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Personal Rapid Transit and Its Development

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Transportation Technologies for Sustainability

Definition of the Subject

Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) is in the class under Automated Guideway Transit (AGT) that includes Automated People Movers , sometimes identified as a subset of APM [1, 2]. Personal Rapid Transit is a driverless automated transit technology that has a unique movement pattern for the transit rider. A rider who uses PRT will travel point to point – similar to a cab – in comparison to a “typical” transit system where the rider stays on the system through many “unnecessary” stops until reaching their final destination. PRT is a fixed system, it is transit, with predetermined stops but how you travel from Stop A to Stop B is one of the key paradigm changes for this emerging transit technology as it is not designed in its fullest implementation as a loop or corridor system. The on-demand and point-to-point approach will provide much faster travel time and more destination choices; and along with its smaller size (two to four people vehicles), operating system, and...

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Abbreviations

AGT:

Automated Guideway Transit – Updating the original AGT definition (US Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, 1975), Automated Guideway Transit (AGT) is defined as a class of transportation systems in which fully automated vehicles operate along dedicated guideways.

APM:

Automated People Movers – According to the General Accounting Office (1980), Automated People Movers are driverless vehicles operating on a fixed guideway. Vehicle capacities range up to 100 passengers and may be operated as single units or as trains up to 30 miles/h.

ATRA:

Advanced Transit Association

Dual-mode:

A transportation system where in one mode the vehicle operates under its own power and control, usually on existing streets and in the second mode it operates under automated control and/or external power.

FRT:

Freight Rapid Transit – Characteristics of PRT but the vehicles are designed to handle freight only.

GRT:

Group Rapid Transit – which is similar to personal rapid transit but with higher occupancy vehicles and grouping of passengers with potentially different origin–destination pairs. As noted in an early study (US Congress, 1975), the starting capacity for GRT is six passengers per car while the upper limit is around 16 or 18; there are no clear distinctions between GRP and APM in terms of vehicle capacities.

Network system:

Interconnecting links that form the layout of transit routes and stops that constitute the total system – as opposed to a loop or corridor system

Off-line stations:

A station design where the vehicle is removed from the main line for loading or unloading allowing other vehicles to continuously flow on the main line.

Point-to-point:

The vehicle is on demand and takes the rider from his or her starting point directly to rider’s destination point with no stops in between – a nonstop journey bypassing intermediate stations that relies on the use of offline stations in a network.

PRT:

Personal Rapid Transit – The definition of PRT can be a subcategory of AGT systems that offer on-demand, non-stop transportation, offline stations using small, automated vehicles on a network of dedicated guideways.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL, USA

    Dr Shannon S. McDonald (AIA)

Authors
  1. Dr Shannon S. McDonald
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA

    Mehrdad Ehsani

  2. Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Fei-Yue Wang

  3. Center for Urban Transportation Research, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA

    Gary L. Brosch

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McDonald, S.S. (2013). Personal Rapid Transit and Its Development. In: Ehsani, M., Wang, FY., Brosch, G.L. (eds) Transportation Technologies for Sustainability. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5844-9_671

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