The website for the Podcar City conference in San Jose October 27-29, 2010 has a page devoted to the recent PRT workshop last month. If you go to the bottom of the page, next to a photo of MnDOT Commisioner Thomas Sorel, there's a PRT map with the following description:
Minneapolis Personal Rapid Transit Map Legend (a Concept Plan) Map submitted by former Council Member Dean Zimmermann.
Under the map is the following contact info (redacted for this blog):
Comments or questions can be directed to the author: Dean Zimmermann deanzimm@****** 612-***-****
The map shows a plan for a 68 station PRT system serving downtown Minneapolis and some high density housing area to the south. The PRT Web Area would serve the densest housing area in the entire State of Minnesota.
The Podcar conference newsletter also has the map and contact info for Zimmermann.
Click on the screenshot to make it bigger:
In addition to taking bribes, Dean Zimmermann tried to convince real estate developer and government witness Gary Carlson to invest $250,000 in PRT:
Last year, I videotaped Zimmermann protesting reality-based transit and promoting Personal Rapid Transit at a transportation forum. Zimmermann gave me a tortured explanation for accepting cash from FBI witness Gary Carlson and refused to sign a waiver for the FBI tapes shown at this trial:
Members of the LRT-hating/pod-promoting Citizens for Personal Rapid Transit (CPRT) also spread the nonsensical conspiracy theory that Zimmermann was framed:
In an editorial published Monday in the Daily Athenaeum titled "The unreliable PRT says a lot about this University" WVU Graduate student Michael Levy tells the truth about the deeply flawed system:
In the best of times, I can leave my office in LSB 20 minutes before class starts in Evansdale and be on time. That makes a total round-trip travel time of 40 minutes.
That's certainly not convenient, and multiplied across everyone who uses the PRT, it's a huge inefficiency, but it's not totally unreasonable.
However, at least three times already this semester, my daily PRT adventure to Evansdale has been delayed by more than 15 minutes.
I'm not talking about times when the platform is extra full, and it takes a couple cars to get going. Three times in the first four weeks of the semester, the PRT has been down when I tried to use it. Each time, I end up walking into class with my head hung low, muttering an apology for being late. Sometimes I'll add, "Sorry, the PRT was down," but it feels like such a cliched, used-up, one-size-fits-all excuse that it's not even worth saying.
Michael Levy goes on to describe how frequent delays cause problems with recording student attendence. But, he is also concerned about the ecological cost:
Last week, a resource management professor had a meeting with a consulting firm downtown. Being ecologically minded, he decided to take the PRT instead of driving.
But the PRT was down, and he showed up 20 minutes late, uttering the same excuse that I'm sure he's so tired of hearing from students.
As a result of this, people are more likely to drive, even when traveling a route serviced by the PRT. And the traffic and the air pollution get even worse.
Just a couple of years ago, the PRT received around $1.5 million to improve efficiency and reduce downtime. Was it even worse before that?
That the PRT is broken doesn't just mean reduced efficiency on campus.
Students learn more from what they see than what they're told. The PRT sets an example of a system that works most of the time, but it can't be depended on. Is that what we want to instill in our students?
Levy pleads with the administration:
Whatever it will take, WVU needs to do an honest accounting of the problem and figure out how to address the issue.
Sorry Mr. Levy, they won't.
The reason is the WVU PRT was created to monkey-wrench conventional modes of transit and will be expected to function as a paragon of "gadgetbahn" for as long as they can keep it going.
It is about the triumph of anti-transit ideology and futuristic fantasies over reality and common sense.
350.org is an international campaign that's building a movement to unite the world around solutions to the climate crisis--the solutions that science and justice demand.
Our mission is to inspire the world to rise to the challenge of the climate crisis—to create a new sense of urgency and of possibility for our planet.
The Advanced Transit Association group in northern Califonia (ATRA-NorCal) is sponsoring this event as an opportunity to stand up for a U. S. implementation of Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) which promises an efficient, demand-responsive public transit network with automated non-stop service available 24 hours a day. PRT systems are as easy to use as an elevator, and cost a fraction of Light Rail construction. The event will be used to highlight PRT advances and the upcoming Podcar Conference in San Jose(10/27-29). The event will be held at the park adjacent to the proposed PRT crossing of the railroad tracks in Milpitas (Parc Metro East). For details of the proposal, see http://www.electric-bikes.com/prt/ferry.html
And it gets worse...
