Personal Rapid Transit Flops and Fiascos

Recent pod news and info

Hilarious Personal Rapid Transit Presentation by ATRA & CPRT (Same Person)

Is MNDOT Scrubbing Personal Rapid Transit Off its Website?

Heathrow's ULTra Personal Rapid Transit Pods Have 5% Failure Rate and are apparently being evaluated by Twitter.

Would-Be PRT Vendor "Preparing a Citizen Suit" Against the State of Minnesota

Petulant PRT promoters acting up again.

Skytran in Detroit? Meet Skytran CEO.

Another Crackpot Personal Rapid Transit Proposal Bites the Dust (Almelo)

Strange Minnesota industry - 3 Proposed PRT Projects, 6 PRT Companies and 2 PRT Lobbyists.

Former Rep. Mark Olson Returns to Capitol as a lobbyist for would-be PRT vendor proposing $100 million pod project in Coon Rapids.

The CPRT table at U of M Jobs Fair. Convicted felon is spokesman for the CPRT.

Daventry citizens say "Pods Off" to PRT TWICE!

Duluth News Tribune article about Taxi 2000 trying to restart Duluth pod project - hilarious comments.

The Pawlenty administration wasted thousands of taxpayers' dollars promoting personal rapid transit .

Pod people invade Newport News ( the article quotes retired professor Vukan Vuchic)

Bizarre hearing for wacky Jpods proposal for Hull, Massachusetts. Video: Bill James Pitches Jpods Resolution to Hennepin County.

Taxi 2000 Corporation spent nearly $80K on lobbying in Minnesota in 5 years. Taxi 2000 lobbyist and Bachmann pal Ed Cain also lobbied for the phony U.S. Navy Veterans Association charity.

Federal Funding Nixed for Winona Personal Rapid Transit Project

The Swedish/Korean PRT prototype malfunctioned 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, This setback got a mention in the NY Times and confirmed in this Bloomberg article. New post-mortem: "Masdar City Abandons Transportation System of the Future".

The so-called Morgantown PRT (not a true PRT system) 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. Twitter Reveals Morgantown WVU Personal Rapid Transit's Frequent Breakdowns.

Hilarious Personal Rapid Transit Presentation by ATRA & CPRT (Same Person)

Video from this event:

Building Communities Exhibition: Visuals and Models of the New Urban Community

Aug 15 2011 11:00 am

This annual week-long, public event will be held August 15 - 19 in the Crystal Court of the IDS Center, in Downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Building Community Exhibition offers a sneak peek at the future of our urban communities. There will be scale models, renderings, computer animations and multi-media displays of planned, ongoing, and recently completed construction projects that are shaping our urban communities. The Advanced Transit Association is teaming up with Citizens for Personal Rapid Transiti (www.cprt.org) for this exhibition. On Thursday, August 18 the Building Communities Exhibition is hosting "Transportation Day." This day features a noontime speaker session, where an ATRA representative will give a presentation along side other predominant transportation policy-makers.

The antediluvian Sky Loop model is from the defunct Sky Loop PRT project.

UPDATE: The Sky Loop model is included in this Cincinnati Revisited blog post. The caption reads:

And finally, of course, we can't forget about the most notorious transportation proposal which was actually considered by for our regional transportation initiative (OKI), the Skyloop - a monorail-like personal rapid transit system.

Read about the Sky Loop PRT fiasco HERE. Click on the picture to make it bigger:



Here's the video:



Speaking of ATRA, the PRTistas are fighting over the definition of PRT:

Christer Lindstrom, who is presenting the latest podcar conference at Stockholm tells me that the article which 'redefined' PRT characteristics was originally drafted by Steve Raney, who to my knowledge works & represents your interests in the US - therefore this mail addressed to you directly. Christer has 'assumed' that the article has been officially endorsed by ATRA, when it is apparent that it has never been. This is perhaps a shortsighted, illegal and unethical act on the part of Steve to wrongly portray the family of 4 seat systems as the only PRT candidates perhaps to establish some business advantages for Ultra, Vectus & 2getthere in the near future with many city officials - as non-discerning audiences - by way of a deceptive ATRA endorsement, when none of this was required in the first place.

