8 Sky Taxi
Some good reasons
for NOT using dual mode are explained in the J. Edward Anderson’s article (he
has worked actively on dual mode since 1975, when he was the leader of a
http://taxi2000.com/pubs/dualmode2.htm
http://taxi2000.com/pubspdf/DUALMODE.pdf
Of course, I’ve already read it long ago. But
these arguments don’t fit all and any
cases. May be, the differences in views arises from the fact that my variant of Dual Mode differs sharply
from the traditional variants of Dual Mode. My variant would be more
correct to name Sesquialteral (One and a Half) Mode.
In
my variant the Dual Mode accumulator vehicles in most cases belong to the PRT
transport company, instead of the drivers. These accumulator vehicles are
rented like rent cars or for every trip. That is, my variant is a cross between
PRT and traditional Dual Mode. Furthermore in my variant:
·
the PRT and LDM (see
below) modes are preferred modes, and Dual Mode is used in rare instances and
at the sturdy main PRT lines and few special stations only (but for American
sparsely populated areas DM may be more suitable than PRT as a primary mode);
I think that the system will be
mixed both in
I believe that combined efforts and
capitals of
·
any extra costs are reimbursed fully by the Dual Mode accumulator vehicle’s
driver.
|
Argument of J.
Edward Anderson against Dual Mode |
My arguments
for Dual Mode |
|
There must be an organization, private or public, assigned the task of maintaining safety and on-time performance of the automated guideway portion of a DM system. |
In my variant the PRT transport company is responsible for the safe delivery of Dual Mode accumulator vehicles to the destination in proper time. Its functions are similar to the functions of a ferry. There is nothing difficult or unusual. |
|
… inspection stations are needed to determine if DMVs are fit to be permitted to enter the automated guideway. |
In my variant Dual Mode accumulator vehicles in any condition are transported on automated self-propelled electric flat-cars. There is no necessity for inspections at all. It is important only that these accumulator vehicles do not fall to pieces. But as these accumulator vehicles in most cases belong to the transport company, it sometimes maintains their serviceability. The integrity of Dual Mode accumulator vehicle can be checked automatically with the help of RF tags without batteries. |
|
Throughput of a DM entry point is thus determined by the mean time of such an inspection. |
There is no necessity for inspections. See above. |
|
Complex, expensive stations with on-off ramps for DMVs. |
Look at my variant of Dual Mode station under this table. It’s as simple and cheap as a toll station on motorway. In my variant the distance between Dual Mode
stations is ten times longer than distance between PRT stations. Therefore there
are few Dual Mode stations. |
|
Wide, expensive guideway. … combination of auto and pallet has more parts and is clearly more complex and heavier than a PRT vehicle captive to a guideway, which implies a more expensive guideway because guideway weight increases in direct proportion to vehicle weight. |
The guideway can be narrower than the Dual Mode accumulator vehicle on automated self-propelled electric flat-car. In my variant not all PRT lines, but only sturdy main PRT lines are used for Dual Mode. The beam of main PRT lines is suspended on steel
ropes – see the photo
under this table. Therefore the guideway is lightweight. |
|
Expensive vehicles |
In my variant Dual Mode driver pays more, than PRT passenger. The driver has the right to get the additional service (Dual Mode) for additional money. |
|
Reduced line throughput… In palletized DM, throughput may not be diminished. |
My variant is a palletized DM. |
|
DMVs may be blocked from leaving the guideway and cause vehicles behind to have to be rerouted to other off-ramps, thus increasing flow on what will probably be the busiest part of the network. |
In that case people can leave their accumulator vehicles at the Dual Mode station and then send the accumulator vehicles on automated self-propelled electric flat-cars to automatic garage. That is the Dual Mode accumulator vehicle’s driver can use PRT mode in any case when the use of Dual Mode is impossible. |
|
Private DMVs will have to be stored in parking structures similar to those designed to store conventional automobiles. The space required for storage will be the same as required for conventional automobiles because any vehicle must be in a position to be removed from storage at any time. On the other hand, in captive-vehicle PRT, storage can be much more compact because it would not be necessary to remove any vehicle, only the first in line. The storage volume required for PRT vehicles is only a little greater than the volume of vehicles stored. DMV retrieval will be similar to that required with automobiles, except that each vehicle will have to be inspected before reentering the automated guideway. An alternative would be to have special DMV-storage facilities under control of the DMS so that the patron would enter such a facility to reclaim his vehicle. The retrieval time would be substantially greater than the wait time for the next available PRT vehicle in a PRT system. |
