Editing Personal rapid transit (section)

==History==

===Origins===
Modern PRT concepts began around 1953 when Donn Fichter, a city transportation planner, began research on PRT and alternative transportation methods. In 1964, Fichter published a book<ref>{{citation
 | author = Donn Fichter
 | year = 1964
 | title = Individualized Automatic Transit and the City
 | publisher = B.H. Sikes, Chicago, IL, USA
}}</ref> which proposed an automated public transit system for areas of medium to low population density. One of the key points made in the book was Fichter's belief that people would not leave their cars in favor of public transit unless the system offered flexibility and end-to-end transit times that were much better than existing systems &ndash; flexibility and performance he felt only a PRT system could provide. Several other urban and transit planners also wrote on the topic and some early experimentation followed, but PRT remained relatively unknown.

Around the same time, Edward Haltom was studying [[monorail]] systems. Haltom noticed that the time to start and stop a conventional large monorail train, like those of the [[Wuppertal Schwebebahn]], meant that a single line could only support between 20 and 40 vehicles an hour. In order to get reasonable passenger movements on such a system, the trains had to be large enough to carry hundreds of passengers (see [[headway]] for a general discussion). This, in turn, demanded large guideways that could support the weight of these large vehicles, driving up capital costs to the point where he considered them unattractive.<ref name=a>Anderson</ref>

Haltom turned his attention to developing a system that could operate with shorter timings, thereby allowing the individual cars to be smaller while preserving the same overall route capacity. Smaller cars would mean less weight at any given point, which meant smaller and less expensive guideways. To eliminate the backup at stations, the system used "offline" stations that allowed the mainline traffic to bypass the stopped vehicles. He designed the [[ROMAG#Monocab|Monocab]] system using six-passenger cars suspended on wheels from an overhead guideway. Like most suspended systems, it suffered from the problem of difficult switching arrangements. Since the car rode on a rail, switching from one path to another required the rail to be moved, a slow process that limited the possible headways.<ref name=a/>

===UMTA is formed===
By the late 1950s the problems with [[urban sprawl]] were becoming evident in the United States. When cities improved roads and the transit times were lowered, suburbs developed at ever increasing distances from the city cores, and people moved out of the downtown areas. Lacking [[pollution control]] systems, the rapid rise in car ownership and the longer trips to and from work were causing significant air quality problems. Additionally, movement to the suburbs led to a [[flight of capital]] from the downtown areas, one cause of the rapid [[urban decay]] seen in the US.

Mass transit systems were one way to combat these problems. Yet during this period, the federal government was feeding the problems by funding the development of the [[Interstate Highway System]], while at the same time funding for mass transit was being rapidly scaled back. Public transit ridership in most cities plummeted.<ref>Irving, pg. 1-2</ref>

In 1962, President [[John F. Kennedy]] charged [[United States Congress|Congress]] with the task of addressing these problems. These plans came to fruition in 1964, when President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] signed the [[Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964]] into law, thereby forming the [[Urban Mass Transportation Administration]].<ref>[http://www.fta.dot.gov/about/about_FTA_history.html "The Beginnings of Federal Assistance for Public Transportation"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090827051813/http://www.fta.dot.gov/about/about_FTA_history.html |date=2009-08-27 }}, Federal Transit Administration</ref> UMTA was set up to fund mass transit developments in the same fashion that the earlier [[Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956]] had helped create the Interstate Highways. That is, UMTA would help cover the capital costs of building out new infrastructure.

