David Jeffery, Transport Research Group, University of Southampton, June 2010.
Report from the NICHES+ Project (funded by the DG Research under the 7FP)

Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) is a form of public transport (PT) that uses small automated electric ‘podcars’ to: provide a taxi-like service for individuals or small groups of travellers; and provide demand responsive feeder and shuttle services connecting facilities such as parking lots with major transport terminals and other facilities such as shopping or exhibition centres.

The podcars run on a segregated guideway in order to ensure unhindered direct trips between origin and destination. They provide clean, green, efficient and sustainable transportation. With high vehicle speeds and very small headways, PRT provides fast, individual, on-demand and point-to-point PT with very short waiting times.

Aims to be the world’s first carbon neutral, zero-waste to landfill, car-free city powered entirely by alternative energy sources. Masdar City will be built on six and a half square kilometres and will grow eventually to house 1,500 businesses, 40,000 residents and 50,000 commuters. There will be no fossil fuel cars within Masdar City. The city will be a pedestrian-friendly environment, with a Personal Rapid Transit system (PRT) available for longer journeys.  The PRT vehicles will travel at speeds up to 40km/h, with the longest routes in the city taking around 10 minutes. Ultimately there will be 3,000 PRT vehicles serving 130,000 trips/day over the 85 stations.

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