Consolidated PRT PROS / CONS List

There are currently two types of Personal Rapid Transit or driverless transit cars, PRTs and GRTs. PRTs are for individuals or small groups of six or less. GRTs (Group Rapid Transit) are for accommodating larger city mass transit of maximum 40 people at 4 second intervals, which exceed standard mass transit capacity while at the same time are completely in sync with the Personal Rapid Transit mode to form an ideal level of comfort, convenience and flexibility. Both systems operate on the same PRT driverless network.

As the PRT revolution emerges in the coming decade, automobile culture will begin to be seen for what it is… Simply the most inefficient physical task we do as a civilization. Once the possibility of PRTs begin to be exposed, we begin to bring into question our current lifestyle and redundant daily automobile routines. The task of driving takes our complete focus and attention, jeopardizing the health and safety of us and those around us if our attention strays for seconds. The transportation needs of a truly civilized society will evaluate the complete array of economic, physical and psychological needs in a completely synergistic balance. These requirements will undoubtedly be met through an effective system of optimized Driverless Cars.

Below is a comprehensive list of Pros and Cons for determining the advantages of implementing a PRT system in your city or development.

PROS

Revolutionary transportation CONVENIENCE options for the users of the local public and tourists.
- Shorter Walking Distances: Because of the network grid system, stations can be located 1/4 mile or 400 meters walking distances from where you are, making it more convenient for riders to access.
- No waiting. Riders do not have to wait for transit cars. The cars wait for the riders by load balancing automatically and transferring cars to the stations as demand changes.
- Privacy: Riders have the convenience of the privacy of their own personal PRT car. The option of sharing a PRT or taking the GRT (Group) can offer the option of a lower fare.
- Entertainment: Because PRT cars are private, so you can watch the TV station of your choice, or listen to your own radio station. Similarly, the PRT car could offer wifi access to each car where riders could browse the internet on there laptops, iPads or smart phones while riding. Smart technology can be integrated here to remember and continue your listening or watching preferences.
- Confidence: Tourists or those that are unfamiliar with the city can know with confidence when they have arrived at their destination without having to constantly monitor the stations they are passing.
- No Stops: Riders don’t have to stop at any stops other than there destination. Compared to typical transit systems where the majority of a commute you will be waiting for other riders to get on and off. Take a commute in New York City for example where a subway commute can take as much as 45 minutes to get from up-town to downtown where otherwise should only take about 15 minutes.
- No Stress: Driving cars can cause a lot of anxiety and stress for riders. With PRTs riders will never have to sit in traffic or experience stressful driving conditions again. In fact, offering PRTs as an option for routine commutes will enhance the freedom of car commuting for those times when driving is absolutely required.
- Local Pride: The advanced high-tech impression of a futuristic PRT system will give its users and local citizens a strong sense of pride in their city and progress towards a more sustainable lifestyle. It will also attract an immense amount of attention from the international community because it will be one of the early adopters of this advanced technology.
- Unmonitored transportation: Because the system is private and driverless, the elderly,unmonitored children and disabled riders will be empowered to use the system without safety concerns.
- Save Money: Users can enjoy enormous cost savings the cost of a car, insurance, car repairs and maintenance, increasing gas costs, oil and other expenses that can average nearly $10,000 per year in developed countries.
- 24/7 driverless operation: Operable at any time of day or night in almost any weather condition.
HIGH TECH: The potential in technological advancements and high-tech SMART communication applications has infinite possibilities when integrated with PRTs.
- SMART Device Integration: Completely synchronized with smart phones and bluetooth devices, it can schedule trips remotely and know when you are at the transit car to assure you are the right person for the car.
- Intelligent: SMART predictive intelligence can know where you are planning on going based on trip history and time of day or know what Pandora radio station you were listening to when you got off the last time. For example, the system can know you are heading home because it is your usual station after work and the time is the same as when you usually go home (among other intelligent factors).
OPERATION: The efficiency model of a computer optimized network is unmatched in any transportation system that exists in the world today and will always provide the best possible time saving outcome for it’s users and operators.
- Reliable: With such small light vehicles, operational breakdowns have less of an impact on the overall system.
- Optimization: As higher demand creates congestion, the system optimization can reroute the driverless cars around to less used network loops.
- Predictive Growth: Congestion spots in the system can clearly indicate ideal PRT track expansion opportunities and create projections so tracks are added prior to reaching peak demand as growth occurs.
- Independent Switch Gears: Track switching mechanisms are located on each PRT car reducing the potential for breakdowns affecting the system as a whole and isolating it to individual PRT cars which can be easily removed from the system by being pushed from any PRT car following it and be quickly repaired.
- GRTs: Group Driverless Cars can be implemented on standard PRT tracks that carry as many as 40 people per unit, with a 2-3 second interval.
SAFETY: Because PRTs operate on a completely isolated system from street traffic it experiences several benefits.
- No Fatalities: The West virginia PRT has been operating since 1975 and even though the technology is decades behind where we are now, it has had no fatalities in it’s long 35 year history. A dramatic difference from the huge number of deaths and injuries from auto accidents that happen every day (37,261 US fatalities per year – US Census 2011).
- No Accidents: This means savings of insurance, and repair cost in addition to safety (10.2 mill US accidents per year – US Census 2011).
- Safety Monitoring: The system can be easily monitored for public safety concerns.
- Smooth Breakdown Management: In the event that one car breaks down, the car following it can be activated to tow it into the next station for repairs with minimal inconvenience to the riders for continuous operation.
