The Low Down On Green Living
April 26th, 2009
The Podcar: A Cross between a Taxi and a Personal Bus
Stumble it!
Written byAmiel Blajchman, courtesy of Gas2.0
Masdar City, located within Abu Dhabi, is introducing personal rapid transit “podcars”. Basically, a cross between the convenience of grabbing a cab and a public bus; the podcars will be a component of Masdar City’s public transportation system.
As part of Masdar City’s car-free design; these podcars will be part of a network of electric taxis without drivers (!). The first of these podcars (also known as personal rapid transit - PRT) are set to debut this year.
According to Luca Guala, a planner at the consulting firm Systematica that designed the PRT network, it will:
Initially, the system will be very simple, with only a couple of stations. During this period, the system will function kind of like an elevator – you press a button and go to the third floor. Think of it as a horizontal lift. Later on it will be more sophisticated, and passengers will be able to get within 100 meters of any destination.
Since it is a prototype system, PRT is currently expensive to build. But, doesn’t it just scream “vision of the future”?
Image: Flyway Gotgatan via Flickr’s Media Commons
Popularity: 9% [?]
Comments
Mr_Grant
April 26th, 2009 at 4:10 pm
New video of another system at Heathrow Airport, similar to the one planned for Masdar: ULTra PRT.
Cool Green Science: The Conservation Blog of The Nature Conservancy » Cool Green Morning: Monday, April 27
April 27th, 2009 at 4:17 am
[...] Introducing the Podcar: Holy updated monorail! Check out these driverless electric taxis slated for Abu Dhabi. [...]
Cool Green Morning: Monday, April 27 @Special News Bureau
April 27th, 2009 at 8:46 pm
[...] Introducing the Podcar: Holy updated monorail! Check out these driverless electric taxis slated for Abu Dhabi. [...]
Carrie
April 28th, 2009 at 9:12 am
Absolutely great idea! Wish I had thought of it first.
Luis
April 28th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
Dear Villaraigosa, please fund a PRT to Sta Monica from Diamond Bar.
Thanks,
Luis
Sarah
April 28th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
Ithaca, NY will be the first American city to host such a podcar system. See the ConnectIthaca local group for more details.
Jake | Revive Your Life
April 28th, 2009 at 6:21 pm
This is a great idea. Hopefully they generate the electricity for the pod cars with wind power or solar energy. Good article!
sagitronus
August 10th, 2010 at 9:09 pm
A vision from the future is a relatively understatement for that. I work in Dubai which is near Abu Dhabi and it would actually be surreal to see something like this in the works. I can’t wait.
Post a Comment