Pod Promoters in Newport News

Joe Lawlor has a good article in The Newport News Daily Press titled "Personal rapid transit in Newport News?".

It's sad to read about yet another community wasting time on Personal Rapid Transit, but at least Mr. Lawlor has reported fairly the pros and cons of PRT. Lawlor quotes the indefatigable, pod-promoting Larry Fabian. The article also quotes retired Professor Vukan Vuchic:

"People study it a lot, but when it's closer to actually building it, it never gets done."

Google the following cities with "Personal Rapid Transit"; Daventry, Duluth, Minneapolis, Winona, Long Branch, Indianapolis, Rosemount, Seattle, Cincinnati, Ithaca, Alameda, Denver... all had a similar experience with PRT - the pod promoters came to town with lots of media hype, PowerPoint presentations, promises, demands... and months, years later... nothing.

Recently, the proposal to bring Jpods to Hull, Massachusetts ended in fiasco.

What never happens is any meaningful citizen participation - this is what I wrote in the Winona Daily News:

Boston Personal Rapid Transit promoter Lawrence J. Fabian in his Sept. 23 letter chided the citizens of Winona for their lack of enthusiasm for the PRT plan proposed by the city of Winona.

“If Winona wants to think small,” scolds Fabian.

An interesting criticism when you consider that Winonans never really had an opportunity to comment or ask questions in a public forum about the PRT project.

According to a Jan. 20 article in the Winona Daily News, a meeting where the public could have asked questions was for Winona City Council members only, “While there was little discussion of PRT during the meeting, the vote came after council members examined the system during a pre-council informational session that lasted more than one hour.”

I recall a similar PRT “informational session” for Minneapolis city officials only on March 26, 2005. When a proposal for a PRT project later came up for a vote in committee, the PRT promoters failed to show up and the matter was tabled. More recently, public officials in Daventry, England, complained that PRT promoters would not show up at public forums to answer questions. The Minnesota Department of Transportation held a “PRT workshop” Aug. 18, which cost $50 to attend and was not a public meeting. Why are PRT promoters avoiding the public?

When the city of Winona revisits the issue of PRT, as it has recently indicated it would, I would suggest they hold a free, public forum and invite critics as well as promoters. I would also suggest inviting experts in the field; transit engineers, transit advocacy groups and environmental groups. But most of all, I urge Winona city officials to invite the public.

Grassroots support for any big public project is essential. For it is the citizens who will end up paying for it— and if built, living with it.

Hopefully, the citizens and public officials of Newport News will avoid wasting time and money on PRT by insisting on open and meaningful public participation in the decision-making process.

More PRT Flops and Fiascos:

JPODs Flop in Hull, Mass.

Personal Rapid Transit is NOT Happening in Masdar.

Twitter Reveals Morgantown WVU Personal Rapid Transit's Frequent Breakdowns.

Personal Rapid Transit Is NOT a "New Technology.

The Pawlenty administration wasted at least $150,000 on personal rapid transit .

PRT Conference Newsletter & Website Features PRT Plan by Convicted Felon. Dean Zimmermann also showed up at last year's bizarre MnDOT "PRT Workshop.

PRT is so not happening at Heathrow.

Daventry says "Pods Off!". also see the Daventry anti-pod Facebook page.

Video: Bill James Pitches Jpods Resolution to Hennepin County.

Federal Funding Nixed for Winona Personal Rapid Transit Project

Taxi 2000 lobbyist and Bachmann pal Ed Cain also lobbied for the phony U.S. Navy Veterans Association charity.

No $25 million earmark for PRT pork project in Winona, Minnesota.

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

ULTra Misses Another Self-Imposed Deadline for Heathrow Launch

This from a December 5th article in the Times of India:

At present, Heathrow airport is the only place where the pod is operational. While it is right now being used by the airport staff, the commercial operations will start soon after Christmas.

Well, it's after New Years and the "news" from the ULTra January Newsletter is that they are still testing, testing , testing...

