February 2020
From the President
Greetings! Morgantown's PRT system had an injury accident last week. However, it was not caused by the system. PRT systems around the world have completed over 200 million passenger miles without causing a single injury accident. To put that in perspective, highways would have killed 2.8 and injured 191 while the numbers for transit would have been 0.6 and 29 respectively.

RAILWAYS 2020 is still looking for presentations for its session on personal rapid transit.

As always, enjoy reading!

Best regards,

Peter Muller, ATRA President
Upcoming Events
ATRA membership is an opportunity for you and your organization to contribute to a better world by leveraging advanced transit to improve mobility and accessibility. Membership works best for those that get involved and contribute.
This is a FREE news summary. If it has been forwarded to you, you may want to
ATRA News
GRID vs. LINEAR
by John Foley

I firmly believe that we should install pod cars in one way grids, as distinct
from two way linear systems.

 Turn on GOOGLE EARTH and put it over any city. On the menu above the
image you will see a vertical BLUE RULER. Click on the ruler and fourth from the
left is CIRCLE. Click on CIRCLE and you get the radius, the area and circumference
of any circle that you draw. The area is what interests me. 

POD CAR CITY CONFERENCE 2019 San Jose , Nov 5 -6
By: Monica Sharma, Masters Architecture Student Southern Illinois University

 This semester the Architecture Graduate Students at Southern Illinois University have been working on master plan designs within two locations, San Jose, Ca, and Ithaca, NY. Their projects incorporate the implementation of the Podcar Transportation (PRT) in creating new communities. Included in their master plan designs are hotels, multi-family housing and transportation centers. On October 16, 2019, each group presented their master plan concepts and in December all of their final master plans and building designs were completed.  

Other News
Call for Short Papers. Note: this conference includes a session on personal rapid transit.

Clearwater, FL eyes aerial transit system
The City of Clearwater, FL passed a resolution supporting the exploration of a new aerial transit system that would connect the city’s beaches to its downtown center. 

BeachTran Clearwater LLC is pushing for a network that would carry four-passenger pods about 20 feet off the ground to and from Clearwater Beach, as a way to alleviate traffic congestion. BeachTran would work with California-based skyTran on the pilot. If successful, the BeachTran system would expand to service the entire Tampa Bay area.

UPDATE: PRT operations update for Monday, Feb. 17
The West Virginia University Personal Rapid Transit system will remain closed between the Beechurst and Engineering stations Monday (Feb. 17), as an assessment of the hillside and surrounding area continues following last week’s rock slide incident.

CA: Santa Cruz RTC and Santa Cruz Metro initiate transit search
RTC and Santa Cruz Metro are conducting a Transit Corridor Alternatives Analysis, a year-long study to evaluate public transit investment options for the rail right-of-way and create an interconnected transit network for the county.

Morgantown Driver In Critical Condition After Boulder Careens Across Road
Two West Virginia University students aboard a Personal Rapid Transit, or PRT car, and the driver of a vehicle were transported to a Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown Monday afternoon after a rock slide sent a small boulder careening onto U.S. 19 / Monongahela Boulevard. One woman, whose vehicle was struck by a boulder, is listed in critical condition.

Clearwater one step closer to aerial transit system in Tampa Bay
The Clearwater City Council voted Thursday to approve a resolution supporting the establishment of a commercial aerial transit system.

Clearwater City Council members voted 4-1 to support a gondola-like system to transport people around Tampa Bay.

Boulder crushes sedan, then hits rail car full of West Virginia University students
Two West Virginia University students were among three hospitalized Monday after a huge boulder tumbled onto a highway, hitting a vehicle and a rail car full of students, according to West Virginia officials.

A company wants to build a futuristic pod transit system in Florida
Rather than sitting in traffic on the highway, it would be exponentially cooler and more efficient to strap yourself into a magnetic pod and fire yourself across Tampa Bay on a Jetsons-style elevated rail system – and apparently a Clearwater company is trying to make this happen.

The above links are to articles that appear relevant to advanced transit but no guarantee is made as to their accuracy and no verification of the integrity of the associated websites has been made.

Editorial comments are in italics.
| Advanced Transit Association| 303-800-1529 | www.advancedtransit.org