===PRT research starts===
However, planners who were aware of the PRT concept were worried that building more systems based on existing technologies would not help the problem, as Fitcher had earlier noted. Proponents suggested that systems would have to offer the flexibility of a car:

<blockquote>
The reason for the sad state of public transit is a very basic one – the transit systems just do not offer a service which will attract people away from their [[automobile]]s. Consequently, their patronage comes very largely from those who cannot drive, either because they are too young, too old, or because they are too poor to own and operate an automobile. Look at it from the standpoint of a commuter who lives in a suburb and is trying to get to work in the [[central business district]] (CBD). If he is going to go by transit, a typical scenario might be the following: he must first walk to the closest bus stop, let us say a five or ten minute walk, and then he may have to wait up to another ten minutes, possibly in inclement weather, for the bus to arrive. When it arrives, he may have to stand unless he is lucky enough to find a seat. The bus will be caught up in street congestion and move slowly, and it will make many stops completely unrelated to his trip objective. The bus may then let him off at a terminal to a suburban train. Again he must wait, and, after boarding the train, again experience a number of stops on the way to the CBD, and possibly again he may have to stand in the aisle. He will get off at the station most convenient to his destination and possibly have to transfer again onto a distribution system. It is no wonder that in those cities where ample inexpensive parking is available, most of those who can drive do drive.<ref>Irving, pg. 2</ref>
</blockquote>

In 1966, the [[United States Department of Housing and Urban Development]] was asked to "undertake a project to study ... new systems of urban transportation that will carry people and goods ... speedily, safely, without polluting the air, and in a manner that will contribute to sound city planning." The resulting report was published in 1968<ref>{{citation
 | author = Leone M.Cole, Harold W. Merritt
 | year = 1968
 | title = Tomorrow's Transportation: New Systems for the Urban Future
 | publisher = U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Metropolitan Development
}}</ref> and proposed the development of PRT, as well as other systems such as dial-a-bus and high-speed interurban links.

In the late 1960s, the [[Aerospace Corporation]], an independent non-profit corporation set up by the US Congress, spent substantial time and money on PRT, and performed much of the early theoretical and systems analysis. However, this corporation is not allowed to sell to non-federal government customers. In 1969, members of the study team published the first widely publicized description of PRT in ''[[Scientific American]]''.<ref>Systems Analysis of Urban Transportation Systems, ''Scientific American'', July 1969, Vol.221 No.1:19-27</ref>
In 1978 the team also published a book.<ref name="FundOfPRT">{{cite book
 |last         = Irving
 |first        = Jack
 |author2      = Harry Bernstein
 |author3      = C. L. Olson
 |author4      = Jon Buyan
 |year         = 1978
 |title        = Fundamentals of Personal Rapid Transit
 |publisher    = D.C. Heath and Company
 |url          = http://www.advancedtransit.net/content/fundamentals-personal-rapid-transit-book
 |access-date  = 2023-06-11
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20080923093711/http://www.advancedtransit.net/content/fundamentals-personal-rapid-transit-book
 |archive-date = 2008-09-23
 |url-status     = dead
}}</ref> These publications sparked off a sort of "transit race" in the same sort of fashion as the [[space race]], with countries around the world rushing to join what appeared to be a future market of immense size.

The [[oil crisis of 1973]] made vehicle fuels more expensive, which naturally interested people in alternative transportation.

===System developments===
In 1967, aerospace giant [[Matra]] started the [[Aramis (personal rapid transit)|Aramis project]] in [[Paris]]. After spending about 500 million [[franc]]s, the project was canceled when it failed its qualification trials in November 1987. The designers tried to make Aramis work like a "virtual train", but control software issues caused cars to bump unacceptably. The project ultimately failed.<ref>{{citation
 | author = [[Bruno Latour]]
 | year = 1996
 | title = Aramis, or the Love of Technology
 | publisher = Harvard University Press
}}</ref>

Between 1970 and 1978, [[Japan]] operated a project called "[[Computer-controlled Vehicle System]]" (CVS). In a full-scale test facility, 84 vehicles operated at speeds up to {{convert|60|km/h|mph|1}} on a {{convert|4.8|km|mi|1|adj=on|abbr=on}} guideway; one-second [[headway]]s were achieved during tests. Another version of CVS was in public operation for six months from 1975 to 1976. This system had 12 single-mode vehicles and four [[dual-mode vehicle]]s on a {{convert|1.6|km|mi|1|adj=on|abbr=on}} track with five stations. This version carried over 800,000 passengers. CVS was cancelled when Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport declared it unsafe under existing rail safety regulations, specifically in respect of braking and headway distances.

