed Ultra about this problem, and I hope they get the concept straight and separate the gide way efficiency issue from the robotic issue.
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jimmy Reply:
June 2nd, 2009 at 10:05
Matt,
I think both above-grade and at-grade Podcar systems would work, but I think using above-grade guideways would be more efficient because than Podcar wouldn’t need to stop at all between the starting location and ending location, unlike any other current transit system out there (even cars/buses must stop for traffic lights and trains/subways make scheduled stops that most of the people on board don’t need).
-jbh
P.S. there’s a town in central England that was testing an at-grade Podcar/PRT system. I can’t remember the name of the town now, but I think it’s cool that people are testing out all the possibilities to see what works best (and different configurations would probably work in different cities/towns/malls/airports/etc.).
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