How Does Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) Compare to Pubic Transit?

Op-Ed. On relative costs of PRT, auto and public transit (Eric Britton, World Streets, Apr. 29, 2011)

Also discussed here: Evaluating Public Transit Benefits and Costs (123 page pdf, Todd Litman, Victoria Transport Policy Institute, Apr. 15, 2011)

And here: Bubble Motion PRT concept (BM Design, slideshow, April 2011)

And here: Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) network - Cutting Car Use in Daventry (Colin Buchanan)

One of my favourite sources of information about transportation modes and the maestro for the World Streets blog, Erik Britton, borrows some recent facts from another key transportation guru, Todd Litman, to present a list of factors that need to be considered in assessing transit and personal rapid transit with private vehicles.



Key Quotes:

Factors to consider in comparison:

• “Automobiles require a vehicle, road space and parking facilities at every destination
• Motor vehicles only serve the portion of travelers who can afford them and are able to drive or hire a driver
• A large portion of automobile travel consists of chauffeured trips
• Expanding urban roadways often simply shifts the location of traffic congestion
• Automobile travel is very resource intensive, requiring 10-100 times as much land area for roads and parking, and 10-1,000 times as much non-renewable energy, as the same trips made by walking, cycling and public transport
• A typical car is only operated one or two daily hours, compared with 14-18 for a typical bus. A typical car lasts 10-15 years, a typical bus or train 15-40 years”
• PRT systems require passengers to travel in enclosed “pods” with strangers, which creates insecurity problems

“efficiency and equity require that automobile users be charged the full costs for the roads, parking facilities and fuel they consume, while there are good reasons for society to subsidize some public transit costs, and where there are conflicts (such as limited road space), favor public transit over automobile travel, since it is more efficient and equitable”

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