PUBLICATION
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Personal Automated Transportation:
Status and Potential of Personal Rapid Transit, January 2003
A report by the Personal Rapid Transit Technical Committee of the Advanced Transit Association.
Read Executive Summary now, or see below for full distribution.
Abstract
Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) is defined as direct origin-to-destination
service with no stops, using small fully automatic vehicles on a dedicated guideway.
It promises a low cost way to provide service that is widely dispersed throughout a
region. The Advanced Transit Association (ATRA) produced this report to encourage
better understanding of PRT.
The advantages in service and cost of PRT
over mass transit are discussed. Design details and tradeoffs of PRT are enumerated.
Fourteen of the PRT systems now under development are examined. At least $60M has been
spent on engineering on these systems, including prototypes. Many evaluation points
were considered for each system, including visual and geometric factors, market
readiness, propulsion, switching, capacity, control, and cost. Nothing was found in
the evaluations that would suggest that PRT is not viable in revenue operation.
Approximate costs of a PRT system of $3.4 M/km ($5 M/mile) (one way) can be projected,
based on a combination of actual prototype costs, bids, and several comprehensive
costing studies. It is proposed that local governments update permitting requirements
to legalize PRT, and follow rigorous planning and evaluation practices so that PRT
systems are compared fairly with other systems on the basis of their ability to meet
well-defined public goals. 224 pages in 5 volumes.
Authors
Bob Dunning, committee chair
Ian Ford, report editor
Committee Members:
Rob Bernstein
Catie Burke
Dennis Cannon
Jerry Kieffer
Dennis Manning
David Maymudes
Jeral Poskey
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Joe Shapiro
Markus Szillat
Göran Tegnér
Ron Thorstad
David Ward
Michael Weidler
William Wilde
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Read/Download Contents Here
Introductory and summary material:
- [PDF]
Cover letter. From Jerry Kieffer, ATRA founding member.
- [PDF]
Executive Summary. 26 pages.
Main report:
- [PDF]
Main Report, including history, rationale, technology details, FAQ,
and recommendations. 37 pages.
- [PDF]
Technology Evaluation, a comparison of PRT systems in development.
97 pages.
Supplements:
- [PDF]
PRT Ridership Analysis, by Goeran Tegner. 8 pages.
- [PDF]
Innovative Transit Systems, Survey of Current Developments, by Ingmar Andreasson.
March 2001. 56 pages
- [PDF]
Personal Rapid Transit, Another Option for Urban Transit. This is the 1989 ATRA report that was
the basis for the current update. It is posted mainly for archival purposes. 90 pages
Report distribution
The report may be obtained:
1. On this web site: www.advancedtransit.org/pub/2002/prt
2. Printed copies are also available. Contact Bob Dunning at
cliff@oz.net. Printing and
mailing costs for the complete report are $50, or $15 for the summary only.