Dear {First Name}, happy New Year! We are kicking it off with some new information on automated transit networks (ATN). The System Comparison page on the website has been updated to show 20 ATN systems that are either in public service or under active development. The same information (where available) is shown for each system, so comparisons are simplified.

We also took the opportunity to revise the page Concept Description. It now illustrates the old and the new, GRT and PRT.

As always, enjoy reading!

Best regards,

Peter Muller, ATRA President

Automotive supplier ZF is partnering with autonomous shuttle operator Beep to deliver “several thousand shuttles” to customers over the coming years, ZF said at CES in Las Vegas.

Beep, which describes itself as an autonomous mobility-as-a-service company, will implement ZF’s next-generation, Level 4 autonomous shuttle, which the company also launched at CES today. Level 4 autonomy means the vehicle can drive itself without requiring the human to take over in most situations, as long as it’s within the vehicle’s operational design domain. ZF’s new shuttle, which will be built in partnership with AV software company Oxbotica, is designed for urban environments and mixed traffic, ZF said.

Read more...

NOIDA: A meeting of the state government’s PPP bid evaluation committee to finalize pod taxi project, planned between the Noida International Airport and Film City in Jewar, will be held on December 26 in Lucknow.

Read more...

Promotional video about Urban Mobility

Read more...

More than a dozen WVU students were escorted off the PRT on Wednesday afternoon following a technical issue, according to school officials.

At approximately 1:30 p.m., the group of students was escorted off the tracks at the Beechurst Station downtown, said Shauna Johnson, director of news communications for University Relations.

Read more...

GREER — Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport is working on a plan to move travelers and employees around its Upstate campus via automated vehicles, which would run on a track separate from the airport’s roads.

Read more...

Imagine this: a self-driving vehicle that runs on a track suspended overhead. Riders choose when to board and where they want to go, and their personal vehicle, or pod, will transport them directly, with no stops along the way.

Read more...

NCTCOG_2022-10-21

Read more...

Jpods claims that they are fixing the certification process for PRT but PRT has always been a subset of ASCE Automated People Mover Standards which have specified a certification process since 1996. The 2021 edition specifically defines Automated Transit Networks and allows them to meet requirements different than Automated People Movers in some cases. 

Jpods state that Morgantown has only suffered 5 minor injuries in 50 years but Morgantown has only been in public operation since 1975 (47 years) and we believe the injuries were due to outside forces (rocks rolling down a hill) and not caused by any defect in the system itself. In our opinion, Morgantown has caused zero injuries in 47 years or you can say all ATN systems have caused zero injuries in over 200 million passenger miles.

Nonetheless, Jpods is to be applauded for what they are doing - redundant certification processes should be a good thing.