On March 23, 1973, U.S. Urban Mass Transportation Administration (UMTA) administrator Frank Herringer testified before Congress: "A DOT program leading to the development of a short, one-half to one-second headway, high-capacity PRT (HCPRT) system will be initiated in fiscal year 1974."<ref>[Department of Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriations for 1974, Hearings before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, House of Representatives, 93rd Congress, Part I, page 876.]</ref>  According to PRT supporter [[J. Edward Anderson]], this was "because of heavy lobbying from interests fearful of becoming irrelevant if a genuine PRT program became visible." From that time forward people interested in HCPRT were unable to obtain UMTA research funding.<ref>{{cite web
 |url          = http://www.reciprocalsystem.com/isus/articles/PRThistory.html
 |title        = The Historical Emergence and State-of-the-Art of PRT Systems
 |author       = J. Edward Anderson
 |year         = 1997
 |access-date   = 30 August 2017
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20170830233821/http://www.reciprocalsystem.com/isus/articles/PRThistory.html
 |archive-date = 2017-08-30
 |url-status     = dead
}}</ref>

In 1975, the [[Morgantown Personal Rapid Transit]] project was completed. It has five off-line stations that enable non-stop, individually programmed trips along an {{convert|8.7|mi|adj=on}} track serviced by a fleet of 71 cars. This is a crucial characteristic of PRT. However, it is not considered a PRT system because its vehicles are too heavy and carry too many people. When it carries many people, it operates in a point-to-point fashion, instead of running like an automated people mover from one end of the line to the other. During periods of low usage all cars make a full circuit stopping at every station in both directions. Morgantown PRT is still in continuous operation at [[West Virginia University]] in [[Morgantown, West Virginia]], with about 15,000 riders per day ({{As of|2003|lc=on}}).  The steam-heated track has proven expensive and the system requires an operation and maintenance budget of $5 million annually.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.governing.com/topics/transportation-infrastructure/personal-rapid-transit-system-morgantown-west-virginia.html|title=America's One and Only Personal Rapid Transit System|date=27 June 2011}}</ref> Although it successfully demonstrated automated control and it is still operating it was not sold to other sites. A 2010 report concluded replacing the system with buses on roads would provide unsatisfactory service and create congestion.<ref>{{cite web|title=PRT Facilities Master Plan|url=https://www.noexperiencenecessarybook.com/Exqg/prt-facilities-master-plan-west-virginia-university.html|publisher=Gannett Fleming|website=noexperiencenecessarybook|accessdate=4 September 2017|page=13|archive-date=4 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170904065438/https://www.noexperiencenecessarybook.com/Exqg/prt-facilities-master-plan-west-virginia-university.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=A Revolution That Didn't Happen: Personal Rapid Transit|url=https://www.npr.org/2016/10/03/494569967/a-revolution-that-didnt-happen-personal-rapid-transit|newspaper=NPR.org|accessdate=5 September 2017|date=3 October 2016}}</ref> Subsequently, the forty year old computer and vehicle control systems were replaced in the 2010s and there are plans to replace the vehicles.

From 1969 to 1980, Mannesmann Demag and [[Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm|MBB]] cooperated to build the ''[[Cabinentaxi]]'' urban transportation system in [[Germany]]. Together the firms formed the Cabintaxi Joint Venture. They created an extensive PRT technology, including a test track, that was considered fully developed by the German government and its safety authorities. The system was to have been installed in [[Hamburg]], but budget cuts stopped the proposed project before the start of construction. With no other potential projects on the horizon, the joint venture disbanded, and the fully developed PRT technology was never installed. Cabintaxi Corporation, a US-based company, obtained the technology in 1985, and remains active in the private-sector market trying to sell the system but so far there have been no installations.

