The Podcar: A Cross Between a Taxi and a Personal Bus

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.

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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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