The Tri Delta Transit board unanimously supports feasibility study of 'Dynamic Personal Micro Transit' (PRT) for eastern Contra Costa County, partnering with Glydways. The five-segment route is a series of corridors and is likely to prioritize a role for PRT of a feeder for the BART system rather than local transit, for which a network configuration would be an advantage.
Artist depiction
Artist depiction
Draft routing plan
Draft routing plan
• DPMT Feasibility Study by Advanced Mobility Group. 4-12-2021
• Driverless electric car transit looms in East Contra Costa's future 5-4-2021
(East Bay Times) Pittsburg CA city council unanimously supports partnership with Glydways; Pittsburg-Brentwood price tag of $450.9M; 5 year construction time; half-mile test segment being built at former Naval Weapons Station in Concord; councillors concerned about subsidies and project funding.
ADA-compliant "Glydcar". Artist depiction, Glydways
ADA-compliant "Glydcar". Artist depiction, Glydways
• Antioch joins Pittsburg, Brentwood, Oakley, and 2 transit agencies in support for "micro transit network" planning 5-12-2021
• Glydways on display 9-14-2021
An exhibit by the Bay Area firm took place 9/14 at San Jose City Hall; $40 million in investor funding is reported to have been raised.
Autonomous pod concept by Dromos will compete with Mott McDonald's rubber-tired tram and Egis's tram/GRT mixed fleet to be deployed as Cambridgeshire Autonomous Metro. 3-19-2021
CAM Pod (Dromos)
CAM Pod (Dromos)
• Mayoral race: Centrist candidate promises "realistic mass rapid transit system" but not metro. 4-15-2021
• Mayoral race: Left and center oppose Conservative CAM tunneling. 4-30-2021
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Reed Searle, 1932-2021 (subscription) 2-18-2021
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Pods for India's new Film City 2-17-2021 (REVISED 7-15-2021)
Yamuna Expressway Industrial
Development Authority (YEIDA) has decided pod taxis will serve two planned mega projects in Noida (near New Delhi): a new Jewar International Airport and a 1,000-acre "Film
City" studio facility. Both will be served by a 35 km express metro line;
the pod elements are quoted at a cost of $8.2M per kilometer, a total of
$41.2M. 7/15/21: The Film City element has been misidentified in Indian media as the longstanding Noida Film City on Dadri Main Rd in Sector 16A (see Project Thumbnail, below). This is more than 50km from the new airport site. Instead, the NewsCenter has identified a parcel at 28.2512697 N, 77.5695933 E to be the correct site, a new Film City planned by the YEIDA development authority, located near the airport site at 28.158333 N, 77.633333 E. (See YEIDA graphic: below.)
• This study set out to study a connection of 70 km (43.5 mi). 9-4-2020
• New Driverless Pod Taxis to Operate From Greater Noida to Noida International Airport 3-2-2021
Pod taxis planned for Noida described as connecting northern and southern areas of the national capital region to the new "greenfield" (previously undeveloped land) airport in Jewar.
Readers should note that the official rationale depicting pods as "a revolutionary mode of transport widely being used in many western countries" is not true. Morgantown, Heathrow, and Masdar are not "many western countries." If this is put forward as a way to assert PRT is not an 'unproven technology,' it is an approach which bears watching.
• "To bridge this gap, pod taxis are being considered." 3-2-2021
• PRT only a possibility, not a done deal, in this article. 3-7-2021
• Is pod taxi viable for airport link? 3-21-2021 Development authority gives consultant 30 days to determine feasibility.
Location of Noida Int Airport project. Base map ©Ankit2 BY-SA 4.0
• Pod cars may link Noida airport & Film City, biz centres 7-14-2021
Detailed Project Report now in hands of development authority; several airport-adjacent destinations added. Additional project confusion: 25-40 seats per vehicle "suggested," taking it out of realm of PRT.
Project Thumbnail. Upper end of dashed line incorrectly placed at old Film City in Noida, more than 50km from planned airport site. Correct locations of Sectors 21, 28, 29, 32, and 33 can be seen in Master Plan map section below. -Times of India
Project thumbnail. Upper end of dashed line incorrectly placed at old Film City in Noida, more than 50km from planned airport site. Correct locations of Sectors 21, 28, 29, 32, and 33 can be seen in Master Plan map section below. -Times of India
Section from development authority Master Plan showing new "Film Center" just north of "Proposed for International Airport and Aviation Hub." The numbered sectors are 'YEIDA Sectors' as opposed to Noida city sectors.
Section from development authority Master Plan showing new "Film Center" just north of "Proposed for International Airport and Aviation Hub." The numbered sectors are 'YEIDA Sectors' as opposed to Noida city sectors.
• India to launch first Pod Taxi Service between Noida Airport and Film City 7-14-2021
• Jewar plan details 9-7-2021
Times of India now shows correct location of planned Film City near airport site. YEIDA development authority chose Vectus to illustrate PRT; 6km airport-amusement park PRT link; 16km route serving nearby sectors; reduced fare for air travelers on long layovers; YEIDA board to clear plan 9/14.
Times of India graphic 9-7-21
Times of India graphic 9-7-21
YEIDA decides 220 acre commercial development zone will instead be part of new Film City, and to revise the detailed pod taxi project plan which had been expected 9/14. Whether the 2 developments are related is not clear.
Link
Vuba, new US-Rwanda pod entrant 2-8-2021
A new personal rapid transit company was announced Feb. 4 in an email from co-founder Peter Muller (PRT Consulting, ATRA). Called Vuba ('quickly' in the Kinyarwanda language), the company bills itself as a "Smart City" mobility company, with plans to use solar-powered driverless suspended vehicles on elevated guideways to provide nonstop origin to destination travel.
The development team comprises East Africans and Americans including co-founder Muller and founder Paul Klahn. In a brief email exchange, Mueller described Vuba as being designed in response to poor bus service and growing traffic congestion.
Vuba lists offices in Colorado Springs and Kigali. The company will license an existing control system, but needs $20-30 million for development. The system will be based on as yet undisclosed proprietary designs for a switch and non-truss guideway. Muller says the Vuba switch has no bumps through the switch, no speed limit, and all wheels are supported all the way through the switch. ©2021 PRT NewsCenter
Vuba
Vuba
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Glydways, Bay Area PRT hopeful. 9-14-2020
System at model stage, eyes South San Francisco system.
Glydways simulation
Glydways simulation
KEYWORDS: dumbarton
Link(India) Transport plan for 3 cities finally approved, including pods in Haridwar 6-12-2020
Uttarakhand and the 3 cities
Uttarakhand and the 3 cities
Route with 21 stations
Route with 21 stations
• Just one bidder 4-6-2021
PNC Infratech Ltd submits the sole Expression of Interest to develop PRT system on a Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Transfer basis. The company has experience since 1999 in construction of highways, bridges, runways, and power transmission lines.
Requirement of already-in-operation technology of at least 1.5 km in length limits bidders to using Ultra (Heathrow, 3.9 km) and 2gethere (Masdar, 1.7 km).
RTC says No to Trail and Pod Cars (Santa Cruz). Commission will not study Pod Cars for rail-trail, even a high-level analysis. 6-4-2020
Rail-Trail corridor alignment
Rail-Trail corridor alignment
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