Unethical? Deceptive? Nawwwwwww.....

Recent Pod Flops and Fiascos:

Is MNDOT Scrubbing Personal Rapid Transit Off its Website?

Heathrow's ULTra Personal Rapid Transit Pods Have 5% Failure Rate

Would-Be PRT Vendor "Preparing a Citizen Suit" Against the State of Minnesota

Petulant PRT promoters acting up again.

Skytran in Detroit? Meet Skytran CEO.

Another Crackpot Personal Rapid Transit Proposal Bites the Dust (Almelo)

Strange Minnesota industry - 3 Proposed PRT Projects, 6 PRT Companies and 2 PRT Lobbyists.

Former Rep. Mark Olson Returns to Capitol as a lobbyist for would-be PRT vendor proposing $100 million pod project in Coon Rapids.

The CPRT table at U of M Jobs Fair. Convicted felon is spokesman for the CPRT.

Daventry citizens say "Pods Off" to PRT TWICE!

Duluth News Tribune article about Taxi 2000 trying to restart Duluth pod project - hilarious comments.

The Pawlenty administration wasted thousands of taxpayers' dollars promoting personal rapid transit .

PRT is so not happening at Heathrow.

Pod people invade Newport News ( the article quotes retired professor Vukan Vuchic)

Bizarre hearing for wacky Jpods proposal for Hull, Massachusetts. Video: Bill James Pitches Jpods Resolution to Hennepin County.

Taxi 2000 Corporation spent nearly $80K on lobbying in Minnesota in 5 years. Taxi 2000 lobbyist and Bachmann pal Ed Cain also lobbied for the phony U.S. Navy Veterans Association charity.

Federal Funding Nixed for Winona Personal Rapid Transit Project

The Swedish/Korean PRT prototype malfunctioned 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, This setback got a mention in the NY Times and confirmed in this Bloomberg article. New post-mortem: "Masdar City Abandons Transportation System of the Future".

The so-called Morgantown PRT (not a true PRT system) 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. Twitter Reveals Morgantown WVU Personal Rapid Transit's Frequent Breakdowns.

Is MNDOT Scrubbing Personal Rapid Transit Off its Website?

The Personal Rapid Transit page on MnDOT's website is now the Automated Rapid Transit page.

This was then (click to make bigger):



This is now:



Recent Pod Flops and Fiascos:

Would-Be PRT Vendor "Preparing a Citizen Suit" Against the State of Minnesota

Petulant PRT promoters acting up again.

Skytran in Detroit? Meet Skytran CEO.

Another Crackpot Personal Rapid Transit Proposal Bites the Dust (Almelo)

Strange Minnesota industry - 3 Proposed PRT Projects, 6 PRT Companies and 2 PRT Lobbyists.

Former Rep. Mark Olson Returns to Capitol as a lobbyist for would-be PRT vendor proposing $100 million pod project in Coon Rapids.

The CPRT table at U of M Jobs Fair. Convicted felon is spokesman for the CPRT.

Daventry citizens say "Pods Off" to PRT TWICE!

Duluth News Tribune article about Taxi 2000 trying to restart Duluth pod project - hilarious comments.

The Pawlenty administration wasted thousands of taxpayers' dollars promoting personal rapid transit .

PRT is so not happening at Heathrow.

Pod people invade Newport News ( the article quotes retired professor Vukan Vuchic)

Bizarre hearing for wacky Jpods proposal for Hull, Massachusetts. Video: Bill James Pitches Jpods Resolution to Hennepin County.

Taxi 2000 Corporation spent nearly $80K on lobbying in Minnesota in 5 years. Taxi 2000 lobbyist and Bachmann pal Ed Cain also lobbied for the phony U.S. Navy Veterans Association charity.

Federal Funding Nixed for Winona Personal Rapid Transit Project

The Swedish/Korean PRT prototype malfunctioned 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, This setback got a mention in the NY Times and confirmed in this Bloomberg article. New post-mortem: "Masdar City Abandons Transportation System of the Future".

