ATS ULTra Library

An Update on the Progress of the Heathrow Airport PRT Project, ASCE Automated People Movers Conference, June 2009, Atlanta. By David Holdcroft, Phil Smith, Martin Lowson

PRT Circulator for Pleasanton and Perimeter Center, ASCE Automated People Movers Conference, June 2009, Atlanta. By Steve Raney

Ridesharing in Personal Rapid Transit Capacity Planning, ASCE Automated People Movers Conference, June 2009, Atlanta. By John Lees-Miller, John Hammersley, Nick Davenport

ABSTRACT: Passengers on a Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system usually travel together only by choice, but strangers may choose to share a vehicle when the system is near capacity. By predicting whether and to what extent this ride sharing will occur, PRT planners can better estimate the impact on system capacity and passenger experience. This paper develops a model for ride sharing based on queueing theory and applies it to explain the relationships between vehicle occupancy, passenger queue length and passenger waiting time. The effects of multiple destinations, passengers who are unwilling to share and passengers arriving in preformed parties are considered. A case study is provided to show how the model can be applied to a simple point-to-point system; in this case study a 30% reduction in the size of the vehicle fleet appears possible, while still maintaining a high level of service for passengers.

 

Full paper: available to ASCE members on the ASCE web site.

Major Activity Center PRT Circulator Design: Hacienda Business Park. Transportation Research Record #2006 (TRB 1/07). Published as part of U.S. EPA's “Transforming Office Parks into Transit Villages” study. By Steve Raney, James Paxson, David Maymudes.

Network Transit for Edina, MN. Association for Commuter Transportation TMA Summit, Minneapolis, 5/16/05. By Steve Raney.

Full paper: 11MB: http://www.cities21.org/ACT_TMA_Summit_Cities21.pdf

PRT for Microsoft and Bellevue, Cascadia Center's Breaking Gridlock with Technology Conference, 2/24/05, Seattle. By Steve Raney, Jerry Schneider. 

Full paper: http://www.cities21.org/MS_Bellevue_PRT.pdf

PRT for Airport Applications, TRB, January 2005. By Martin Lowson. 

ABSTRACT: Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) systems offer a series of new opportunities for effective solution of airport related transport problems, both on the landside and airside of the airport. A comparative analysis is offered of the potential advantages and disadvantages of this form of transport for airport applications. The work is illustrated by a case study of the application of the ULTra PRT system to serve passenger and staff car parks at Heathrow. The small scale and flexibility of the ULTra infrastructure allows use of the tunnel sidebores and provides unexpectedly simple integration with the complex central terminal area. Detailed comparisons show a benefit of 60% in trip time and 40% in operating cost over current buses. The study shows that such forms of transport are well matched to land side applications for airports. An outline evaluation of possible benefits for airside operations is also presented.

 

Full paper: http://www.ultraprt.com/cms/trb05_airports.pdf

Application of New Technology Product Research to New Suburban Commute System Design and Validation, Transportation Research Record #1927 (TRB 1/05). By Steve Raney

ABSTRACT: To provide improved alternatives to suburban solo commuting, a technologically-intensive door-to-door mobility service was designed for suburban commutes, with special emphasis on addressing attitudinal/psychological barriers. Literature Review, expert opinion, and GIS journey-to-work analysis
influenced the initial conceptualization. Concepts were then iteratively refined through interview research. The final system concept was validated via stated preference surveys employing "gap analysis" to measure the importance of barriers and the effectiveness of proposed solutions. An elaborate "assembly-line" eight-step survey protocol was employed, featuring immersive, virtual-reality based respondent stimuli (information acceleration), full disclosure of psychological barriers, and customized door-to-door commute comparisons. Original contributions include: a) a unique combination of varied product research techniques for the design and demand forecasting of futuristic transportation systems and b) rich anecdotal descriptions of technology worker commute psychology.

 

Full paper: http://www.cities21.org/NewTechProdMtkng_TRB_111504.pdf

Morgantown People Mover - Updated Description, TRB 1/05. By Steve Raney, Stan Young. 

ABSTRACT: The Morgantown People Mover is a five-station Automated Group Rapid Transit System (AGRT). This paper reviews history and operating principles, providing an updated description. Compared to previous papers, new contributions include: depiction of complex station design and station operations; GIS alignment map; description of moving point synchronous control; and explanation of three operational modes: demand, schedule, and circulation, with special emphasis on peak period operations. 

 

Full paper: 1.7MB: http://www.cities21.org/morgantown_TRB_111504.pdf

Suburban Silver Bullet: PRT Shuttle and Wireless Commute Assistant with Cellular Location Tracking, Transportation Research Record #1872 (TRB 1/04), Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board,  TRB, National Research Council, Washington, DC, Number 1872, December 2004, pp. 62-70. By Steve Raney.

ABSTRACT: In a hypothetical Year 2008 scenario, a personal rapid transit (PRT) circulator "shuttle" system and comprehensive door to door "new mobility" service transforms Palo Alto's major employment center into a transit village of two square miles, complementing and significantly increasing the attractiveness of commuter rail, carpool, vanpool, bicycle, and bus commutes for the center's 20,000 employees. Of utmost importance, PRT provides faster service than driving alone for the "last mile." A Transportation Management Association enables a supportive commuting culture. A larger candidate pool accesses the personal "MatchRide" web-based ridematching service, increasing carpool formation.

Proposed are new applications of cellular location tracking technology and Wi-Fi (802.11) enabled handsets to increase the competitiveness of suburban commute alternatives. Cellular phones evolve to become a commuter's "command center", an integral part of the workday. The following applications are proposed: A) "TrakRide" to improve the reliability of carpool rendezvous and increase courteous, punctual behavior. B) "NextTrain" to improve the reliability of train-shuttle connections. C) "HomeSafe" to verify that carpools amongst strangers operate safely. D) "QuickCar" to provide five-minute access to cars for centralized car sharing and emergency ride home, using "wireless door key." E) "SpyKids" to maintain secure custody of children during unaccompanied shuttle trips. F) "NextSpace" to direct commuters to available parking spaces, with wireless access to automated, shared parking lots. A central database, known as "Big Sister," maintains personal data to support these applications.

 

Full paper: http://www.cities21.org/PRT_Wireless_TRB_111503_web.pdf

 

Financial Assessments of PRT for Cardiff, Corby New Town, and London Heathrow Airport. European Transport Forum 2004. By Phil Bly, Richard Teychenne.

HIGHLIGHT: “The total capital cost for the Cardiff system is estimated at £34.3M, with an annual operating cost in 2006 of £2.05M, rising thereafter as demand increases. Revenue is estimated at £4.30M in 2006, rising to £5.62M in 2036. Over the 30-year period of the assessment, the Net Present Value of the revenue less costs is +2.71M at a 3.5% discount rate (a rate considered appropriate to public investment in innovative systems provided measures have been taken to reduce risk), and £8.27M at 6% (the standard public investment discount rate). The demand forecasts are considered to be conservative, and the out-turn performance seems likely to be better than this, especially so since a system which provides such an improved level of service will encourage entirely new trip making. Thus the system easily covers its operating costs, and seems likely to cover its capital costs in full at public project discount rates, but does not provide the higher rates of return demanded for purely commercial operation. It is likely to require some public subsidy for its infrastructure, but at a level which is very small in comparison with conventional tracked public transport. ULTra track is substantially cheaper than conventional LRT track, as is illustrated by a comparison of ULTra with five recent UK LRT systems which showed a mean cost per one-way LRT route-km some 70% higher than for ULTra (EDICT, 2004), yet ULTra has a passenger-carrying capacity as great as LRT at 4800 seats per hour one-way at a 3 second headway.”

 

Full paper: http://www.ultraprt.com/cms/economic_assessments.pdf

Passenger Response to a PRT System. Transportation Research Board 2004, Paper 04-3058. By Chris Cook, Davina Fereday, Martin Lowson, Richard Teychenné

ABSTRACT: A series of evaluations of passenger response to use of the ULTra PRT system has been carried out. These include questionnaire studies using a static prototype vehicle, carried out in Bristol and Cardiff (232 responses) and two sets of passenger trials on the prototype ULTra system in Cardiff using 53 subjects. This provided a full trip experience for the users, and has given the first information based on a complete experience of a PRT system.

Major features from the studies to date are:

• There have been strongly positive response to the system in essentially all respects

• In particular there has been little negative response to the overhead infrastructure.

• Responses have uniformly suggested that passengers are prepared to accept higher fare levels than buses for the trip. Per vehicle fares of around £2 ($3) are regarded as acceptable.

• Passenger trials have shown uniformly positive results. In particular, no passengers stated that they felt insecure in the small scale automated system.

Generally results from passengers who had the full trial experience show little difference from those who only experienced the static prototype. The only major feature appears to be that passengers who have experienced a ride on the system are prepared to pay a higher fare. The results have demonstrated extremely positive response to the use of a PRT system. These results, consistent over four separate studies, are regarded as strong evidence of the acceptability of PRT systems in general to the public as a whole.

 

Full paper: http://www.ultraprt.com/cms/trb04_passenger_response.pdf

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