BIG NEWS:
The Jpods team will have an example of their cab and rail for people to ride. Learn more at jpods.com
Many people here feel that the Personalized Rapid Transit System (PRTS) would harm historic Walled City of Amritsar and would hamper tourism in the city.
They believe that tourism is integrated with heritage here. But in the name of development for the city, the administration may damage the heritage of an age-old wall city.
Nobody wants a lot of elevated trestles cluttering up their streets and blotting out the sky. That's just one reason PRT is a non-starter.
Just another hilarious episode in a long list of flops and fiascos for the pod people - let's review the most recent:
The so-called Morgantown PRT (it's a mundane people-mover) was the subject of a student newspaper editorial after a malfunction created a "fireball" and filled a vehicle with smoke. The cost of fixing the Morgantown boondoggle is $93 million.
BAA has to go through a competitive tendering process, but if its selects Ultra the system could be in place at Heathrow by 2006
Richard Teychenne, ATS business development manager, said the key difference between Ultra and its competitors would be its flexibility, as it was for small groups of people
He said: "We have in this country the idea that public transport has to move people in big vehicles. But 90% of journeys are made in cars. Our system is like a network of automatic taxis or an elevator: you punch in where you want to go." The system could eventually see passengers punching in the reference code of their flight and being taken to the correct terminal. Ultra is being considered by 20 councils in the UK, including Swindon in Wiltshire, Corby in Northampton and Cardiff, as well as authorities abroad, with a possible view to delivering passengers from park-and-ride facilities directly to individual shops. Teychenne also met Greater London Authority officials this week to look at how the system could be adapted to the Olympic village
For six long years during which the pod people kept up an incessant PRT publicity barrage and yet the ULTra PRT at Heathrow is not in revenue service as predicted. What happened with the "20 councils in the UK" ? The much-hyped Daventry PRT experiment ended in fiasco when more than a hundred angry Daventry townspeople packed a meeting . They even put up a Say No To Daventry's P.R.T System Facebook page.
I recently received this response from Richard Teychenne concerning the ULTra pods at Heathrow:
I am sorry for the delay in replying I have been away for two weeks. I am not sure where the June idea came from as we have not agreed any dates with the customer BAA for the service to start. Our intention has always been to have the system ready for operations to start in the late summer of 2010. However when this actually happens is at the discretion of our customer BAA.
The current position is we are running passenger trials with a small number of real airport customers every day to allow the operators to gain familiarity with the system. This is ongoing and the system is working well.
Personally I do not expect BAA to want to make any announcements while there are ongoing negative news stories at Heathrow such as the BA and BAA industrial actions. Unfortunately this means that we have no way of knowing when they will actually allow us to officially open. It is also possible that they will not want to have a formal opening announcement because this may cause them other media issues and media management is generally their top priority. We may find that we are allowed to gradually move to full operation unannounced later this summer.
Ken, the June mention you may have picked up was a delay in the passenger trials schedule in June because we were asked to change the communications frequency the system uses to avoid any potential for interference with other airport systems. This necessitated a change in the wifi communications network setup. ULTra uses a communications network which is similar to the mobile wifi networks for mobile phones and laptops in offices. This change required our wifi supplier changing and retesting the fixed antennas on the system and the corresponding components in the vehicles. All of the work required was completed in June.
Richard Teychenne states " I am not sure where the June idea came from". That's interesting. According to a presentation by Martin Lowson (available at the ATRA website) the new launch window is in "Mid 2010":
Testing of the PRT System is continuing and, with all installation and communications challenges now resolved, we anticipate commencing passenger services in late Spring 2010." This is what I'd call a joint BAA/ATS approved statement. http://www.ultraprt.com/cms/index.php?page=latest-schedule
That link is broken. Here's a screenshot:
Well, when June arrived we got this info via a tweet from the PRT Guru that linked to his website where we found this statement:
June 2010: It appears ULTra will not meet its previously-announced June opening date at London’s Heathrow Airport. BAA has issued the following statement: "The Heathrow pod is innovative technology and we have always said that the system will be launched when it is ready to do so. The system, as well as being a world first, is bespoke [customized] to fit into existing airport infrastructure and the process of completing this is informing our decision about the launch date. Testing is continuing and we anticipate that the system will officially launch in the near future."
