A city in Abu Dhabi is introducing personal rapid transit (PRT) “podcars” — a cross between the convenience of grabbing a cab and a public bus. The podcars will be integrated into Masdar City’s public transportation system.
As part of the city’s car-free design, podcars will be part of a network of electric taxis without drivers. The first of these podcars are set to debut this year.
According to Luca Guala, a planner at the consulting firm Systematica that designed the PRT network:
Initially, the system will be very simple, with only a couple of stations. During this period, the system will function kind of like an elevator – you press a button and go to the third floor. Think of it as a horizontal lift. Later on it will be more sophisticated, and passengers will be able to get within 100 meters of any destination
Since it is a prototype system, PRT is currently expensive to build, but it might just be a vision of the future.
Image: Flyway Gotgatan via Flickr under a Creative Commons License
Source: TreeHugger
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This illustration is completely inappropriate for illustrating this tidbit. The PRT vehicles in Masdar
will be operated on a subsurface guideway that will look much like a wide sidewalk. There will be roughly 2,000 of them to provide a city-wide circulation service. Use of the “bus” term is also inappropriate since the vehicles will have seating for 6 (tight) or 4 or less. There is lots of info about PRT on the internet – just google to find it.
This illustration is completely inappropriate for illustrating this tidbit. The PRT vehicles in Masdar
will be operated on a subsurface guideway that will look much like a wide sidewalk. There will be roughly 2,000 of them to provide a city-wide circulation service. Use of the “bus” term is also inappropriate since the vehicles will have seating for 6 (tight) or 4 or less. There is lots of info about PRT on the internet – just google to find it.
super cool! We move closer to what movies in the 80′s envisioned for our future.
super cool! We move closer to what movies in the 80′s envisioned for our future.
New video of another system at Heathrow Airport, similar to the one planned for Masdar: ULTra PRT.
New video of another system at Heathrow Airport, similar to the one planned for Masdar: ULTra PRT.