Not Your Father's Public Transport

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Because the cars are simple and lightweight, the guideways can be small and cheap and installed with minimal disruption. According to J. Edward Anderson, CEO of Taxi 2000, guideway systems can be built for $10 million per mile, an exceptionally low cost when compared with highways ($20 million) and light rail ($70 million). (A University of Washington study has estimated an even lower price tag for a metropolitan PRT system-about $5.5 million per mile.) Supporters note that PRT's lower cost per mile allows it to better serve spread-out communities. The higher cost of conventional rail means that subways and light rail serve only narrow corridors while PRT can fan out through a region.

PRT does have its critics, including those who question its basic feasibility and voice concerns about safety at stations and the aesthetic impact of building overhead guideways throughout a city.

PRT supporters respond that in a current design, the elevated PRT guideways are three feet square and can be built on streets and alleys and even through buildings. As a result, the system eats up less real estate than our current automobile infrastructure, which now accounts for more than half the land in many city centers. It's predicted that a single narrow PRT guideway could carry roughly the same capacity as a four-lane highway.

For more information on personal rapid transit, contact Citizens for Personal Rapid Transit (www.cprt.org).

Michael Fraase is Utne's Webmaster.

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