Podar City : San Jose - News

Steve Raney is Principal at ULTra PRT North America. He was lead researcher for the US Environmental Protection Agency's "Transforming Office Parks into Transit Villages" study for Pleasanton. He was project manager for BART's Group Rapid Transit study. He has conducted technology product research for Microsoft, Citigroup, and Silicon Valley start-ups. He is the author of ten scholarly transportation papers. His "smartphone carpool assistant" is patented. Raney holds three masters: business, software, and transportation from Columbia, RPI, and Berkeley. Raney is also Executive Director, Cities21, a smart growth think tank. He is also co-founder of the YIMBY group, Alliance for a Livable Palo Alto.

London Heathrow ULTra System Moves to Next Phase

States BAA (British Airports Authority) Retail Services Director Hugh Fenn:

"On Tuesday Oct 19th 2010 the ULTra PRT system at Heathrow Airport (Heathrow pod) took a step towards revenue service by commencing a live trial involving retail staff from Terminal 5. This is a significant milestone which will help to ensure the system works well when opened to business car park users. It is also a useful indicator as to how PRT operates in a live environment.

There have been a number of half day trials with passengers and feedback from passengers has been consistently favorable. During these operational trials, the system has proven reliable and the Inde- pendent Safety Verification Team, an industry regulator, has approved ULTra Heathrow for operation."

Thus the ULTra London 'Heathrow pod' system is now the world's first to move to 12-hour-per-day, 7- days-per-week-service, carrying members of the general public (retail staff commuting to work at T5) on unscheduled trips.

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India is the country currently showing the most PRT interest

One consultant recently counted 18 PRT projects under study in India, including New Delhi. One system concept calls for 3,000 vehicles, 100km of guideway, and 623,000 passenger trips per day.

The September 14 Times of India quotes Haryana Province Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda hoping that: "Gurgaon will be the first city in India to get" PRT. "A high-tech PPP solution that will address commuters' problems in one shot." PRT seems "to be the best way to take public transport through all the built up areas."

"We want the pod taxi facility to connect all commercial and residential complexes in the city. Taking public transport to that point is our aim." "You don't need to depend on rickshaws or taxis to move within the city. This will also be a solution to commuting from Metro stations to the workplace or home."

Times of India article: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/6550018.cms

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The PRT@LHR Conference at London’s Heathrow Airport was a huge success!

Notes from conference attendee Peter Muller of PRT Consulting:

"The Conference was opened by John Holland-Kaye, Commercial Director, BAA Airports (Heathrow, etc), who said that the PRT system is obtaining 100% records for reliability. He was excited by the chance to create a new form of technology that will change the way people travel. Fraser Brown, Head of Travel Services, Heathrow Airport Ltd – BAA, listed numerous advantages of the PRT system including:

He is looking forward to a future where the passenger needs no local knowledge – they will not need to know where they have to go, just what they want to do. The system should be able to account for congestions, last-minute changes and delays in flight schedules."

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PRT considered for LAX (Los Angeles Airport)

This summer, Los Angeles City Council members Paul Koretz and Bill Rosendahl passed a motion requesting consideration of ULTra for application "at and around LAX."

Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) Executive Director Lindsey responded with a glowing report on ULTra and offered that ULTra will be given due consideration when people mover planning proceeds further. This motion arose as an outcome of Councilman Koretz's citizen Transportation Task Force.

Read Los Angeles councilmember motion and staff report: www.ultraprt.net/cms/LosAngelesPRTcouncilMotion.pdf

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Calgary Downtown: PRT Circulator Sketch 

Calgary's downtown is dense with 20 and 30-story buildings, holding 50% of all Calgary jobs. Parking is expensive, upwards of $20 per day.

A new planning concept, the down- town PRT circulator, offers many unique benefits:

A PRT system could connect downtown LRT to destinations north and south of LRT, possibly along 3rd Ave and 12th Ave.

A 300 meter walking radius is shown in the first cut approximation below, with 7 km (4.2 mi) one-way guide-way, 10 stations, and capital cost less than $60M USD/CAD.

Source: www.ultraprt.com

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Favorable PRT press coverage is expanding worldwide

Highlights include more New York Times coverage (thrice), ULTra vehicle image on the San Jose Mercury news May 25 front page, BNET - the CBS Interactive Business Network, ABC TV local news, Minnesota State DOT PRT Symposium, new interest in the Raleigh- Durham and Issaquah/Seattle areas, National League of Cities Weekly, and even more news stories from India and London.

Legislators, City council members and other civic leaders can now expect favorable coverage for introducing a clean-tech PRT concept in their area. The days of being labeled "Mayor Moonbeam" are past!

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Are cars hindering urban sustainability? Can personal rapid transit make a difference?

PRT Consulting has recently added a new website covering these subjects and more: http://sustainablecityconsulting.com/content.html 

from 'Sustainable City Enabled by Personal Rapid Transit':

Personal rapid transit (PRT) is now emerging as a potentially viable form of public transportation that has sufficiently high levels of service to attract significant numbers of drivers from their cars.

PRT is extremely safe, requires little or no waiting and provides non-stop, seated travel. It uses much less energy than cars and requires only a relatively small infrastructure. Recognizing the potential benefits of PRT, U.S. cities like San Jose, CA and Ithaca, NY are studying PRT applications

However these cities were designed and built around the automobile. They are specifically intended to facilitate the smooth operation of the car. Retrofitting these types of cities with PRT may alleviate some of their traffic problems and even allow some parking lots to be redeveloped, but will never realize all of the benefits PRT could bring.

The full benefits of PRT can only be realized in a city designed to leverage this exciting form of transportation from the beginning. Such a city could embody the dreams of many urban planners and be a truly delightful place to live.

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