Personal Rapid Transit Impact on Intermodality and Safety at

Heathrow and Masdar

Dr Chris Elliott FREngPitchill Consulting Ltd

Structure

• Reminder – what is PRT and where is it in operation?• Safety – principles, practices, evidence• Future – what might PRT do for urban transport?

Passenger transport by mode

Data from UK Transport 2010

"the bus system may be regarded as a welfare service for the underprivileged minority". Thomson

Rush hour: that hour when traffic is almost at a standstill.

J.B. Morton.

1. Pods: Small, fully automated, battery-powered electric vehicles, with zero on-site emissions.

2. Infrastructure: Light, flexible & aesthetic guideways and stations are lower cost & can be routed where needed

3. Control system: You don’t wait for vehicles – vehicles wait for you. No transfers, no routes to memorize.

PRT overview

Transport history

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Existing PRT systems

• Two systems in operation – both are first phase of larger system

• Heathrow Airport – Pod between Terminal 5 and Business Car Park – video1

• Abu Dhabi – MASDAR Institute of Science & Technology – video2

Ease of installation

• Patented small scale infrastructure optimised for PRT• Modular design• Small radii (5m) and high grades (>10%) permitted• Installation of 3-bay elevated section completed in 4 hours

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Structure

• Reminder – what is PRT and where is it in operation?• Safety – principles, practices, evidence• Future – what might PRT do for urban transport?

Safety

• High level of intrinsic safety– < 40 kph– Dedicated guideway, no at-grade crossings– Fixed block or sensors – video 3– No driver!

• Systematic process– Safety policy – clear allocation of duties– Safety targets – what is acceptable– Hazard ident. => Risk assessment => Mitigation => Acceptance– Independent verification

• No significant incidents in 3 years’ operations

Structure

• Reminder – what is PRT and where is it in operation?• Safety – principles, practices, evidence• Future – what might PRT do for urban transport?

• Toronto International Airport light rail – Cost $58M per km – PRT would have cost $15M per km (2010 figures)

• Birmingham AirRailLink – cost $20M per km to refurbish– New PRT would have cost under $15M per km

• Montpellier light rail – cost €21.8M per km– PRT system would have cost between <€9M per km (EDICT 2004 figures)

• Oakland Airport – costed at $48M per km – PRT would cost $9-12M per km

All figures provided by ULTraPRT

Costs

• Amritsar Golden temple – video 4• Office campus – video 5

• Personal public transport that fits within existing urban structures – part of an integrated transport infrastructure

Urban integration

Integrating PRT into an urban renewal scheme

THANK YOU