Supporters range from Minneapolis City Council member Dean Zimmerman, a Green Party member, to Republican Sen. Michelle Bachmann of Stillwater. Bachmann says personal rapid transit, like many political issues, creates strange bedfellows.
"People on the right, people on the left, we have the common goal of moving people with transit, but doing it in the most cost-effective manner, in fact, in a manner that may end up costing no government subsidy, it may end up paying for itself," she says.
Bachmann never explained how PRT can pay for itself. Hell, the damn pods don't even work... never did and never will.
The ULTra PRT was supposed to be the most credible PRT (you can definately trust those British corporations) - really an automated golf cart with a futuristic body that followed magnets embedded in the guideway. The ULTra was supposed to launch in Cardiff, Wales way back in 2003, but it wasn't ready. The ULTra pods were supposed to debut at London's Heathrow airport, but it was postponed four times.... or is it five, I've lost track.
It was supposed to totally, definately launch in June (click on screenshot to make it bigger)
Well it's the end of June and we get this info, not from the two ULTra websites, but a tweet from the PRT Guru that links to his website where we find this statement:
June 2010: It appears ULTra will not meet its previously-announced June opening date at London’s Heathrow Airport. BAA has issued the following statement: "The Heathrow pod is innovative technology and we have always said that the system will be launched when it is ready to do so. The system, as well as being a world first, is bespoke [customized] to fit into existing airport infrastructure and the process of completing this is informing our decision about the launch date. Testing is continuing and we anticipate that the system will officially launch in the near future."
The statement as it now appears on the ULTra PRT website:
Latest Schedule
"The Heathrow pod is innovative technology and we have always said that the system will be launched when it is ready to do so. The system, as well as being a world first, is bespoke (custom-made) to fit into existing airport infrastructure and the process of completing this is informing our decision about the launch date. Testing is continuing and we anticipate that the system will officially launch in the near future." - BAA's schedule statement, June 2010.
There's no official reason given for the latest fizzled launch, but there are rumors like this:
The main problem is the cars keep bumping into each other. Nobody is allowed to mention the "C" word!
These pod projects have failed over and over, wasting tons of public funding...how may chances do the PRT guys get?
As far as Tim Pawlenty is concerned, they get as many chances as the taxpayers will give them.
Here's ULTra spokesman Steve Raney a while back explaining why people get mad at the PRT guys when they make promises they can't keep:
Here's some more recent pod flops and fiascos:
No $25 million earmark for PRT pork project in Winona, Minnesota.
The Swedish/Korean PRT prototype malfunctioned recently in front of the media.
The Masdar PRT (more computer-guided golf carts that follow magnets imbedded in the roadway) has been scaled way back, This setback got a mention in the NY Times and confirmed in this Bloomberg article.
The much-hyped PRT project in Daventry ended in fiasco.
The so-called Morgantown PRT (it's a mundane people-mover) was the subject of a student newspaper editorial after a malfunction created a "fireball" and filled a vehicle with smoke. The cost of fixing the Morgantown boondoggle is $93 million.
Mall of America Says No to Jpods.
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