Personal rapid transit (PRT) has faced some challenges, says Curtis Johnson, not the least of which is the U.S.'s lack of "moonshot-mojo".
Johnson says that PRT is "appealing and affordable". So why isn't PRT getting built?
Johnson says that early versions have been lacking, and that development can take a long time. But there are also a number of roadblocks on the outside:
"Policy and its feisty cousin, politics, are the biggest barriers (haven't we all noticed?) to doing anything new, not already proven. Transportation policy basically operates to protect existing systems - roads and mass transit. Protectors of both line up with legislators to stand guard at the gate, warding off any threat to the pool of ever-scarcer resources. Understandably, they want to add to what they have and hold on to what they've got."
Read the full story: Waiting for PRT: How About Some Moonshot Mojo?
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax survives legal challenge
A panel of judges found that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate injury as a result of New York City's implementation of the tax.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
Seattle passes record-breaking transit services expansion
Proposition 1 will double the city’s transit tax to add 95,000 more bus trips and preserve 180,000 bus trips annually.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority