Austin's Personal Rapid Transit Enthusiast

This is hilarious:

Mike Conwell's "Thoughts on the Sierra Club":

I’ve got to tell you, the most amazing opposition I’ve encountered since becoming a PRT advocate, has been that coming from the Sierra Club. It began with a 45 minute one way conversation from the then President of Austin’s Sierra Club blaming me and the big three from Detroit for the narrow defeat of the 2000 Austin Light Rail Initiative.** I continue to encounter opposition from the Sierra Club and a minority of other greens as we present PRT as a better solution for our communities.

Anyway, this puzzling stand by the Sierra Club, literally keeps me up at night, or at the very least, wakes me up obscenely early on a Sunday.

But all of the recent press for “Who Killed the Electric Car” and the Sierra Club’s trumpeting of that movie and pushing for hybrid vehicles, including getting behind Ford’s Hybrid SUV, got me thinking. If the Sierra Club can endorse a hybrid or all-electric vehicle, isn’t PRT just an even more efficient, safer EV on stilts? Maybe an alternative that includes a little walking?

So I gathered up for y’all some quotes and references found on their site and included below my signature. I’d also encourage y’all to share any more endorsements or calls to action that the Sierra Club and other green organizations are making, that PRT can easily fit into.

I’m not sure that I want to get into the relevance of the Sierra Club, and any inaccuracies that they might espouse (Endorsing Hybrids over Plugin Hybrids?) Like them or not, they are often the first people that ordinary citizens turn to when they want to get involved in the helping the environment. And I believe that they should be considered in our pitch, and would be a great asset when they become less of an obstacle to the implementation of a PRT solution.l

–Mike Conwell
ACPRT.org Austin, TX
AND AN ENVIRONMENTAL AND NEIGHBORHOOD ACTIVIST!!!! (for those who suspect my motives))

** The big three from Detroit will still not return my calls :-) Sure could use the money.

This is even more hilarious... from November 16th, 2005 - "PRT is a Joke":

An effort in search engine optimization. Road Kill Bill (Ken Avidor) is an unfortunately effective (if ill-informed) opponent of personal rapid transit. But he’s showing up as the third entry on Google when someone searches for Personal Rapid Transit. So… the question is, what do we do about it? I think there’s a case for libel, but I don’t have the money to pursue it. But I do have one idea… stay tuned. If you really want to learn more, contact me at the phone number on my main web page.

Hey, Mike... PRT was a joke in 2005 and it's still a joke in 2009.