In my variant the Dual Mode accumulator vehicles in most cases belong to the PRT transport company. They are stored on automated self-propelled electric flat-cars. In this case all actions with them are completely similar to the actions with PRT vehicles. There is no necessity for inspections. See above. |
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In a DMS, each vehicle is the private property of an individual, and would be used only by that individual… Thus, the number of vehicles required in a fleet would not be diminished over that in use today. |
In my variant the Dual Mode accumulator vehicles in most cases belong to the PRT transport company. Dual Mode is used only in rare instances. Several drivers can use the same Dual Mode accumulator vehicle during the day. Therefore there is no necessity for a plenty of Dual Mode accumulator vehicles. |
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Elitist solution. DMVs have all of the components needed to run on streets plus the automatic control system and possibly other components needed to operate on an automated guideway. They will thus, as mentioned, be more expensive than PRT vehicles, and will be available only to the wealthier segment of the population. Moreover, how much guideway must there be before even wealthy persons decide to purchase a DMV? At first, a few of such persons may as a novelty purchase a DMV, but hardly enough to support the construction of the guideway. For political reasons, it would seem necessary for a government to subsidize the purchase of DMVs, so that they would be available to all who want them. For many years, many people would regard the DMS as an irrelevant novelty until there is enough guideway to serve a significant portion of their trips. Yet, in a democratic society, these people would be required to bear the tax burden required to build the guideways. DMS proponents need to describe in detail in a practical, understandable, and acceptable way how the system could expand into a viable alternative transportation mode. |
In my variant the Dual Mode accumulator vehicles in most cases belong to the PRT transport company. Dual Mode is used at the sturdy main PRT lines and few special stations only. Occasionally even rather poor people have to use taxi or rent car. Dual Mode will be much cheaper. Dual Mode is the only way to liquidate Car Mode and to stop spending of huge public money for the construction and maintenance of motorways. |
|
DM requires a driver's license. |
Low-power motor scooters and bicycles do not demand driver's license. The same principle may be extended on Dual Mode accumulator vehicles with technically limited speed and zone of trips. It depends only on the will of the government. Dual Mode accumulator vehicles can have a luminous coating, “cat's eye” reflectors, orange flashing signal on the top and headlights constantly switched on for extra safety. |
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The Alternative: Captive-Vehicle PRT + Small Electric Automobiles ("station cars"). While ordinary automobiles could be used to travel from home to origin station, the potential rider must wonder what to do at the other end of the trip. That problem could be solved by providing a fleet of small electric automobiles, now called "station cars," that could be rented for those needing to ride to or from a PRT station. |
It is a hard work and loss of time to trans-ship heavy luggage, numerous purchases, children, invalids etc. twice: from the car to the PRT vehicle, and then from the PRT vehicle to the "station car". There may be no "station car" at the other end of the trip. What would you do then? Next time you surely will take your own car instead of PRT vehicle! The fleet of "station cars" could be too large. Use of ordinary automobiles is extremely undesirable. "Station car" requires a driver's license. |
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PRT is a supplement to the auto system, not a replacement. |
My variant is almost a complete replacement to the auto system. It was a secret dream of J. Edward Anderson. But this dream was sacrificed to a traditional notion of Dual Mode. |
Cable-stayed
structure for suspension of elevated track
The compact or folding single-seated vehicle
(scooter), intended for driving along usual motorways, sidewalks or off-road,
is transported inside standard PRT vehicle (or inside Dual Mode accumulator
vehicle) on a place of convertible seats. The passenger inside PRT vehicle sits
on the seat of PRT vehicle or on the seat of scooter.