The so-called Morgantown PRT (not a true PRT system) 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. Twitter Reveals Morgantown WVU Personal Rapid Transit's Frequent Breakdowns.

Heathrow's ULTra Personal Rapid Transit Pods Have 5% Failure Rate

Once touted by supporters as "faster, better cheaper" than conventional transit, The much-hyped ULTra Personal Rapid Transit experimental operation at Heathrow's T5 terminal parking facility is described as a "taxi" service that fails one in twenty passengers according to Airport International's News:

Each pod is capable of accommodating four passengers plus their luggage and, at present, they're used by something like 800 passengers on a daily basis. The speed of these airport robot pods peaks at about 25 miles per hour and, since the fleet became operational, they've shown themselves to be pretty reliable, with a five per cent failure rate.

The article doesn't explain what "failure" means.

Keep in mind, the trial period began April 18, 2011. The ULTra pods have not been tested in extreme winter conditions. J.E. Anderson doubted ULTra 's ability to handle wintery conditions in 2004 (Salon):

Edward Anderson, however, quibbles with Lowson's assessment of superiority, pointing out the ULTra's larger cars would cost more and add weight to the tracks, and that the electric-car system is more vulnerable to inclement weather.

According to the ULTra website, snow removal is accomplished by a "special snow and ice removal vehicle". This is how the special vehicle removes snow and ice:

This vehicle traverses the guideway automatically, applying a de-icing spray

Ethylene Glycol? not very environmental.

The ULTra site also mentions an "open glass reinforced plastic (GRP) grating" that they hope will allow snow, ice and the de-icing fluid to rain down onto pedestrians, autos and other property below.

And how reliable are the ULTra pod's batteries in Minnesota's sub-freezing temperatures?

Faster, better, cheaper? I don't think so.



Recent Pod Flops and Fiascos:

Would-Be PRT Vendor "Preparing a Citizen Suit" Against the State of Minnesota

Petulant PRT promoters acting up again.

Skytran in Detroit? Meet Skytran CEO.

Another Crackpot Personal Rapid Transit Proposal Bites the Dust (Almelo)

Strange Minnesota industry - 3 Proposed PRT Projects, 6 PRT Companies and 2 PRT Lobbyists.

Former Rep. Mark Olson Returns to Capitol as a lobbyist for would-be PRT vendor proposing $100 million pod project in Coon Rapids.

The CPRT table at U of M Jobs Fair. Convicted felon is spokesman for the CPRT.

Daventry citizens say "Pods Off" to PRT TWICE!

Duluth News Tribune article about Taxi 2000 trying to restart Duluth pod project - hilarious comments.

The Pawlenty administration wasted thousands of taxpayers' dollars promoting personal rapid transit .

PRT is so not happening at Heathrow.

Pod people invade Newport News ( the article quotes retired professor Vukan Vuchic)

Bizarre hearing for wacky Jpods proposal for Hull, Massachusetts. Video: Bill James Pitches Jpods Resolution to Hennepin County.

Taxi 2000 Corporation spent nearly $80K on lobbying in Minnesota in 5 years. Taxi 2000 lobbyist and Bachmann pal Ed Cain also lobbied for the phony U.S. Navy Veterans Association charity.

Federal Funding Nixed for Winona Personal Rapid Transit Project

The Swedish/Korean PRT prototype malfunctioned 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, This setback got a mention in the NY Times and confirmed in this Bloomberg article. New post-mortem: "Masdar City Abandons Transportation System of the Future".

The so-called Morgantown PRT (not a true PRT system) 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. Twitter Reveals Morgantown WVU Personal Rapid Transit's Frequent Breakdowns.

Would-Be PRT Vendor "Preparing a Citizen Suit" Against the State of Minnesota

Pod promoter Steve Raney posted this email on the Transport Innovators forum to Tom Sorel, Transportation Commissioner for the State of MInnesota:

Hi Tom

We have refined the summary of the 28th Amendment as a basis to end government monopolies over power and transportation infrastructures. We are preparing a citizen suit in which we will name you and the State of Minnesota for blocking privately financed solar-powered mobility networks. It would be much better if Minnesota will allow such networks.

