Forget trains and buses, we want personal rapid transit!

How does this sound for public transport:

• small vehicles that take max. 4 people,
• you choose if you want to share the vehicle with anyone,
• no fixed schedules, the vehicles are available when you need them,
• you travel directly to your destination, no stopping at stations in between?

Sounds too good to be true? Well, that is because it currently is too good to be true, but hopefully not for much longer.

We’re talking about Personal Rapid Transit (PRT), also known as Personal Automated Transport (PAT) or Point-to-Point (P2P) Transportation. PRT is automated, on-demand public tranport that takes you directly to your destination. The driverless system runs on its own network of guideways, which makes it unaffected by other forms of transport.

What will sell PRT to most people is without a doubt the ability to go directly to your destination, not having to wait for the vehicle and not being forced to share it with anyone. But PRT also has the potential to provide a much cleaner and energy efficient alternative to today’s public transport.

Why public money is not currently thrown at making PRT a reality, is beyond me, but the good news is that you don’t have to wait long before you can enjoy a ride in a PRT vehicle. The British Airports Authority (BAA), who runs airports such as London Heathrow and Gatwick, will be piloting a PRT network at Heathrow Terminal 5 due to open in 2008. The network will consist of 18 ULTra vehicles from the company Advanced Transport Systems Ltd and will run from Heathrow’s car parks to the new terminal.

I tend to avoid Heathrow airport if I can, but I cannot wait for my first journey in an ULTra vehicle! Like I wrote above, I really don’t know, why PRT is not on every government’s agenda - unless of course it’s a classic case of no one wanting to stick their neck out and be the first. PRT very well could be the answer to the growing congestion most of us are facing on a daily basis whether travelling or going to work. It would certainly put the concept of service back into public transport - and this traveller wants PRT now!

You can read more about the pilot at Heathrow on the BAA website and more about the ULTra PRT system on the ULTra website.

Note

All rights for the above photos belong to Advanced Transport Systems Ltd. - www.atsltd.co.uk

TAGS: heathrow, prt, public transport, travel

Leave a Reply