- Weather Conditions: PRTs have been tested to operate in some of the most extreme weather conditions including rain, snow and ice without any problems. With weather patterns getting more and more extreme in recent years, PRTs are even more of a necessity.
ADAPTABILITY: Business potential for expansion and privatizing
- Advertisements: Digitized media displays within each car and at the stations will provide a huge potential for marketing revenue and ads that can be targeted towards specific user characteristics. Currently no targeted marketing opportunities exist today that can offer this level user based customization including destination, age demographic, time of day, etc.
- Private Integration: Because of it’s low cost relative to standard transportation, private developers can find it more feasible to integrate into the system and expand on it in order to provide direct transit connections to their development, ultimately raising their land value.
- Flexible: Because the system cars are so small and light, the tracks can have much smaller turning radius’ than standard public transportation, allowing PRT cars to be integrated into buildings and even be elevated quickly to access upper floor lobbies within buildings. Access to these upper level building entrances can be filtered based on security authorization.
- Private Sponsorship: To reduce the upfront costs, segments of the guideway tracks and individual cars can be developed by private companies. For example Audi, Mercedes, BMW or Toyota could develop their own portion of the track to sponsor their company.
- Private Party Integration: Because the cost of a PRTs are comparable to regular automobiles they can be purchased by individuals and connected into residential estates or condominiums. This would allow select riders to have cars that are dedicated exclusively to them.
- Expandability: Because of the nature of the PRT network, the system can be expanded and added onto as growth occurs from any point in the network.
- Large Volume Stations: In order for stations to handle larger volumes of passengers, the platforms can simply be extended to handle more PRT cars for large crowds of people at museums, stadiums or large event gatherings.
- Environmental Impact: Large scale residential and community developments can be required to expand the system as they would be required to provide car access.
- Remove Trucks from Roads: Remove oversized cargo trucks from roads and promote localized delivery hubs.
- Cargo Transit: Freight companies such as FedEX, UPS and the postal service can pay a service fee to utilize the system consolidating their transit hubs to localized districts that can deliver goods by short distance electric vehicles or walkable mail delivery routes.
- New Service Jobs: New localized jobs can be created to service these hubs.
- Environmental Innovation: The elevated track infrastructure can be utilized for solar Photovoltaic panels or compact vertical wind turbines to generate electricity and provide shade to the areas directly below the tracks. This also gives an impression of a futuristic city and will help to brand the identity of the city as a whole.
COST SAVINGS: Both Long-term and Short-term.
- Lower Construction Cost: PRT driverless systems can cost as little as 1/10 subways construction and in some cases, as little as 1/30. PRT construction costs average between $10-20 million/mile* depending on several factors such as elevated or on grade systems. Underground subways can cost well beyond $450 million/mile*. In addition, estimates for Light rail are in the range of over $100 million/mile*, still much higher than PRTs. PRT estimates includes the cost of vehicles where the subways and light rail estimates do not include the costs of trains. *all costs are estimated in USD
- Cost Offsets: These direct costs do not even factor in the potentially dramatic increase in usability and demand from the system’s ease of use and conveniences. In addition the potential and flexibility for never ending expanding loops continuously being attached onto the system offer the option for incrementally constructing the system in pieces rather than as a whole.
- More Access Hubs: Because of the lower construction cost, for the same amount of initial investment, the network can cover a much broader area.
- No Operator Costs: The most expensive operational expense in any transit system is ultimately the operational, maintenance staff and drivers. Because PRTs are driverless, there is a huge potential long term cost savings from a computer optimized driverless system.
- Low Energy Consumption: Lower electrical usage because of smaller more efficient vehicles.
- Efficient Operation: PRTs do not have operator costs or use electricity unless there is user demand. This is compared to subways which at off hours can have nobody riding but still have operators and use power for the entire train.
- Lower Fare Costs: With PRTs the savings will be passed on to the users and ultimately create higher demand as a result. The lower the cost, the more it will mobilize the population and thus stimulate growth.
CONSTRUCTION
- Reduced Planning Time: Less planning and effort has to go into the initial phases of a transit systems planning. Finding the ideal route for integrating a mass transit line becomes less important when a grid network will ultimately access all areas of a city development with 1/4 mile walking distances.
- Immediate Implementation: Immediately on completion of the first loop the system can be put into use. As loops are continuously added, those loops can immediately be activated. In contrast to a metro system which needs to be substantially complete before the system can be operational.
- Reduced Construction Period: The implementation can be optimized with standardized prefabrication for reduced construction time.

CONS

The systems full advantages are experienced once there is a substantial portion of the network built and in operation. Although this will probably not take as long as a comparable standard subway or light rail transportation systems.
Elevated PRT tracks are considered by some to have a negative visual impact. Although the size of these tracks are very small compared to typical elevated transportation infrastructure or even compared to the typical streets themselves. Tracks can be roughly as small as 500mm diameter tubes structures or be placed under ground where needed.
Specifically in the US, the automobile industry provides a large amount of jobs. Once a PRT system is recognized for it’s efficiencies, jobs may be lost in the automobile and fuel sector. Although automobiles are currently the best means of population transportation flexibility, they are one of the most inefficient transportation systems that exists today and is long overdue for an overhaul. The bottom line is that with fuel, and environmental concerns, cars are just not sustainable.