The answers seem pretty obvious, Ray, and I'm not an expert, only going on what I've read about PRT.I have yet to see three questions answered.
1) Who will be cleaning these vehicles between trips? Do they really think that all passengers will leave them as clean as they found them?
2) If I should happen to leave my Neiman Marcus or Tiffany's shopping bag in my PRT vehicle when I reach my destination, where will the next rider leave it so I can easily get it back?
3) What is to prevent some thug from joining me for my ride? . . . Ray Marshall Minnehaha
1. Each night, during slow times, the vehicles return to a transit facility, where a cleaning crew with vacuums, mops, etc. cleans them. Just like the current MTC buses are cleaned in the garage each night.
2. The next rider (if honest) would use the intercom to communicate with the system operators, and inform them of lost property left in the vehicle. After it delivers that rider to their destination, the operator override summons it to the main transit facility, where the property is taken out and put in a central lost-and-found office, for you to come by and pick it up. Pretty much like what is done with lost property left on current MTC buses; it ends up in lost-and-found back at the garage. (It might even be possible, with credit card payment systems, that the PRT operator could identify the rider who lost the property, and notify them, instead of just waiting for someone to come in and claim it.)
3. The suggested designs use turnstiles & gates to keep a ride private to you and your family/friends. But if a thug did jump the turnstile and crowd into the vehicle with you, you could press the panic button in the vehicle, which would keep the vehicle stopped in the station with the doors open, would notify the transit police at headquarters, who could watch on the vehicle security camera and talk to you (& the thug) via the intercom. They could also override the controls and send the car directly to the nearest police station. I suppose the thug could still beat you up during this ride, but knowing that he was being videotaped & watched, and on the way to a police station would tend to inhibit this. This seems as good, if not better, than current MTC buses, where any thug can get on and come sit down next to you.
Tim Bonham, Ward 12, Standish-Ericsson
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