[sustran] Following the Yellow Brick Road to PRT

Eric Bruun ericbruun at earthlink.net
Wed Jan 5 08:05:32 JST 2005


> > PTP Digest 2005/01/03-A = CONTENTS

> > * NJ's PRT 'Gadgetbahn' is a boondoggle
> >     New York Press Vol 17 - Issue 51 - December 22-28, 2004
 =PTP====================================================
> >
> > http://www.nypress.com/17/52/pagetwo/newshole8.cfm
> >
> > New York Press
> > Vol 17 - Issue 51 - December 22-28, 2004
> >
> > Gadgetbahn

> > A few weeks ago, the state of New Jersey appropriated $75,000 to study
> > the development of a personal rapid transit system for Long Branch, a
> > shore town just south of New York City. If PRT projects elsewhere are a
> > sign of things to come, it's the beginning of an epic boondoggle.
> >
> > As described by its promoters, PRT is a computerized, driverless mass
> > transit system. The passenger enters a sleek, four-person pod that is
> > guaranteed to be waiting at the station, swipes a fare card, punches in
a
> > destination and goes. The pods run on a web of elevated tracks 16 feet
> > above street level with stations every two or three blocks apart. PRT
> > advocates promise transportation with no wait, no traffic and no smelly
> > strangers.
> >
> > In theory. In practice PRT has never worked anywhere despite 30 years of
> > study and development. Combining the small carrying capacity of an
> > automobile with the expensive infrastructure of mass transit, PRT offers
> > the worst of both worlds. If you want to see what it looks like, watch
The
> > Incredibles. In the movie, the evil villain's henchmen travel about
their
> > volcanic- island lair in pods that look remarkably similar to the system
> > SkyWeb Express is selling to New Jersey.
> >
> > It's fitting that a cartoon villain should choose PRT as his ride of
choice.
> > Though it all sounds very gee-whiz innocent, PRT is a major scam. In
> > Minneapolis, Cincinnati, Seattle, Chicago and elsewhere, PRT has burned
> > through tens of millions of dollars of public and private investment.
The
> > only tangible result has been to clear the way for highway construction
> > and make legitimate mass transit projects more difficult to build. In at
least
> > a few cases, after finally running PRT out of town, citizens learned
that the
> > public officials most enthusiastic about PRT had financial stakes in the
companies developing it.
> >
> > There are signs that all of this is now underway across the river. PRT
> > advocates expect to wring another $1,000,000 out of the New Jersey
> > legislatures shortly. They dream of a pod network stretching from
Atlantic
> > City to the misbegotten Xanadu sports and entertainment complex at the
Meadowlands.
> >
> > The PRT craze is a clear sign that an endgame is underway. Suburban
> > Americans are waking up to the fact that their car-based lifestyle is
broken
> > and unsustainable. They are starting to look for solutions, but their
vision
> > is limited by an "autonomist" ideology that places personal convenience
> > above all else, no matter what the cost. Rather than looking at
> > transportation options that we know work (PRT gurus derisively refer to
> > the train as a "19th-century technology"), Americans are looking for a
> > high-tech miracle to save them from the rough road that is so clearly
ahead. PRT ain't it.
> >
> > Volume 17, Issue 52
> >
=PTP===================================================
> >
> > http://www.counterpunch.org/frank01032005.html
> >
> > CounterPunch:
> > November 27 / 28, 2004
> >
> > Strange Bedfellows
> >
> > Greens and Republicans
> >
> > By JOSHUA FRANK
> >
> > You probably haven't heard of it. It goes by the name of Personal Rapid
> > Transit (PRT), and it is fast becoming the latest fad of the Green Party
and others.
> >
> > So what is this PRT anyway? As Aaron Naparstek recently wrote in NY
> > Press, "PRT is a computerized, driverless mass transit system. The
> > passenger enters a sleek, four-person pod that is guaranteed to be
> > waiting at the station, swipes a fare card, punches in a destination and
> > goes. The pods run on a web of elevated tracks 16 feet above street
level
> > with stations every two or three blocks apart. PRT advocates promise
> > transportation with no wait, no traffic and no smelly strangers."
> >
> > Even David Cobb, the anointed leader of the GP, has touted PRT as a
> > "Green Technology" and trumped its potential benefits while
> > "campaigning" in Minnesota last year. Dean Zimmerman a Minneapolis,
> > Minnesota city councilman and GP member says that PRT "is going to be
> > a major breakthrough in how people move around urban centers."
> > Zimmerman has even spoken publicly with right-wing Republicans to
> > make a case for more public funds to study the technology.
> >
> > Sounds odd. Are Republicans turning green on us? Or is the national
> > Green Party losing its marbles? Sorry to say, it's the latter.
> >
> > In reality PRT has never worked despite over 30 years of research and
> > development. Combining the small carrying capacity of a small car, with
> > the expensive infrastructure of mass transit, PRT offers the worst of
both
> > worlds. Plus, it's the brainchild of Ed Anderson's private corporation
Taxi
> > 2000, who has already made a bundle of cash by convincing city and
> > state governments that it is in their best interest to hand over phat
research checks.
> >
> > Although Los Angeles and Santa Cruz California have voted down
> > proposals to allocate money to study the futuristic transit system, New
> > Jersey, which has already appropriated $75,000 to PRT, plans to up that
> > by $100,000 this coming year. While out in Minneapolis and Duluth,
> > Greens and others are hoping their government will pony up the needed
cash to go through with the PRT study.
> >
> > Despite the past failures of PRT, hopes among its boosters remain high.
> > Perhaps their hopes aren't for a green public transit system; rather
they
> > hope PRT can continue to swindle even more loot out of government
accounts.
> >
> > "PRT is really a stalking horse for the pro-highway, anti transit
lobby,"
> > claims Ken Avidor who has kept a watchful eye on PRT in his home state
> > on Minnesota. "It is supported by highway engineering firms, right-wing
> > Republicans like [Minnesota] State Senator Michele Bachmann and Tom
Delay."
> >
> > This new marriage surely makes for strange bedfellows, as Greens and
> > Republicans seem to see eye to eye on the PRT boondoggle. Plus,
> > Greens should know the history of those they are jumping into bed with.
> >
> > The state of Illinois and Raytheon, the maker of "Bunker Buster" bombs,
> > Tomahawk, Patriot missiles, and other assorted weaponry -- has invested
> > over $38 million to study PRT in the Chicago metro area.
> >
> > "Though it all sounds very gee-whiz innocent, PRT is a major scam,"
> > writes Naparstek in NY Press. "In Minneapolis, Cincinnati, Seattle,
> > Chicago and elsewhere, PRT has burned through tens of millions of
> > dollars of public and private investment. The only tangible result has
been
> > to clear the way for highway construction and make legitimate mass
> > transit projects more difficult to build. In at least a few cases, after
finally
> > running PRT out of town, citizens learned that the public officials most
> > enthusiastic about PRT had financial stakes in the companies developing
it."
> >
> > Joshua Frank is the author of the forthcoming book, Left Out!: How
> > Liberals Helped Reelect George W. Bush, to be released in early 2005 by
> > Common Courage Press. He can be reached at:
> > frank_joshua at hotmail.com
> >
>



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