The scooter has electric motor or hybrid engine.
It can have an additional bicycle drive also. The accumulators of scooter are
recharged from PRT vehicle, at PRT station (in the absence of driver), at
parking for scooters of employees and clients, or from the usual household
electricity supply network. It can be own or hired at the PRT station. Scooter
can have 2, 3, 4, 6 or 8 wheels or two rubber-metal caterpillars or some wheels
on rotating levers for driving along roads and along stairs. It can have a
folding windshield, convertible top (or tent on flexible rods), safety arches
and belts, and boot.
LDM is not a replacement of usual Dual Mode. It is a
cheap supplement to PRT mode only.
Prototypes
of scooters for LDM:
Docking of
accumulator vehicle to automated self-propelled electric flat-car
[It
is published
The
bogie is implied. It rolls on the rails inside guiedway.
There
is no need in little wheels on the vehicle and/or the barriers to align the
vehicle. I am sure that the (orange) barriers are sufficient and safe like
deep tracks of earth road (Russian experience of hundreds years). They are
lower than the bottom of electric vehicle.
The
lower parts of wheels of the DM car are higher, than top of guiedway. Otherwise
the wheels of DM car would hit the guiedway at forks of guiedway.
This
design has some advantages:
·
simple driver-friendly automatic
docking
·
simple design of DM car without
slots in the bottom
·
support on strong rear and front
axle assemblies of DM car
·
double use of shock-absorbers (red)
of DM car – both on road and on guiedway (but pallet/ bogie has its own
shock-absorbers also)
·
manufacturability
·
use of one of the docking cones as
an electric plug
·
reliable attachment, stability and
absence of backlash
·
opportunity of use of automatic
locks on docking cones
The platform of
the carrier… need only be rugged enough to carry that type of load.
I
think that it is necessary to well fix vehicle automatically to the carrier,
and also to connect to power supplies automatically. It is a rather difficult
problem if to try to keep a support on wheels of carried vehicle.
It is not anticipated
that… shock or suspension system is required [for carrier], as this would seem
merely to be duplicating that of the transported vehicle.
Nevertheless,
taking high speed and significant own weight of carrier into account, any
rudimentary shock-absorbers are necessary.
Transportation
of railway cars on narrow-gauge flat-cars
How the empty
pallets would be stored at stations or elsewhere and called into service?
I couldn't allow the station to occupy too much land.
So the garage for full and empty pallets was separated from the station. But
the garages should be not far from the stations, may be one garage for several
stations.
The garage for empty pallets is necessary for
that case, when the number of accumulator vehicles arriving into the system
isn’t equal to the number of accumulator vehicles leaving the system. The
accumulator vehicles on pallets can be stored in the same garage.
I think that the garage will be very simple,
like railway depot. There will be only parallel tracks and switches and two
modes: stack and queue with possible re-enter. The garage can be multi-storey.
It is possible to convert existing automobile multi-storey garages or roofs of
low buildings.
What will be the
weight of DM vehicle?
Cargo Dual Mode accumulator vehicle will weigh
more than 600 kg. Plus up to 1500 kg of useful load (gross carrying capacity of
standard wooden pallet). It will be necessary to push the passenger Dual Mode
accumulator vehicle with passengers and luggage into these 2100 kg. Plus 400 kg
of automated self-propelled electric flat-car. The total is 2.5 tons. All the
calculations are still very inexact.
But I accept also light-weight passenger Dual
Mode accumulator vehicle for weaker guiedways. I welcome variety. It is
possible to have 3 types of guiedways for different modes:
1. pure PRT, weakest guiedway
2. passenger Dual Mode (+ pure PRT)
3. cargo Dual Mode (+ passenger Dual Mode + pure
PRT), strongest guiedway
Does the heavy
weight of batteries of DM vehicle require strong guiedway?
