The workshop 'The Future of Advanced Smart Transit' held in Makkah (Mecca), Saudi Arabia last month was very interesting.  Presentations about ATN by me, and representatives of 2getthere and Vectus were well received by the audience of about 100 - mostly planners and engineers. Transportation problems are huge with the influx of millions of pilgrims twice a year. Interest in ATN is significant, and I would not be surprised to see a system being implemented soon.

I participated in the online webinars by the USDOT on Secretary Foxx's Beyond Traffic initiative. The DOT is making a real effort to gather input, and some of us are working on a white paper for ATRA to submit a more considered response than was possible during the webinars. While they are aware of emerging driverless cars they seem oblivious to the existence of driverless transit - hopefully we can change that.

As always, enjoy reading!

Best regards,

Peter Muller, ATRA President

The webinar is to discuss the key aspects of assessing whether advanced transit systems such as personal rapid transit (PRT) and group rapid transit (GRT) are a fit with the application's requirements and characteristics. Featured expert speakers represent ARUP, Lea+Elliott and PRT Consulting.  Read More..  

Podcar City 9: Invitation for Presenters Abstracts

Abstracts due April 30

Podcar City 9 is the go-to event for the Automated Transit Networks community.  Podcar City is coming to Silicon Valley, the home of technology innovation, automation and entrepreneurship - but also an area with severe highway congestion, increasing employment and growing need for sustainable mobility.  Read More...

Letter: PRT for Greenville would be a waste of money

By Matthew L. Miller

Greenville Online:  I read with some interest the article by Nathaniel Cary and then the editorial in The Greenville News regarding the possibility of building a personal rapid transit (PRT) system in Greenville.  Read More... 

Driverless podcars bypassing traffic in Dubai?

By Majorie van Leijen

Emirates 24/7 News:  It can be compared to the personalised nature of a taxi trip but elevated from regular traffic. Like metro and tram, it functions on exclusive guideways, but with stops at dedicated destinations only. The Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system, or the podcar, may soon become reality in Dubai.  Read More... 

Forget podcars; how about making I-185 toll free?

By Gary D. Korengel

Greenville Online: While the podcar idea might offer a cool factor to Greenville, it will be obsolete within 10 years. With the rapid development of self-navigating, or driverless, cars attracting ever increasing investment from universities like Clemson and high tech companies such as Google and Apple, the podcar is doomed to fail, just like the last great private/public transportation partnership in Greenville County: I-185.  Read More... 

A personal rapid transit system in N.J.? Anything's possible

MEASURING WHAT WE VALUE:  Setting priorities and evaluating success in transportation
Transportation for America, Report
At a time when dollars for transportation programs are being stretched to the breaking point and many stakeholders are urging the American people to pay more, taxpayers are wondering what they get for their current investment. When they contribute their hard-earned money, they want to know how that investment will help their commutes, their pocketbooks, the larger economy and their community's quality of life.  Read More..

Editorial: Use rail bed effectively for public transit
Greenville Online Greenville provides a study in contrasts in many ways, and public transit ranks high in any conversation along these lines. Greenville's downtown area has become a walkable community where it's increasingly common to find people living near where they work, play and shop.   Read More..  

Call for Abstracts
 The Steering Committee of the 15th International Conference on Automated People Movers and Automated Transit Systems is accepting proposals for complete sessions and abstracts for individual papers to be presented at the conference. Final papers are optional for accepted abstracts; those submitted will be published in the Conference Proceedings upon final approval.  Read More... 

METRO FEEDERS
 Podcar News: One of the biggest problems created by a metro station is the very result of its attractiveness. Its traffic exists because people want access to metro stations across the city. They then exit the "system" and walk to their final destination -- or take a bus, taxi, bike or zipcar, or retrieve their car and drive on.Read More... 

"Futuristic" Elevated Transit System Possibly Coming To Greenville

By Addie Hampton, Reporter  

WSPA.com:  A futuristic rapid transit system could call the Upstate home a lot sooner than you may think.  A Greenville County Development board is looking to connect twenty miles of the community through elevated pod cars called personal rapid transit, or PRT.  Read More...

The podcar is back

HYPER-TOD IN MAKKAH

By Lawrence Fabian

Editorial: Use rail bed effectively for public transit