On Tue, 26 Sep 2000, Rich McMartin wrote:
> When I first saw these in Scientific American in the early '70s the
> problem was onboard and system computer resources. I doubt if that is a
> problem anymore. In fact maybe it could be done with rubber tire vehicles
> on normal streets with some sort of in road guideway - kind of like the
> "Johny Cabs" in the movie "Total Recall". It sounds like fuel cells that
> process many types of organics are soon to be economically viable. These
> could obviate fixed guideways.
Exactly. Why build a completely new roadway when we can leverage
what we already have? Yes, sometimes it is good to start anew, but a
surface-level road-system is preferrable over a raised-level
road-system; raised-level systems incur significant handicapped-access
issues and costs.
Personally, I think we'll see 'Jonny Cabs' before we see a fully
deployed PRT system. If we start now, we /might/ have a fairly complete
PRT system in Minneapolis by the time 2020 comes around. At that time,
analysts are predicting that fuel cell technology will be fairly
mature. Combine that with the increase in a) computer power, and b) the
explosion of wireless networking, and you have a ready-made environment
for exactly that kind of 'Jonny Cab'.
A futureist thought for the day: If you had the choice between a
PRT-ride to your destination, or a 'Jonny Cab' ride that can pick you up
at your front door-step, which would you take?
Greg Riedesel
SSP