The weight of batteries is not a big problem for
Dual Mode due to some reasons:
·
Dual Mode accumulator vehicle will
go short distances to the station, from the station or near the station only.
It goes long distances on pallet/bogie only. Therefore it doesn’t need so large
battery capacity as conventional battery-driven vehicle
·
the accumulator of Dual Mode vehicle
will be charged during the ride on guiedway
·
accumulators,
developed in
·
magnesium accumulator is very
lightweight (http://www.cnews.ru/newtop/index.shtml?2003/04/18/143393
, in Russian)
·
condenser
(http://www.inventions.ru/photo/kondens1.jpg
, in Russian) as energy source together with accumulator increases accumulator
life and peak power of charging and discharging. Therefore the accumulators
with low peak power (and larger battery capacity) can be used
·
rented Dual Mode accumulator vehicle
is shared by many drivers. Therefore the accumulator price has a weak influence
on fare. So more expensive accumulators with large specific (per kg) battery
capacity can be used
Using of fuel
cells instead of batteries might lower the weight by 130 kg, isn’t it?
It is necessary to take the weight of heavy
cylinders with hydrogen into account too. Additional charge requires
replacement of cylinders.
Fuel cells are very expensive (and the platinum
catalyst can be stolen).
The full chain of transformation of the energy
(including fuel cells) has low efficiency in comparison with accumulators, and
brake current recovery is impossible.
It seems to me that fuel cells are a dead-end
track.
There are a few ways
of avoiding doubling up of propulsion systems and higher weight and costs:
1. Use only one
system like RUF (but improved)
2. Change
propulsion system (bogy) at stations, and use only one at the time. This would
create further complications and expenses.
Otherwise we
have to accept the higher weight and costs, and make stronger bogy wagons and
beams, thereby adding to the expenses of the original pure PRT system.
The “true dual mode car” system with side rails
(instead of RUF’s central guideway) and passive
PRT-like switches may have some chance of success in a warm dry climate.
But other ways exist also:
·
use of some units (accumulator,
shock-absorbers, even electric motor) of DM car on guideway together with the
similar units of bogy;
·
light-weight units in that mode, in
which requirements are lower (the low-power electromotor in DM car;
light-weight shock-absorbers and emergency accumulator and primitive frame in
bogy).
|
Argument
against Dual Mode |
My arguments
for Dual Mode |
|
Dual Mode driver pays 5 times as much as pure PRT passenger. This is only interesting if the network is extensive. |
This is interesting not only in that case. The rough estimate "5 times" is not based on real calculations and is doubtful, like any forecast at a turning-point. The problem is not to guess correctly the structure and amount of costs. The problem is that the economic model on the basis of which calculations are done, actually strongly differs from the real situation now and especially in the future. For example, try to calculate comparative costs of pure PRT and Dual Mode not from one station to another station, but from the present location of passenger to desirable destination. Stations of pure PRT will not appear instantly in all such places, as the construction can last many years. Therefore the passenger will have to go some part of the route by personal car, public transport or taxi. And the construction of pure PRT stations will be absolutely unprofitable in many places, because of small volume of passenger traffic. Furthermore, the usual methods of calculation of costs are good for mature technologies and stable markets only. In case of PRT and Dual Mode, when technologies are just being created and will be certainly improved, and also new markets are arising, the structure of costs and the prices can change quite unpredictably. By the way, your experience did not include steel-rope suspended guideway. Some Dual Mode lines can be laid on the embankment of commuter railway and fenced. And other inexpensive technologies for Dual Mode can appear. I do not object to correct calculation of costs if it is really necessary and possible. But the comparison of Dual Mode with pure PRT or buses is not such a case. It is even more difficult to guess a consumer demand and the price, which passengers actually will agree to pay for Dual Mode service. Who can correctly predict and calculate influence of local conditions (geographical features, population density, tastes, traditions, habits and the public stratification, competing transport, topology of the network etc.) on efficiency of Dual Mode? This person can easily apply for the Nobel Prize on economics. The long work in financial sphere has taught me, that financial results (especially, expected ones) hide the truth more often, than disclose it. Therefore the good managers are never limited