A
significant report by the Mineta Transportation Institute on the status and
prospects of the podcar “industry” is to be released this fall as a
peer-reviewed USDOT document that will be freely and widely disseminated. It
advises that a 5-10 station Automated Transit Network (ATN) project is within confident
technological reach and with supportive public policies can be brought to
passenger service in two or three years.
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| Does ATN have the potential to restructure life in cities such as Cleveland? |
ATN
State-of-the-Industry in 2013 is intended to
be an
informative tool for planners, urban designers, and others involved in public
policy, especially for urban transit and redevelopment. Despite the
international nature of ATN supply companies, the MTI study focuses on
prospects in the USA. Implications for the rest of the world are not explored.
A Silicon Valley Outlook
Dr. Burford
Furman, Professor of Mechanical Engineering at San Jose State University, led
the team that included, Sam Ellis (SJSU), Lawrence Fabian
(Trans.21), Peter
Muller (PRT Consulting), and Ron Swenson (INIST).
Automated
Transit Network (ATN) is defined as a passenger system consisting of automated
vehicles on exclusive, grade-separated guideways that provides on-demand,
non-stop, origin-to-destination service over a service area as opposed to a corridor,
as with LRT and metros. ATN is not today ‘on the radar’ nor taken seriously by
urban planners, transit professionals, or policy makers. The City of San Jose
recently looked seriously at ATN as an airport connector, but found reasons to
pause.
Over the years there have been ATN or
PRT proposals in Sunnvvale,
Stanford/Palo Alto, Milpitas, Mountainview and Santa Cruz. The MTI report
discusses how ATN could expand the coverage of existing transit systems and
presents parameters for planning an installation. It touches on options for
project financing and identifies the opportunities and challenges in planning
and funding ATN systems.
California-Swedish Dialog: September 5
Furman and new MTI director Karen
Philbrick will discuss these findings from California via satellite connections
during in a session with Fabian, Muller and Swenson at the 8th
Podcar City conference near Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport on Friday, September 5.
The edge of future urban mobility is
being cut with Swedish design excellence and Silicon Valley genius.