1. November Heathrow “revenue service trials” produce excellent results

The four weeks of "Simulated Revenue Service" trial - intended to mimic real operating conditions - using Terminal 5 staff as passengers - is now complete. This involved operation of the system for 10.5 hr each day of the trial period. During these trials ULTra achieved a System Availability - defined as the ability for any passenger to travel to any station during any given minute -- of 99.6%. For comparison, most APMs (Automatic People Movers) in similar applications function with availability levels between 97.5% and 99.5%, and are more reliable than manually-driven alternatives. Among all transit modes, ULTra's debut performance puts it near the front of the pack in terms of delivering proven reliability.

So why not open it to the public? What are they afraid of?

This isn't the first time the uber-hyped, glorified golf carts of Heathrow missed a launch date.The pods were supposed to open to the public way back in 2006. and have failed to launch at least 3 or 4 times... who cares anymore.

Meanwhile, ULTra gives us an picture (see below) what an elevated PRT station would look like. Heathrow doesn't have a free=standing elevated station. Plans for city-wide PRT systems would have scores of these huge, ugly stations, festooned with advertising. Note the pylons sunk in the middle of the sidewalk. Very pedestrian-un-friendly:



According to a presentation by Martin Lowson (available at the ATRA website) the new launch window was supposed to be "Mid 2010":



The June, 2010 launch date also came from this guy who supposedly works for ULTra:

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 statement as it appeared on the ULTra PRT website (link broken):

Latest Schedule

"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.

It's not surprising that the effect of these postponements of the much-publicized ULTra have made public officials skeptical, even irritated at PRT promoters as explained in this video:



More PRT Flops and Fiascos:

JPODs Flop in Hull, Mass.

Personal Rapid Transit is NOT Happening in Masdar.

Twitter Reveals Morgantown WVU Personal Rapid Transit's Frequent Breakdowns.

Personal Rapid Transit Is NOT a "New Technology.

The Pawlenty administration wasted at least $150,000 on personal rapid transit .

PRT Conference Newsletter & Website Features PRT Plan by Convicted Felon. Dean Zimmermann also showed up at last year's bizarre MnDOT "PRT Workshop.

PRT is so not happening at Heathrow.

Daventry says "Pods Off!". also see the Daventry anti-pod Facebook page.

Video: Bill James Pitches Jpods Resolution to Hennepin County.

Federal Funding Nixed for Winona Personal Rapid Transit Project

Taxi 2000 lobbyist and Bachmann pal Ed Cain also lobbied for the phony U.S. Navy Veterans Association charity.

No $25 million earmark for PRT pork project in Winona, Minnesota.

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

Farcical Hearing for JPOD Proposal in Hull, Mass.

The Hull Sun:

At this week’s meeting, Van Hamm provided selectmen with an overview of the new scaled-back two-year trial run proposal to build a smaller one-mile system at a cost of around $9.5 million, which would run between the DCR parking lot on the bayside of Hull, to the beginning of the HRA property.

The new proposal calls for five stations with 67 pods, she said.

Van Hamm said there would be an economic growth potential provided by an uptick in visitors to the community, who she feels would view the Jpods as more of a novelty amusement park ride, which she envisions would bring a benefit to nearby businesses.

She estimated income of about $1.5 million a year from 2,000 riders in the warmer months and 1,000 riders in the winter paying $6 a ride.

Six bucks for a one mile ride?

“I would personally like to see the president or CEO from the company come down and do a more thorough presentation to the board,” Olivieri said.

Van Hamm asked Oliveri if he’d like to call James on his cell to get answers to some of the financial questions he has.

“No, we asked him before, and his response was he was going to sell t-shirts…. I want someone who can give us concrete answers,” said Olivieri.

Selectman John Brannan also voiced puzzlement over the figures that would make such a proposal work.

“If you have a lot of investors willing to lose money, please send them my way — I have a lot of ideas myself…. It’s not a build it, and they will come (situation),” said Brannan, saying he wants to see a marketing plan and more financial information about the plan.

Citing the interest of full disclosure, Brannan asked Van Hamm if she has any potential financial gain from this project, and she responded “I’m here as a resident of Hull.”

It's sad to see the yet another community waste time on Personal Rapid Transit. Hull is not alone. Scores of cities have had similar experiences with the PRT hucksters; Daventry, Duluth, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Winona, Long Branch, Indianapolis, Rosemount, Seattle, Cincinnati, Ithaca, Alameda, Denver and many more...