to the analysis of finance only, but try to analyse real (physical) results, factors, processes and structures. When it becomes clear, that the certain decision should inevitably be made, they always invent beautiful figures of expected profit. Some people like these figures very much as it release them from responsibility. I prefer that others were engaged in inventing of such figures. By the way, very many financiers do not trust in expected financial results. Therefore they did not rush to finance Taxi2000 despite of good calculations. You see that you are engaged in PRT not because of the calculated financial results but only because you regard this technology as most convenient, perfect and promising? Besides the economic efficiency in restricted sense it is necessary to remember other kinds of results, which are difficult for expressing in dollars. These are impact on the environment, on health and behaviour of the population (for example, on geography of residence, work and leisure), on duration of leisure time etc. The contradiction between doubtful private profitability and doubtless social benefits can be solved to some extent by including of local stakeholders (municipal officials, local people, passengers, landowners, real-estate developers, local businesses) into the project and by division of the project into several related parts with different participants and different funding sources. These stakeholders can benefit not only from IPO, dividends, option contracts, stockjobbing, insider trading and insolvent trading, but also from other sources: · additional votes of electorate; · increase of investment attraction of territory and increase of prices of the real estate; · reduction of capital costs on construction of public roads and reduction of subsidies on public transport; · increase of mobility of labor force and customers; · taxation of PRT/DM, · additional workplaces in the industries participating in creation of PRT/DM. Actually we cannot demand the system to be
profitable so that the money could be paid back and there would be not more
costs to the public authorities than a guarantee (that they want such as
system to be developed). Unfortunately the problem of profitability is much
more complicated. For instance, automobile roads and railways were
constructed for the account of state (by the hands of unemployed people at
public works) long time ago. The automobile roads are also maintained for the
account of the state. Public transport gets state subventions. Car mode gets
some hidden subventions also, for example as expansive oil wars. These things create unfair competition,
which will decrease the profitability of PRT/rented DM for the first tens of
years. The PRT/rented
DM network has to be rather extensive (and PRT network also has to be
dense) to become profitable. A few attractive routes are exclusion. So I think the transfer from car mode to
PRT/rented DM will be revolutionary, rather than evolutionary. That is, a
“critical mass” of troubles from car mode must be accumulated in advance. And
PRT/rented DM will appear first of all in the marginal areas with
underdeveloped road network, like Palleted DM with conventional
private (not rented) cars would be able to be developed evolutionary. But
this variant is an ugly palliative solution. It will hardly improve something
considerably in prevailing car mode (except for a few multimillionaires). It
is impossible to jump over a precipice by several steps. And another
palliative solution for very rich people only – Intelligent Transportation
System (ITS) ≈ True DM would be a strong competitor to this mode. But the The
Approximately 1 million residents of
suburbia go to Dual Mode line substitutes for a dense network
of pure PRT in districts with low population density. However Dual Mode
should serve huge territory of the |
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Palletized system with rented vehicles would be far heavier and therefore more expensive than pure PRT (2-3 times in total – 4-5 times for the DM passenger). With the limited use of dual mode, it is not worth it. It would simply cost too much. |
Dual Mode
can be much cheaper, than pure PRT, for commuter traffic and in European and especially American cities with lower
population density, than population density in In other cases there is no sense at all to compare a high fare of Dual Mode and a low fare of pure PRT. When you need to drive off a pure PRT line, but the technology of pure PRT does not allow doing it, you become absolutely indifferent to the comparative cheapness of pure PRT lines. And you will pay any price for Dual Mode, if this price is less, than car costs. Passengers will use Dual Mode irrespective of a fare always when it is impossible to use pure PRT (no PRT stations nearby, heavy luggage, weekly shopping, harvest from summer cottage, small children, bad health, the bad weather, haste, numerous trips within day, uncertain destination, possibility of undesirable or dangerous meeting, necessity to transport small cargoes on standard pallets 1000õ 1200 mm etc.). As pure PRT does not provide that freedom of movement which Dual Mode does, they are not interchangeable, and their fares are not comparable. It is meaningful only to compare a fare of Dual Mode and costs of personal car, because Dual Mode is intended to supersede personal cars from use. More precisely, it is necessary to compare Dual Mode with the future intellectual car on hydrogen fuel (new American dream). The loaded weight of Austrans