In 1979 the three station [[Duke University Medical Center Patient Rapid Transit]] system was commissioned.  Uniquely, the cars could move sideways, as well as backwards and forwards and it was described as a "horizontal elevator".  The system was closed in 2009 to allow for expansion of the hospital.

In the 1990s, [[Raytheon]] invested heavily in a system called PRT 2000, based on technology developed by [[J. Edward Anderson]] at the [[University of Minnesota]]. Raytheon failed to install [[Unbuilt Rosemont personal rapid transit system|a contracted system]] in [[Rosemont, Illinois]], near [[Chicago]], when estimated costs escalated to [[US$]]50 million per mile, allegedly due to design changes that increased the weight and cost of the system relative to Anderson's original design. In 2000, rights to the technology reverted to the University of Minnesota, and were subsequently purchased by Taxi2000.<ref>{{citation
 | author = Peter Samuel
 | year = 1996
 | title = Status Report on Raytheon's PRT 2000 Development Project
 | publisher = ITS International
}}</ref><ref>{{citation
 | author = Peter Samuel
 | year = 1999
 | title = Raytheon PRT Prospects Dim but not Doomed
 | publisher = ITS International
}}</ref>

===Later developments===
In 1999 the 2getthere designed [[ParkShuttle]] system was opened in the Kralingen neighbourhood of eastern Rotterdam using 12-seater driverless buses. The system was extended in 2005 and new second-generation vehicles introduced to serve five stations over {{convert|1.8|km|mi}} with five grade crossings over ordinary roads. Operation is scheduled in peak periods and on demand at other times.<ref>{{cite web|title=RIVIUM GRT|url=https://www.2getthere.eu/projects/rivium-grt/|publisher=2getthere|access-date=1 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170310200020/http://www.2getthere.eu/projects/rivium-grt/|archive-date=2017-03-10|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2002, 2getthere operated twenty five 4-passenger "CyberCabs" at Holland's 2002 [[Floriade (Netherlands)|Floriade]] horticultural exhibition.  These transported passengers along a track spiraling up to the summit of Big Spotters Hill. The track was approximately {{convert|600|m|ft|0|adj=on}} long (one-way) and featured only two stations. The six-month operation was intended to research the public acceptance of PRT-like systems.

In 2010 a 10-vehicle (four seats each), two station 2getthere system was opened to connect a parking lot to the main area at [[Masdar City]], UAE.  The systems runs in an undercroft beneath the city and was supposed to be a pilot project for a much larger network, which would also have included transport of freight. Expansion of the system was cancelled just after the pilot scheme opened due to the cost of constructing the undercroft and since then other electric vehicles have been proposed.<ref name="whymasdarscaleback">{{cite web|title= Why Has Masdar Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) Been Scaled Back?|url= http://www.prtconsulting.com/blog/index.php/2010/10/16/why-has-masdar-personal-rapid-transit-prt-been-scaled-back/|url-status= dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131213234856/http://www.prtconsulting.com/blog/index.php/2010/10/16/why-has-masdar-personal-rapid-transit-prt-been-scaled-back/|archive-date= 2013-12-13}}</ref>

