No Earmark for Winona Personal Rapid Transit Boondoggle

The earmark request for a PRT research facility in Winona, Minnesota has failed to make the list just issued by Rep. Tim Walz (PDF here).

There is no funding for PRT in the MN Legislature's bonding bill either.

After 30+ years of claiming PRT to be better than conventional modes of transit, the PRT hucksters in Minnesota have failed to deliver anything more than hype.

Time for a review....

Recent PRT Failure

The ULTra PRT launch at Heathrow has been delayed at least 3 times.

The Swedish/Korean PRT prototype malfunctioned recently in front of the media.

The Masdar PRT (actually computer-guided golf carts that follow magnets imbedded in the roadway) has been scaled way back.

The much-hyped PRT project in Daventry ended in fiasco.

The so-called Morgantown PRT (it's a mundane people-mover) was the subject of a recent student newspaper editorial after a serious malfunction filled a vehicle with smoke.