To paraphrase Winston Churchill in the
context of public transportation -
"Never have so many spent so much for so
few!"
The
United States will go broke in the attempt to use existing techniques
to solve the transportation crunch that is being felt across the
country. For some reason the concepts that more or faster or
biggeror more expensive will provide the solution seems to
be the mantra of transportation officials. Not only are the systems
failing to deliver a significant capacity, but the expense (monetary,
social, and environmental) is enormous.
The proponents of existing mass transit systems point to the wonderful
success and rave reviews for the newer systems. Unfortunately the
success is only by their own definition. Heavy subsidies by goverments
are the only reason that these systems exist. The builders of these
systems are happy to create the profitable projects and let the public
carry the burden of operations. They have also lobbied for a government
system of transportation that caters to their business model.
The "more roads" proponents want to pave over areas in the false hope
that this will improve transportation. In urban areas the percentage of
ground dedicated to wheeled vehicles has already reach ridiculous levels
(>25%) and this approach does nothing to improve the availability of
transportation to the public.
Neither of these approaches can lessen the crunch and are frequently
worse than doing nothing.
The low energy groups (aka bicyclists and walkers) forget that there is
a large portion of the population that cannot ride a bicycle or walk to
accomplish their transportation needs. Being too young, too old,
handicapped, poor, or a single parent trying to herd a young family on a
simple errand should not prevent the use of public transportation. In
fact these conditions should be addressed by public transportation.
Efficient energy usage, low capital cost, low operating cost, low
environmental impact, low travel time, and high useability are the
important factors.
How do we get from here to there?
Personal Rapid Transit technology has
the characteristics closest to the desired ideal system.
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We are a non-profit(501c3), grassroots, volunteer
organization, founded in Minneapolis, MN, dedicated to:
providing information on the features and benefits
of PRT
promoting PRT as an effective enhancement for meeting our
transportation needs
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The advantages of PRT transportation
are:
- Less costly to implement than rail systems (by at least
a factor of 4 on a per mile basis)
- Less costly to operate than bus or rail systems (can
actually be PROFITABLE)
- Less disruptive to install than rail
- Low environmental impact (quiet and locally
non-polluting)
- On demand operation. NO OFF HOUR UNAVAILABILITY OR
WAITING!
- Quick travel times since travel is non-stop
- More energy efficient than buses or trains (and most
cars)
- Accessible to all mobile people. (elderly, handicapped,
young, impaired, poor,etc.)
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- The November 2005
Clarion is now available online.
- The breakover point might be here at last. The BAA
(Britsh Airways - Heathrow Airport) has purchased a "beginner" system
from ULTRA.
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