Connect Ithaca calls for driverlsss podcars

Connect Ithaca, a group of planning professionals, activists, and students, are pushing for driverless podcars as a new form of public transportation systems.

The driverless podcars, also called PRTs or Personal Rapid Transit, are computerized 2-10 seater vehicles that travel on elevated tracks or rails running on a dedicated guideway. The PRTs run on electrical current
produced by clean energy, that is a fraction of the energy used by light rails.

Driverless podcar

Jacob Roberts, president of Connect Ithaca says, “It’s time we design cities for the human, not for the automobile. 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.”

Connect Ithaca thinks that given fuel crisis and traffic problems, driverless podcars would be a good solution. Driverless podcars would provide privacy and comfort to its passengers, who can travel non-stop to their desired destination. Besides, driverless podcars would reduce traffic congestion, free up parking space, and reduce pollution.

This is how driverless podcars would work, if implemented. Passengers can enter a particular station on a computerized touchscreen and board a car that would take them nonstop to the required destination. Stations will have slanted pull-in bays allowing some cars to stop to pick up passengers or continue without stoppage.

Driverless podcars have been around in limited use for some time now. West Virginia University students travel on a limited podcar system, built in 1975, in Morgantown. This podcar can carry a maximum of 15 passengers.

Driverless podcar planned for Heathrow airport

Driverless podcars have caught the imagination of other countries as well. Driverless podcar systems are being implemented for London’s Heathrow airport. In 2009, a pilot podcar system will be put to use to transfer air travelers to aircrafts and terminal buildings. A network of 18 driverless podcars have been planned for Heathrow airport. In the first phase of the project, the airport’s £25m PRT will use 3.8km (2.4 miles) of guideway to ferry people from car to check-in in just four minutes, according to BBC.

The driverless podcar is expected to have a top speed of 25 mph (40 kph). The driverless podcars that will be used in Heathrow airports are already in construction. Currently, work is underway on a 4-km guideway that will ferry four-person lightweight vehicles from the business car park to the terminal.

The driverless podcars run on battery. Once the passengers are aboard, they can use a touch screen to choose a destination. A desired optimal travel path is then created by central computer systems to ferry passengers to the required destination. Passengers will have to wait for only 12 seconds to board.

Podcar systems are being planned in Masdar City, on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi, touted to be the world’s first zero-carbon, zero-waste city.

Many other companies across the world are testing podcars for feasibility. Sweden has plans to use driverless podcars by 2020, to reduce pollution and use of fossil fuels.

While most agree that driverless podcars can be used on campuses and limited travel areas, they question the feasibility of the driverless podcars as regular transportation, in terms of cost, effort, and capacity.