January 2025

From the President

Dear Peter, There have been two significant announcements since our December newsletter:


First, Glydways announced that they plan to build a large, four-station, test track in Richmond, California. We commend them for this but their proposal raises some issues which are addressed in the Editorial.


Second, Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited has commissioned a Detailed Project Report due by month end for two PRT corridor systems, one 8.8 km long with 28 stations and the other 6 km long with 27 stations. The article indicates a capacity of 10,000 passengers per hour (per direction?), which is similar to the capacity claimed to be possible by Glydways.


While projects in India seem to take forever to come to fruition, this is the second significant project to be announced in under a year. Multiple PRT systems in the same country are an indication of gathering momentum. May I remind you that the Ultra system will soon be operational at two large airports and China will soon be the first country with two operational systems.


PS: We love you. Please join ATRA/pay your dues/volunteer.


Together we can fix public transportation!


Best regards,


Peter Muller, ATRA President

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EDITORIAL

Glydways Test Track Questions and Concerns

Glydways is to be commended for their proposed large test track which will include four stations. However, reviewing the published picture raises some serious concerns and questions. 


The illustration appears to depict a two-way guideway interconnecting the stations with all facilities at grade. Many features are missing that could have been included to demonstrate their functionality and appearance. They include:


  • Single guideway loops, as well as double and single guideway intersections (which would demonstrate the difficulties with double guideway intersections) 


  • Elevated single and double guideways along with stations. Surface, and sometimes even elevated, guideways and stations will often not fit into the built environment. Demonstrating the differences in space required and visual impact between single and double guideway elevated stations would be insightful.


Possible concerns and questions include:


  • Stations appear to require crossing pod traffic which is typically considered impractical for PRT which is therefore usually limited to merges and diverges.


  • Gaps in the through guideway medians may imply crossing through traffic which would be a significant safety issue.


  • Vehicles are mostly arranged in platoons. These can be problematic (especially large platoons with up to six vehicles as shown) because having that many people ride together ends up having to stop at every station like a train or bus. Splitting platoons apart on the fly is problematic because distance between vehicles can become unsafe (either short, or long distances are safe – nothing in between)


  • The gap between platooned vehicles appears too short for safe stopping (it seems to imply about a ¼ second headway) but too large for vehicle collision to only cause cosmetic damage.


  • Only one station has pedestrian access. This demonstrates the difficulty of providing access to fully at-grade systems.


The Aerospace Corporation undertook a significant evaluation of PRT in the 1970s. The results are published in the 1978 book Fundamentals of Personal Rapid Transit by Jack H. Irving. This book concludes that “…most guideways will be elevated over city streets.” It also recommends one-way guideways “…the advantages of the one-way network may be classified as aesthetics, simplicity of control, and economics. Its disadvantage is that it is often necessary for the vehicle to ‘circle the block,’ which lengthens the trip.” Note that small loops reduce out-of-the way travel to a few minutes.


The question raised is, has Glydways found a new and better way to configure PRT or are they just ignoring 50 years of accepted practice?

NEWS

Hyderabad to introduce pod taxi system for seamless connectivity in IT corridor

HYDERABAD: The state government is planning to introduce a Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) or pod taxi system to improve last-mile connectivity in areas like Knowledge City, Hitech City and Kondapur, bringing an end to the frequent traffic jams in the IT corridor.


Read more...

the Key to PRT Viability

Personal Rapid Transit /Automated Transit Networks/Podcars, all different names for transporta;on systems that

place passenger berths on offline sidings, have long captured the imagina;on of progressive transporta;on

planners and advocates. By providing service using small cars that run on rela;vely inexpensive track structures,

some of the promising possibili;es touted by PRT proponents include (1) a superior user experience highlighted by

personal on-demand/direct-to-des;na;on service, (2) low opera;ng costs due to driverless opera;on, and (3) the

use of sustainable energy sources, something that is not possible for systems operating larger vehicles/trains.


Download PDF Document

One type of public transit fits the Beltline. It’s not a streetcar.

I’m a self-confessed NIMBY when it comes to streetcars next to the Beltline. Living nearby, I don’t want them there. But call me schizophrenic, too, because I can get behind self-driving pods filling that same space. Is one really better than the other? You bet.


Here are a few of the advantages of driverless pods over streetcars:


Read more...

Don’t Shrink the Bus


Could Tesla’s Cybercab and similar smaller vehicles replace traditional trains and buses? Unfortunately, the idea of “personal rapid transit” has some big drawbacks.


Read more...


This article points out PRT’s many advantages and disadvantages and concludes buses are better. It lacks the understanding that PRT can be deployed as a network with stations scattered throughout the community. This attracts many more riders which justifies the guideway costs. In addition, it ignores new systems in China and Mexico that have lower costs and much higher capacities. PRT systems now have a combined 100+ years in public service and 200+ million injury-free passenger miles.

Building the Future of Transit: Glydways Expands with New 14-Acre Development Hub

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., December 16, 2024 – Glydways, a leader in next-generation automated public transportation solutions, today announced plans for a new Development and Demonstration Facility, a pivotal step toward live system deployments. Located in Richmond, California, this 14-acre site is part of the former Hilltop Mall property, which is undergoing a larger redevelopment. In the interim, Glydways will use a portion of the property to showcase its innovative technology and conduct rigorous safety and reliability testing.


Read more...


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.
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