A futuristic driverless taxi system – not unlike the
one depicted in the sci-fi cult film “Logan’s Run” – is
presently fighting the odds to prevent becoming a thing of
the past.
That is to say, the interest is here, the development budgets
are here, the technology is here, and the prototypes are here – we
are just waiting for governments, city councils and urban planners,
who are poised to change the paradigm of urban transportation,
to step out an hail a driverless cab.
Riding the ULTra wave
Like the Taxi 2000 system being developed in Fridley, Minnesota,
ULTra (Urban Light Transport) is a personal rapid transit
(PRT) system developed in response to urban traffic congestion
and air quality issues, Unlike SkyWeb Express, (Taxi 2000
Corporation’s magnetic monorail technology), however,
ULTra proposes a series of independent, battery-powered,
rubber wheeled cabs that can take up to four passengers non-stop
to predetermined locations anywhere along its dedicated network.
Like its US counterpart though, these stops are located off-line
and thus will not interfere with the flow of vehicles along
its track.
The brainchild of Professor Martin Lowson, leader of a graduate-team
at Bristol University’s Advance Transport Systems Ltd
(ATS) in the UK, the ULTra system claims to be three times
quicker – even with a maximum speed of 40 kph - than
bus, car or light rail transportation in an urban center, (which
generally only averages 13 kph). The developers also claim
that a fully installed ULTra guideway will have the same capacity
as a motorway or highway lane at 1800 vehicles per hour, yet
will only cost one-tenth to build and maintain, and will use
only one-quarter of the land.
Other proposed benefits include a seventy-five per cent reduction
in energy consumption per passenger km as compared to a car,
a ninety-five per cent chance of waiting less than a minute
for the next vehicle, plus the satisfaction of knowing that
ULTra’s airborne emissions are less than one tenth of
the volume produced by congested traffic - resulting in virtually
no pollution contribution in the cities where they operate.
All aboard!
Since its inception in 1995, ATS has received substantial
development funding from UK government agencies, enabling
them to complete prototype testing in February 2003. This
work, supported by the UK Department of Transport, involved
the testing of four vehicles on test tracks located in Bristol
and in Cardiff, resulted in successful passenger trials for
which the UK Rail Inspectorate gave permission to conduct.
Further work on a variety of application studies has also
been completed with the results typically indicating that
the ULTra system can be installed for one-third to one-half
the cost of light rail – an attractive venture for
any city budget.
As well, the EC, under the “City of Tomorrow” programme
is evaluating the feasibility of installing the ULTra system
in four European cities. First stops on the ULTra map include
Cardiff Wales, Almelo Holland, Huddinge Sweden and Ciampino
Italy. With an investment that is now over 50 man-years and
totaling 15 million Euros, and with 15 partners in seven
countries around Europe, we can only hope the ULTra system
will have its first paying passengers by 2006, and eventually,
will wind its way through more European urban centres.
Hope for the future of PRT in North America also remains
strong, as Bob Brodbeck, Communications Specialist for Taxi
2000 Corp. explains, “If progress continues at its
current pace, a SkyWeb Express system would go into service
in either or both Deluth and Minneapolis in 2007.”
At the end of the Cold War, the United States and Russia
agreed to build a space station and pursue other joint ventures
in space. Perhaps local governments, urban planners and the
public will be as successful with the development of PRT
systems here on earth.
A Seemingly lofty idea, the future could be looking brighter
from atop the elevated track of an ULTra cab.
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