"The Heathrow pod is innovative technology and we have always said that the system will be launched when it is ready to do so. The system, as well as being a world first, is bespoke (custom-made) to fit into existing airport infrastructure and the process of completing this is informing our decision about the launch date. Testing is continuing and we anticipate that the system will officially launch in the near future." - BAA's schedule statement, June 2010.
Apparently there were earlier, scrubbed launches of the glorified golf carts of Heathrow according to this BBC report from 2009:
In less than two years' time, after the opening of Heathrow's Terminal 5 in March 2008, a network of 18 of these four-seater capsules will be ferrying passengers to and from a business car park to the new terminal building.
It's not surprising that the effect of these postponements of the much-hype ULTra have made public officials skeptical, even irritated at PRT promoters as explained in this video:
So, six years on (more if you count the failed attempt to bring pods to Cardiff, Wales) and the fabled ULTra pods are moving to India. Here's the news report... how many chances do these PRT guys get?
Last Thursday, I attended a presentation sponsored by the Carolina Transportation Program where Steve Raney essentially gave his sales pitch for the idea of PRT. Raney is a transportation planner and consultant with Advanced Transport Systems Inc. who is driving development opportunities for ULTra’s concept.
Its main success so far is seen at London’s Heathrow Airport where they are in the construction phase at Terminal 5. The system will connect passengers directly to the car park, but is envisioned to expand in the future connecting to other amenities like hotels. The idea has several selling points: 95% of passengers will have to wait less than 1 minute for a car; all the vehicles are battery-powered (making it green); and, the cars do not require drivers since they run on a closed system.
But, Raney didn’t focus much on the Heathrow project; instead, he spent most of his time selling the more general idea of PRT as a design solution
Yeah, like what's there to focus on?
Just another hilarious episode in a long list of flops and fiascos for the pod people - let's review the most recent:
The so-called Morgantown PRT (it's a mundane people-mover) was the subject of a student newspaper editorial after a malfunction created a "fireball" and filled a vehicle with smoke. The cost of fixing the Morgantown boondoggle is $93 million.
John Edward Anderson, BS ME, MS ME, PhD Astronautics, PE – Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota (23 years). Former Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, Boston University (8 years). World-renowned expert on Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) systems analysis and design. Chaired four international conferences on PRT, lectured and gave courses widely in the U. S. and abroad on transit systems analysis and design. Founding President and Member, Board of Directors, Advanced Transit Association (ATRA). In his early career he worked for 12 years at the Honeywell Aeronautical Division on instrument design, autopilots, inertial navigation, and spacecraft development; and previously two years as an Aeronautical Research Scientist in the Structures Research Division, NASA, Langley Field, VA. Named Outstanding Inventor of 1989 for his patents on PRT. Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, cited for his work on PRT. Licensed Professional Engineer, State of Minnesota. Author and co-author of numerous journal articles on rapid transit system analysis and design. Author of Transit Systems Theory (1978), Magnetohydrodynamic Shock Waves (1963 M.I.T. Press).
The so-called Morgantown PRT (it's a mundane people-mover) was the subject of a student newspaper editorial after a malfunction created a "fireball" and filled a vehicle with smoke. The cost of fixing the Morgantown boondoggle is $93 million.
Bill James, founder and CEO of the would-be Personal Rapid Transit vendor Jpods, dropped in on the Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority meeting yesterday to urge the county to adopt a resolution to give Jpods the right-of-way to build PRT in Hennepin County.
James says there there are three companies in Minnesota that can build PRT and create "several hundred jobs in Minnesota in the next 12 months" - that's total nonsense.
Bill James then asked for "a favor" - a resolution that would give companies that claim they could build transit systems that are privately-funded, getting all their revenue from the fair-box "non-exclusive access to rights-of-way". Bill James also claims he has agreements to build Jpods in China.
Bill James said he wants to build Jpod "feeder lines" to connect to the Hiawatha LRT.
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