Unless you have some means to guaranteeing access to affordable gasoline, as noted in the summary of the 28th Amendment, the decay of the oil-powered economy seems likely to kill about 8 in 10 Americans over the next 20 years. Geology is slow and relentless. We can preempt the crisis by becoming self-reliant and ending our oil addiction.

Please consider that if people die, the civil aspects of the citizens suit should be expanded to criminal accountability. People are already losing their homes because DOT mandates oil as the lifeblood of our economy.

Thanks
Bill James

Steve Raney comments:

The large CC line maximizes the number of client-side Minnesotans that are antagonized. I am not aware of an example of this bizdev approach
succeeding.

Here's the CC list:

rom: Bill James [mailto:bill.ja...@jitcorp.com]
Sent: Sunday, August 07, 2011 3:11 PM
To: Sorel, Thomas (MnDOT) Cc: Feit, Dennis (DOT); Ariene McCarthy (Met Council); Arseneau, Bernie (DOT); David Pesch (Olmsted County); Eric Sorensen (Winona); Ferrol Robinson (UMn); Gina Baas (UMn); Paulson, Greg (DOT); Meyer,
Jean M (DOT); Jeff Ellerbusch (Olmsted County); John Levin (Met Council); Karl Keel (Bloomington); Buckeye, Kenneth (DOT); Gutknecht, Kevin (DOT); Hernandez, Kristine J (DOT); Laurie McGinnis (UMn); Marisol Simon (DOT); Schweyen, Michael (DOT); Michael Sheehan (Olmsted); Schadauer, Michael (DOT); Thakur, Mukhtar (DOT); Succio, Nelrae (DOT); Representative Tina Liebling; Senator Gen Olson; Stephanie Malinoff (UMn); Henkel, Tim (DOT); Tony Knauer (Rochester); Venkat.Pindiprolu - FTA;

Bill James is the JPODS guy. Listen to Bill James talk about JPODS :



More about Bill James in these posts:

Video: Bill James Pitches Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) Resolution to Hennepin County

No PRT at the Mall of America

Farcical Hearing for JPOD Proposal in Hull, Mass.

Personal Rapid Transit Consultant Wants President Obama to Lose the Next Election

Roy Reynolds of PRT Strategies on the Transport Innovators forum:

"Hopefully, with a new administration in 2013, more sensibility will prevail and we'll all have our opportunities. "

There are two PRT-supporting presidential candidates in the running for the GOP nomination, Michele Bachmann and Tim Pawlenty.

Phoenix Woman has a good post on the pod people at FDL.

I'm guessing there's going to be an uptick in the amount of PRT promotion and publicity in the run-up to the next session of the Minnesota Legislature. Look for one or more PRT pork projects to be included in the bonding bill. Here's a Minneapolis pod event planned for this month:

Start: Aug 15 2011 11:00 am

This annual week-long, public event will be held August 15 - 19 in the Crystal Court of the IDS Center, in Downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Building Community Exhibition offers a sneak peek at the future of our urban communities. There will be scale models, renderings, computer animations and multi-media displays of planned, ongoing, and recently completed construction projects that are shaping our urban communities. The Advanced Transit Association is teaming up with Citizens for Personal Rapid Transiti (www.cprt.org) for this exhibition. On Thursday, August 18 the Building Communities Exhibition is hosting "Transportation Day." This day features a noontime speaker session, where an ATRA representative will give a presentation along side other predominant transportation policy-makers.

Will PRT lobbyist Mark Olson, CPRT member Dean Zimmermann be there to answer questions?





Recent Pod Flops and Fiascos:

Petulant PRT promoters acting up again.

Skytran in Detroit? Meet Skytran CEO.

Another Crackpot Personal Rapid Transit Proposal Bites the Dust (Almelo)

Strange Minnesota industry - 3 Proposed PRT Projects, 6 PRT Companies and 2 PRT Lobbyists.

Former Rep. Mark Olson Returns to Capitol as a lobbyist for would-be PRT vendor proposing $100 million pod project in Coon Rapids.

The CPRT table at U of M Jobs Fair. Convicted felon is spokesman for the CPRT.

