[Winona Online Democracy] The Taxi 2000 project, a form of PRT (personal rapid transit), is the brainchild of UM professor Edward Anderson. He has been a tireless proponent of this system for perhaps 30 years, ever since it became remotely feasible with the advent of computers. It operates on the assumption that a blend of fixed-rail transit and personal cars is the most desirable - little cars that run on a rail but that are just for you and your trip. Computers make it possible to make the request, assign a car to the pickup location, take you to your destination and then put the car back into the system for other trips.
PRT requires a few things at least: 1) huge upfront investment in rails and cars, although both are smaller and cheaper than typical big-city subway or train systems; 2) very important - reliable computer software to run the whole thing; 3) reliable hardware - cars and tracks - in a system that can avoid blockages that shut down a whole part of the system; and 4) most important - the political will to invest in such a system. As in any large common endeavor the fourth item usually trips it up. But Anderson and his colleagues have worked out the bugs in the technical part and have a working full-size model setup. When first proposed, PRT was viewed as a far-out futuristic cartoon of a real transit system because reliable, sophisticated computers were not here yet. Now that we routinely rely on computers every day in everything - cell phones, car engines, microwave ovens, aircraft guidance, etc. - we should not be afraid anymore of getting a system to work smoothly. We still have the question of investing in the infrastructure, but we are closer every day to making this far-out proposal a reality. I've met Ed Anderson on several occasions and he has endured quite well his image as a crackpot with a wacky idea, especially since his idea looks better and better all the time. Now that the technology to make this happen is commonplace (not so when he first dreamed it up) he is making believers out of many critics. Now if we can just get the money together . . . - Phil Carlson, Mpls Link in previous post: http://www.taxi2000.com/ _______________________________________________ This message was posted to Winona Online Democracy All messages must be signed by the senders actual name. No commercial solicitations are allowed on this list. To manage your subscription or view the message archives, please visit http://mapnp.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/winona Any problems or suggestions can be directed to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
