The reasoning and analysis is so silly I would question all of the thinking that went into this article:
“The real problem with PRT in dense urban areas is parking. During non-rush hour periods, what do you do with 333k vehicles?”
What a huge face-palm.
This refers to his statement about NY where he naively assumed the most sensible analysis was one that replaced the existing subway completely with PRT.
- Then, magically, every person would go buy a car ( why? )
- All those people would need parking spots at the PRT stations that are within minutes walking distance
- He designed a one-size-fits-all solution instead of recognizing that a combination of several specialized solutions is even possible.
You're not going to replace the ultimate freedom cars give you, nor the huge capacity the subway provides. PRT does something else - it provides a supplemental point-to-point transportation.
Also, the peak demand measurement is flawed because it is based on existing infrastructure. X cars go on a freeway / hour. Y people go on a subway / hour. But you are forced to use the 10 freeway because its the only infrastructure that provides for MANY routes [ santa monica - downtown ], [ culver city - hollywood ] and so on. Considering the "mesh" feature of PRT requires an analysis instead of starting and ending destinations - not the infrastructure those trips used!
“The real problem with PRT in dense urban areas is parking. During non-rush hour periods, what do you do with 333k vehicles?”
What a huge face-palm.
This refers to his statement about NY where he naively assumed the most sensible analysis was one that replaced the existing subway completely with PRT. - Then, magically, every person would go buy a car ( why? ) - All those people would need parking spots at the PRT stations that are within minutes walking distance - He designed a one-size-fits-all solution instead of recognizing that a combination of several specialized solutions is even possible.
You're not going to replace the ultimate freedom cars give you, nor the huge capacity the subway provides. PRT does something else - it provides a supplemental point-to-point transportation.
Also, the peak demand measurement is flawed because it is based on existing infrastructure. X cars go on a freeway / hour. Y people go on a subway / hour. But you are forced to use the 10 freeway because its the only infrastructure that provides for MANY routes [ santa monica - downtown ], [ culver city - hollywood ] and so on. Considering the "mesh" feature of PRT requires an analysis instead of starting and ending destinations - not the infrastructure those trips used!