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Conclusion

The challenge is not building it.  The required technology either already exists or is within our grasp.  The challenge will not be convincing people.  Once the system is demonstrated, people will complain if they don't have it.  The challenge is moving to a better transportation BEFORE we cause irreparable damage to the environment.  We need experts in transportations to make the necessary calculations to validate the idea.  We need Lucas or Spielberg to make movies that show us the way, just like science fiction has always done.  We need DARPA to perform their magic once more...to hold yet another challenge, this time to develop the most efficient transportation system.

It's easy to imagine that mankind will not be driving automobiles a thousand years from now.  Or even 200 years from now.  But why wait when we can do it now?  Given the limitations of our existing transportation system, why not reap the benefits of a better one now?

So where do we go from here?  Clearly PRT is an undertaking of vast proportions.  Much R&D will be required to finalize countless aspects of the design before committing to one particular specification.  Ideally funding would be made available such that the major engineering colleges could pair with appropriate industries (automotive, software, etc) to develop competing designs.  Fortunately the idea of individualized vehicles running on tracks is not new.  A handful of very dedicated individuals have been pushing various PRT (Personal Rapid Transit) concepts for many years.  They invariably differ from PRTProject in scope since they're designed to coexist with the automobile rather than replace it...running at airports or down major thoroughfares, but the good news is that MUCH of their work applies directly to this concept.

To see more of these concepts, visit the following links...

SkyWeb Express:  www.taxi2000.com
Austrans:  www.austrans.com
Vectus PRT:  www.vectus.se
Great PRT reference:  http://faculty.washington.edu/jbs/itrans/prtquick.htm


Finally, attempting to predict the future of transportation is always risky business.  Take a look at this wonderful movie by Disney from way back in 1958...

 

While most of their predictions seem outlandish in hindsight, the idea of fully automated transportation is inescapable.

If you have feedback on the concept, feel free to contact me...

gary@PRTproject.com

For more about me, click here.

 

 

 

  

 

 

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