I don't know how this will work in an area that really needs public transportation. A freight train in the Az desert was derailed a while back with the assistance of a five dollar rod of pig iron........
And, who will pay for the cost, and with what money?
We are about to open a new billion dollar light rail system in phoenix, and I have already heard talk that community groups will buy passes for the homeless to give them a free place to hang out all day. That kind of idealism is laudable.
Unfortunately, You can bet , if that happens, the light rail will be just like the bus system. The people TPTB desire to quit driving so much will stay away . .....bobford
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--- On Wed, 10/15/08, Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com> wrote:
From: Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>
Subject: [Homestead] Progressive Ithaca onto pod cars
To: "Homestead" <homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Date: Wednesday, October 15, 2008, 9:12 AM
ITHACA, N.Y. — The thought of a driverless,
computer-guided car
transporting people where they want to go on demand is a
futuristic
notion to some.
To Jacob Roberts, podcars _ or PRTs, for personal rapid
transit _
represent an important component in the here-and-now of
transportation.
"It's time we design cities for the human, not for
the automobile,"
said Roberts, president of Connect Ithaca, a group of
planning and
building professionals, activists and students committed to
making
this upstate New York college town the first podcar
community in the
United States.
"In the podcar ... it creates the perfect blend
between the privacy
and autonomy of the automobile with the public
transportation aspect
and, of course, it uses clean energy," Roberts said.
With the oil crisis reaching a zenith and federal lawmakers
ready to
begin fashioning a new national transportation bill for
2010, Roberts
and his colleagues think the future is now for podcars _
electric,
automated, lightweight vehicles that ride on their own
network
separate from other traffic.
Unlike mass transit, podcars carry two to 10 passengers,
giving
travelers the freedom and privacy of their own car while
reducing the
use of fossil fuels, reducing traffic congestion and
freeing up space
now monopolized by parking.
At stations located every block or every half-mile,
depending on the
need, a rider enters a destination on a computerized pad,
and a car
would take the person nonstop to the location. Stations
would have
slanted pull-in bays so that some cars could stop for
passengers,
while others could continue unimpeded on the main course.
"It works almost like an elevator, but
horizontally," said Roberts,
adding podcar travel would be safer than automobile travel.
We trust that our very own Ithaca insider, Moon/Celia/Mrs.
Morgan will
keep us up-to-date on this exciting possibility.
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