The Get On Board! PRT
NewsCenter

 The Independent News Source on Pod Transit and related technologies.
About

The PRT NewsCenter

We started following developments in the PRT industry c.1989, and in 2000 we started this website. Since then we've evolved from unabashed boosterism, into an organ for education and public awareness, and finally into what we are today -- your independent source for news, analysis and commentary on Pod Rapid Transit.

Our content is divided into 3 areas:

1) The NewsCenter, featuring Page One news aggregated from PRT-related stories in the world press. We provide our comments and analysis, with links to contextual material in our archives.
2) Occasional investigative and feature-length pieces, usually located at our blog This Week In Precipitation.
3) Topic pages, consisting mainly of explainers about PRT technology and how its various aspects bear on public policy, and pieces written to debunk claims of critics of PRT who it seems just can't be honest.

We hope you find our offerings informative and useful.


Founder, Editor, Correspondent, Website Mechanic

Got a news tip? Drop us a note at:

prtinfo AT kinetic.seattle.wa.us

> Editor's Notes <

Editor's Notes

Aug 8, 2025- Fixed bit.ly links for Threads and Bluesky share buttons.

Jan. 26, 2025- Catch-up: in Mobile configuration, clicking on "PRT NewsCenter" header takes you back to Home; finally removed Twitter and Facebook link ghosts.

Sep. 15, 2024- Updated Archive pages permalinks.

Sep. 6, 2024- All content restored. I've added a Site Map, accessible in the footer (or on the About page in Mobile configuration).

Sep. 1, 2024- (1) Almost everything is restored. The NewsCenter used to be all-.html with snippets of PHP instructions. Now it is probably 80% the same files reformatted as .php.
(2) I have worked out how to do sharing links for Threads and Bluesky, starting with today's top story, the links will be introduced on Page 1 as new stories are added.

Aug. 27, 2024 UPDATE- I have determined a PHP solution and repaired the home page-- which instead of kinetic.seattle.wa.us/home.html is now kinetic.seattle.wa.us/home.php , so please edit your bookmark. The fix will roll out to the rest of the site in a few days (hopefully). The sitemap has been updated, so hopefully search engines will recrawl soon.

Aug. 27, 2024- No doubt you've noticed there are some technical problems.

PHP has upgraded to the point to where SOMETHING I know not what has disable all of my VERY simple php instructions.

I'm working out a Javascript solution, but this is not a full time job so please bear with me a little while longer.

> Calendar <

Calendar

2024


From The Publisher

Sep 22, 2025- The PRT NewsCenter will be shutting down on December 31, after 25 years of educating and reporting on the world of personal rapid transit. Twenty-five is a nice round number to go out on, and I do so with a mixture of relief and pride. A quarter century is a long time, and I'm satisfied with my contribution.

Back in the early days (I was teaching myself HTML and CSS), when I was actively promoting PRT at a time when the financial sustainability of conventional transit was more in doubt than today, I was careful not to play favorites among the various aspiring makers (though privately I did have my preference). Later, I decided that the industry had enough advocates, and switched this site to objective-as-possible coverage of breaking PRT news. For a number of years the field of PRT was crowded and confusing, and I did my best to sort things out for readers. There was also a semi-organized anti-PRT scare campaign to counter, as well as two instances of outright fraudulent 'projects' to blog against; this site was really the only place consistently countering propaganda and exposing and naming criminal bad actors.

The recent history of PRT is marked with functional systems, some of which have gone nowhere but are operational (e.g. Masdar, Suncheon). The successful systems at Morgantown and Heathrow have been niche, with one in China supposed to be joining them soon. Other proposals, mostly in India, seem to have been on the drawing boards forever, their realization will be a matter for financing and local politics. No one can say any longer that PRT is impossible or unfeasible.

While there is as yet no major urban PRT network, there is every reason to continue to hope they will be along soon. The Chengdu Tianfu system and Jewar airport proposal are to be installed as part of wider planned airport zone developments. And UrbanLoop's urban application in Nancy, France, is part of a government-led redevelopment plan; the company has checked all the regulatory and ecological boxes, its system at the 2024 Olympics was a success, and local opposition in Nancy is subdued.

This site will cease publishing, but the final version will live on: on the Archive.org Wayback Machine.*

Thank you- and see you down the guideway
David Gow


* This archive only goes back to last year, as that was when I had to convert to PHP. For the older HTML version, just Wayback search for 'kinetic.seattle.wa.us/home.html'

Manifesto Open/Close


What PRT Is Open/Close


What PRT Could Be Open/Close


What PRT Is Not Open/Close


What's next Open/Close


How do you feel about driverless (DL) or semi-autonomous cars? Open/Close

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