Randal O'Toole offers his perspective on why Personal Rapid Transit will never happen -- and how it will happenif it does.
"PRT is a dream of combining the convenience of the automobile with the mass production of transit. Four-passenger cars would run on fixed guideways elevated above the ground that would blanket an urban area on a grid. You go to a station that is no more than a couple of blocks from your home, get on the next empty car, punch in your destination, and the computer-controlled car will whisk you there at 70 miles per hour... We already have a personal-rapid transit system. It is called the automobile. The cost of building a parallel system will be huge, and until that system covers an entire urban area, few people will use it."
Thanks to Chris Steins
FULL STORY: Why Personal Rapid Transit Will Never Happen and How It Will Happen
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
San Francisco's School District Spent $105M To Build Affordable Housing for Teachers — And That's Just the Beginning
SFUSD joins a growing list of school districts using their land holdings to address housing affordability challenges faced by their own employees.
Can We Please Give Communities the Design They Deserve?
Often an afterthought, graphic design impacts everything from how we navigate a city to how we feel about it. One designer argues: the people deserve better.
The EV “Charging Divide” Plaguing Rural America
With “the deck stacked” against rural areas, will the great electric American road trip ever be a reality?
Judge Halts Brooklyn Bike Lane Removal
Lawyers must prove the city was not acting “arbitrarily, capriciously, and illegally” in ordering the hasty removal.
Engineers Gave America's Roads an Almost Failing Grade — Why Aren't We Fixing Them?
With over a trillion dollars spent on roads that are still falling apart, advocates propose a new “fix it first” framework.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Borough of Carlisle
Smith Gee Studio
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
Municipality of Princeton (NJ)