k wrote:

bucy wrote:

In 2003, Ford Research proposed a dual-mode system called PRISM. It would use public guideways with privately-purchased but certified dual-mode vehicles. The vehicles would weigh less than 600 kg (1200 lb), allowing small elevated guideways that could use centralized computer controls and power.

(from Wikipedia PRT article)

Too bad noone has the vision to build something like this out.

Hm, it's interesting, but I have extremely mixed feelings about PRT, in general. I'm not down on it, i just haven't made up my mind about it. As a rule, I don't really like the idea of maintaining reliance on roads, but at the same time, I suppose there's something to be said for bridging the gap between today's ALL car-based system and a majority train-based system. Largely i just don't see people, Americans in particular, being convinced that small, tandem oriented cars that all look the same are valid. They already know that commuting solo in their giant vehicle is inefficient, they just don't care. Overcoming that latter issue is the difficulty, otherwise we'd have alternatives right now.

Yeah, PRT as it's usually formulated is sort of silly I think. What I'm imagining would have these characteristics:

Individually-owned vehicles that look like passenger cars we have now. Maybe existing cars could even be (partially) retrofitted
Automous driving in certain "zones" (think: car pool lane on the freeway, major thoroughfares). This doesn't necessarily entail "grand challenge" tech -- there are solutions that have been used in industrial automation for years that are much lower tech.
Hybrid vehicles that can take power off of some kind of external electrical supply ("third-rail" but not) in said zones, at freeway speeds

And perhaps in major urban areas, the "autonomous driving zone" would cover the whole city. Maybe my car could even park itself, potentially far away so I could just hop out when I get to the destination and let it take care of itself.

Less blue-sky than flying cars but not by much. The people in a position to influence this just rubber-stamp the same highway contract year after year or keep pouring buckets of money into inefficient mass-transit systems. And to think this could have been done 30 years ago, even, if people had only the vision and the will.

RE: PRISMGPCPaper.pdf (application/pdf Object)