In January 2003, the prototype [[ULTra (rapid transit)|ULTra]] ("Urban Light Transport") system in [[Cardiff]], Wales, was certified to carry passengers by the UK Railway Inspectorate on a {{convert|1|km|mi|1|abbr=on|adj=on}} test track. ULTra was selected in October 2005 by [[BAA plc]] for London's [[Heathrow Airport]].<ref>[http://www.heathrowairport.com/portal/controller/dispatcher.jsp?CiID=724474cd82a07010VgnVCM10000036821c0a____&CtID=a22889d8759a0010VgnVCM200000357e120a____&Ct=B2C_CT_PRESS_RELEASE&ChPath=Corporate^Media%20Centre^News%20Releases^Results "BAA signs agreement to develop innovative transport system"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090211201500/http://www.heathrowairport.com/portal/controller/dispatcher.jsp?CiID=724474cd82a07010VgnVCM10000036821c0a____&CtID=a22889d8759a0010VgnVCM200000357e120a____&Ct=B2C_CT_PRESS_RELEASE&ChPath=Corporate%5EMedia%20Centre%5ENews%20Releases%5EResults |date=2009-02-11 }} BAA plc Press Release - 20 October 2005</ref> Since May 2011 a three-station system has been open to the public, transporting passengers from a remote parking lot to terminal 5.<ref name="HeathrowBAA" /> During the deployment of the system the owners of Heathrow became owners of the UltrPRT design.  In May 2013 Heathrow Airport Limited included in its draft five-year (2014–2019) master plan a scheme to use the PRT system to connect terminal 2 and terminal 3 to their respective business car parks. The proposal was not included in the final plan due to spending priority given to other capital projects and has been deferred.<ref>{{cite journal| title=My Pods| journal=Futureairports| volume=2014| issue=1| pages=61| url=http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/b0ecc6ab#/b0ecc6ab/1| access-date=8 September 2014}}</ref> If a third runway is constructed at Heathrow will destroy the existing system, which will be built over, will be replaced by another PRT.

In June 2006, a Korean/Swedish consortium, Vectus Ltd, started constructing a {{convert|400|m|ft|0|adj=on|abbr=on}} test track in [[Uppsala]], Sweden.<ref>{{cite web | year = 2006 | url = http://kinetic.seattle.wa.us/nxtlevel/prt/vectusnews.html | title = Vectus News | publisher = Vectus Ltd. | access-date = 31 December 2007 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070929083346/http://kinetic.seattle.wa.us/nxtlevel/prt/vectusnews.html | archive-date = 29 September 2007 }}</ref> This test system was presented at the 2007 PodCar City conference in Uppsala.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080724111201/http://www.podcar.org/uppsalaconference/confrencevectus.htm Podcar City Vectus Shows] from podcar.org</ref>  A 40-vehicle, 2-station, {{convert|4.46|km|mi|1|abbr=on}} system called "SkyCube" was opened in [[Suncheon]], South Korea, in April 2014.<ref>{{cite web| title=Korea's First Personal Rapid Transit (PRT), SkyCube| url=http://globalblog.posco.com/koreas-first-personal-rapid-transit-prt-skycube/| date=April 30, 2014| access-date=September 8, 2014| archive-date=September 8, 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140908132929/http://globalblog.posco.com/koreas-first-personal-rapid-transit-prt-skycube/| url-status=dead}}</ref>

In the 2010s the Mexican [[Western Institute of Technology and Higher Education]] began research into project LINT ("Lean Intelligent Network Transportation") and built a 1/12 operational scale model.<ref>{{cite web|title=Proyecto LINT|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7L7zuB-tMU| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/r7L7zuB-tMU| archive-date=2021-12-11 | url-status=live|website=YouTube| date=26 January 2011 |publisher=ITESO Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente|access-date=30 August 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref> This was further developed and became the Modutram<ref>[http://www.modutram.com/ Modutram]</ref> system and a full-scale test track was built in [[Guadalajara]], which was operational by 2014.<ref>{{cite web|title=ModuTram Test Track|date=19 February 2014|url=http://www.advancedtransit.org/library/news/modutram-test-track/|publisher=Advanced Transit Association|access-date=30 August 2017}}</ref>

In 2018 it was announced that a PRT system would be installed at the new [[Chengdu Tianfu International Airport]].<ref name="jqknews.com"/>  The system will include 6 miles of guideway, 4 stations, 22 pods and will connect airport parking to two terminal buildings.  It is supplied by Ultra MTS.   The airport is due to open in 2021.<ref>{{cite web |title=Chengdu Tianfu International Airport PRT System |url=https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Chengdu-Tianfu-International-Airport-PRT-System.html?soid=1102621083285&aid=rcfapCSHK4I |website=ATRA Pulse |publisher=ATRA |access-date=10 June 2021}}</ref>