vehicle is 3.025 tons, and its guideway costs US$5.4 million per km in Four lanes of car highway have the same capacity
as one lane Dual Mode guideway. But four lanes of car highway cost 4 times
3.1 = US$12.4 million per km in the The Dual Mode guideway costs are 70% of total costs of Dual Mode. Therefore total costs of Dual Mode are 12.4/(5.4/0.7)=1.6 times less than highway costs. If we take car depreciation, reparation and petrol costs into account, then the advantage of Dual Mode will be more considerable. The Dual Mode accumulator vehicle costs much less than normal accumulator vehicle, because it is intended for short road trips near the station only. Therefore the maintenance costs of Dual Mode accumulator vehicle on conventional roads and in garages are the same as the maintenance costs of car. But every Dual Mode accumulator vehicle spends less proportion of time in garages, because it is used by many drivers. Complementary use of Dual Mode does not mean that it is not so important. On the contrary, Dual Mode is a necessary condition of wide use of pure PRT. As pure PRT does not provide that freedom of movement which car does, the pure PRT can not supersede personal cars from use. People will not sell their personal cars if they have not Dual Mode service. Therefore they will drive cars even when they might use pure PRT. They will use pure PRT instead of tram only. |
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If DM is more limited, it is less attractive, and the relative cost higher versus PRT. |
Dual Mode will not be limited artificially in any way. But as the fare in Dual Mode will be higher, than in pure PRT, the passengers will try to use Dual Mode less often. |
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Your solution that the Dual Mode accumulator vehicles in most cases belong to the PRT transport company will still not attract those who love their own personal car. |
Not all people love their personal car itself but everybody loves freedom of movement. Dual Mode with rented accumulator vehicles gives them the full freedom of movement and inherits all the best features of personal car. People do not like the problems caused by possession of car, but personal cars are necessary because of absence of Dual Mode service. Those people, who nevertheless have the
unhealthy addiction to their cars (for example, as certificate of wealth,
power or life success), should be treated with strong disappointment,
irritation, public contempt, separation and another addiction (substitute).
“There is one step only from love to hatred” (Russian saying). The car is a
dream of all life long for many people, but possession of a car in It is necessary to forbid advertising of cars on TV and hire of cars. Authorities should cease to finance construction of highways and intersections. The irritating restrictions of car traffic and frequently paid taxes on possession of personal car should be established in zones of Dual Mode service, and the number of places in car parkings must be reduced. Authorities should redeem cars from people, who will not buy other cars. Personal electric scooter for Light Dual Mode can become an expensive prestigious gadget and new subject of addiction (car substitute). |
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Your stations look more complex, larger and expensive, than toll station on motorway. (3 times?) |
My station is extremely simple, small and cheap. Quarter the number of parallel tracks in your mind, and you will see it yourself. But stations with parallel tracks or clusters of small stations allow to reduce the number of long acceleration and deceleration lanes. |
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You are not answering Ed’s main argument about weight. (Pallet plus DMV = 3 times more? - meaning guideway is also 3 times heavier and more expensive.) |
I doubt that there is proportionality between weight of vehicle and weight of guideway, suspended on steel ropes. It is always possible to invent the smart design instead of weighting of guideway. |
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Your steel rope suggestion is out of the question in a city and in quasi-urban areas (ugly, impractical). |
Guideway is suspended on steel ropes in the known German PRT system Cabintaxi intended for city. The practicality of Germans is well-known.
