[sustran] Re: Following the Yellow Brick Road to PRT

[Alan P Howes]

So who was plagiarising who here?

Problem is with 'merkins, they also have to be so polemical about
anything.

I'm rather more sanguine about PRT - I reckon we will see a few
successful implementations in the next ten years, in fairly specific
circumstances where development densities are low and there is no
strong CBD.

On Tue, 4 Jan 2005 18:05:32 -0500, "Eric Bruun"
<ericbruun at earthlink.net> wrote to "Sierra Club Forum on
Transportation Issues" <CONS-SPST-SPRAWL-TRANS at LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG>,
<sustran-discuss at jca.ax.apc.org>, <hgstransport at yahoogroups.com>:

>> > 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
>> >
>>
>

-- 
Alan P Howes, Perthshire, Scotland
alan at ourpeagreenboat.co.uk
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/alanhowes/  [Needs Updating!]