Daventry citizens say "Pods Off" to PRT TWICE!

Duluth News Tribune article about Taxi 2000 trying to restart Duluth pod project - hilarious comments.

The Pawlenty administration wasted thousands of taxpayers' dollars promoting personal rapid transit .

PRT is so not happening at Heathrow.

Pod people invade Newport News ( the article quotes retired professor Vukan Vuchic)

Bizarre hearing for wacky Jpods proposal for Hull, Massachusetts. Video: Bill James Pitches Jpods Resolution to Hennepin County.

Taxi 2000 Corporation spent nearly $80K on lobbying in Minnesota in 5 years. Taxi 2000 lobbyist and Bachmann pal Ed Cain also lobbied for the phony U.S. Navy Veterans Association charity.

Federal Funding Nixed for Winona Personal Rapid Transit Project

The Swedish/Korean PRT prototype malfunctioned 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, This setback got a mention in the NY Times and confirmed in this Bloomberg article. New post-mortem: "Masdar City Abandons Transportation System of the Future".

The so-called Morgantown PRT (not a true PRT system) 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. Twitter Reveals Morgantown WVU Personal Rapid Transit's Frequent Breakdowns.

Heathrow PRT Twitter FAIL

After years and years of testing, delays and incredible heaps of hype, the Heathrow personal rapid transit "ULTra" pods are... still testing. Peter "PRT Guru" Muller breathlessly blogs the twitterific success of the glorified golf carts of T5:

Heathrow Personal Rapid Transit System – Unsolicited Tweets/Quotes

He has 9 tweets, four of which end in exclamation points, one tweet has two exclamation points.

Here are a few tweets about the Heathrow pods PRT Guru didn't post:

Andrew Frankel:

Thought BAA couldn't try harder to piss off its customers? The Heathrow Pod proves otherwise. Actually worse than useless this am. Pls RT

Rowley Douglas:

Sitting in a heathrow T5 pod transporter from parking lot - nice idea but walking would have been quicker!

UPDATE: Another thumbs down..

Thanks @HeathrowAirport for the pre-flight sauna. Also known as the Heathrow pod to T5!!

So much for the great PRT transportation revolution ....



Round-Up of Pod Flops and Fiascos:

Will Reporters Ask Michele Bachmann Whether She Still Thinks Personal Rapid Transit is a Good Idea?


Petulant PRT promoters acting up again.

Skytran in Detroit? Meet Skytran CEO.

Another Crackpot Personal Rapid Transit Proposal Bites the Dust (Almelo)

Strange Minnesota industry - 3 Proposed PRT Projects, 6 PRT Companies and 2 PRT Lobbyists.

Former Rep. Mark Olson Returns to Capitol as a lobbyist for would-be PRT vendor proposing $100 million pod project in Coon Rapids.

The CPRT table at U of M Jobs Fair. Convicted felon is spokesman for the CPRT.

Daventry citizens say "Pods Off" to PRT TWICE!

Duluth News Tribune article about Taxi 2000 trying to restart Duluth pod project - hilarious comments.

The Pawlenty administration wasted thousands of taxpayers' dollars promoting personal rapid transit .

PRT is so not happening at Heathrow.

Pod people invade Newport News ( the article quotes retired professor Vukan Vuchic)

Bizarre hearing for wacky Jpods proposal for Hull, Massachusetts. Video: Bill James Pitches Jpods Resolution to Hennepin County.

Taxi 2000 Corporation spent nearly $80K on lobbying in Minnesota in 5 years. Taxi 2000 lobbyist and Bachmann pal Ed Cain also lobbied for the phony U.S. Navy Veterans Association charity.

Federal Funding Nixed for Winona Personal Rapid Transit Project

The Swedish/Korean PRT prototype malfunctioned 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, This setback got a mention in the NY Times and confirmed in this Bloomberg article. New post-mortem: "Masdar City Abandons Transportation System of the Future".

The so-called Morgantown PRT (not a true PRT system) 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. Twitter Reveals Morgantown WVU Personal Rapid Transit's Frequent Breakdowns.