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Is this the future of personal transport?Traffic. If there is one thing in the world with which we all can agree we despise with the raging fury of a thousand exploding suns, it is traffic. No one who ever has had to suffer the unfortunate experience of rush-hour traffic – a name dripping with irony, by the way – has uttered the words “I love traffic” with an inkling of sincerity. As much as we hate it, though, for the vast majority of city dwellers there is simply no evading it. Traffic is a necessary evil, and the best we can do is learn to create solutions that mitigate its effects. But eliminate it? That is simply not on the cards in the foreseeable future.
Some people, however, argue that a good alternative is to make more use of public transport. There is merit to that: if a mere third of drivers travelled via trains and buses, it would have a significantly large effect on congestion and go a long way toward minimising the frustration of the morning school run. The problem, however, is that many people value the relative privacy and convenience that travelling in their own steel box affords them.
You can listen to your own preferred radio station at a comfortable volume and your passenger can apply make-up, finish breakfast etc. You do not have to deal with strangers whose personal hygiene may conflict with your own standards and, perhaps, have difficulty understanding what the term “personal space” means. Yes, despite its rage-inducing properties, most people when given the choice would choose to ride out the commute in their own car.
Personal rapid transit (PRT), also called “podcars”, may provide the answer to both those problems. Offering the congestion-mitigating advantages of public transport plus the privacy of a motor vehicle, the podcar seems a good concept.
At its core, the podcar concept is essentially a rail system with independent cars sizable enough to carry four to six people, which travels separately from the rest of the cars on the track and moves directly to its destination without making any stops.
It is not a new idea, having first been proposed in the 1960s and 1970s as a solution to urban decay. Urban planners at the time took note of the fact that cities with well-developed mass transit systems did not suffer these effects to the same degree, and suggested that similar systems would slow the problem in suburbs and small cities, in which light rail was uneconomical to provide.
The first, and currently still fully operational podcar system, had its debut in Morgantown, West Virginia in the United States.
That system, constructed by a consortium led by Boeing Vertol with government funding, saw significant cost overruns that likely discouraged adoption of the technology by other municipalities.
The Morgantown example is still in operation and, barring a short closure to facilitate a major expansion, has operated reliably for 30 years.
The cost overruns notwithstanding, the podcar system in Morgantown has proved itself to be a supremely inexpensive (a ride costs US50c) and reliable automated transit system. During the entirety of its service, there have been zero instances of injury, and gridlock within the town’s CBD is nonexistent.
Ronald Justice, the mayor of Morgantown, went so far as to apportion some of the town’s prosperity squarely on the efficiency of the podcar system. “We’re a small town with big traffic issues, and the PRT could be the reason we’re able to continue our growth.”
So clearly, the system works. So why is no one else using it? There is no solid answer for that, the most likely explanation being that it simply never caught on.
As recently as 2008, however, the concept of PRT has seen some renewed interest. Specifically, London’s Heathrow Airport began construction of a PRT pilot project to shuttle passengers. The system is due to come on stream later in 2010. If it works as well as it proved in Morgantown, Heathrow’s high profile and the accompanying greater public exposure may help to sell the concept to more cities suffering from gridlock.
As far as the South African prospects are concerned, adoption of a PRT system is highly unlikely. Despite its advantages in terms of cost, reliability, safety etc., the government already has made a sizable investment in Bus Rapid Transit. The bureaucratic red tape that would need to be navigated to even attempt to table a new system – regardless of whether or not it may be better – would take years to cut through.
So, until some with enough clout decide that the idea has merit, do not expect to find yourself in your own podcar any time soon.
Zaid Kriel