When the Tour d'Eiffel
was under construction in
Please look at huge multi-storey apartment
houses of
Eventually, we have the only choice: either suspended guideways of Dual Mode, or gloomy ferro-concrete automobile elevated roads. Pure PRT is unable to supplant personal cars. It can supplant public urban transport only. The cable-stayed guideways are matter of money. Therefore it may appear a matter of principle if available money is not sufficient to build an expensive (if not suspended on ropes) DM guideway. If Muscovites want to have cheap cable-stayed
guideways instead of traffic congestions and exhaust, why to oppose it? I am
sure that these cable-stayed guideways will decorate the monotonous ferro-concrete multi-storey houses of Here are some other pictures:
Skarnsundbrua cable-stayed bridge in Norway |
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The possibility to leave the accumulator vehicles at the Dual Mode station will add the costs of having garages, and will increase empty vehicle transport and thereby lower the efficiency of the system. |
I think that the garage will be very simple, like railway depot. There will be only parallel tracks and switches and two modes: stack and queue with possible re-enter. The garage can be multi-storey. It is possible to convert existing automobile multi-storey garages or roofs of low buildings. By the way, PRT vehicle needs as much place in garage as Dual Mode accumulator vehicle on pallet. The more Dual Mode accumulator vehicles on pallets, the less demand for PRT vehicles, which occupy place in garages. |
|
Dual Mode station occupies a lot of land. |
It is inevitable. Any taxi parking or bus station occupies a lot of land too. Dual Mode accumulator vehicles require some land too. It is possible to take this place from automobiles - Dual Mode will result in their disappearance. The distance between Dual Mode stations is about 5 km; therefore it is quite possible to push them into city. |
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Dual Mode is more expensive than pure PRT due to higher complexity and weight of vehicles, more complex stations and more (and more costly) parking houses. |
That money will be spent on car transport in any case. Just several days ago the Government of Moscow region declared its plans of construction of 11 (eleven!) new tollways, including: detour around Odintsovo. If the Government of Moscow region knew about the unwavering purpose to construct Dual Mode, it would not begin to spend this huge money on construction of new tollways. And pure PRT can not substitute for these tollways, because the dense network of pure PRT throughout such huge territory would be too expensive. |
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There is a way of doing this both ways: Build first a pure PRT system like Taxi2000 and prove that it works. Dual mode is mode complex and ought to come later. |
Not too late. The pure PRT system itself (without Dual Mode) will not be able to prove its profitability, because it can attract moderate and diminishing number of poor tram passengers only. Some pure PRT lines (from city to airport) could be profitable, but it will be necessary to build parallel lines of Dual Mode in the future in any case. And designers should think about accommodation of dual mode in advance. |
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Pure PRT system would have less cars parked. Also, the difference is that a DM system needs many parking houses downtown. A pure PRT system would put them in cheaper areas. |
I don’t see any difference. DM vehicles on pallets (bogies) can be sent to any garage, including garages outside the city centre. There are no reasons or evidences that the DM empty mileage along guideway is much longer than empty mileage of pure PRT. But in any case it does not belittle the advantages of DM. |
|
DM vehicles may be parked when they are needed, unlike in a pure PRT system. |
When Dual Mode accumulator vehicles are in special garages or parking lanes of the Transport Company, they are on bogies (pallets), and can be ordered on demand at any time and from any station of Dual Mode, and also from stations of pure PRT with strengthen guideway. When vehicles are in normal car garages or parking lanes or anywhere else, they can be rehired at any time, even in absence of the driver, if he/she has given the preliminary consent (the green bulb on top shimmers "taxi is vacant" and respective information is being sent to mobile phones/PDAs). The driver can transfer the rented Dual Mode accumulator vehicle to other driver at the choice also. The taxi-drivers can tow vacant vehicles to the taxi stations (or by customer’s request) or tow excess vacant vehicles away. Having qualitative transport service people will quickly forget about personal cars. |
