Blogs

Morgantown, WV is the site of the first operational Personal Rapid Transit system in the world, and it continues to operate effectively after 35 years of service. ATRA is sponsoring a tour of the Morgantown PRTi on Friday, March 23, 2012, immediately following the MALV conference. Anyone with an interest is welcome to attend. The tour will include an overview of the system, tours of the stations and maintenance facility and a discussion with the Morgantown transportation director on the current and future plans for the system. ATRA is planning for 10 to 20 attendees.

On November 12, 2009 about 200 people met at the Brown Chapel of Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego to discuss the future of transit in the area. The event was organized by the Design Innovation Institute and sponsored by the Center for Urban Infrastructure (www.c-u-i.org), Qualcomm (one of the largest employers in the area), the San Diego Association of Governments (www.sandag.org), Advanced Transit Systems, LTD (www.atsltd.co.uk), and others.

As a result of some discussion at the Pod Car Conference in San Jose, I assembled the attached. The second page is from the January 21, 1972 issue of the New York Times, which lists PRTⁱ first. The third page shows where the StarTrib was in 1984. The fourth page is I think a real gem.

Best regards,
Ed

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J. Edward Anderson
PRT International, LLC
jeanderson@prtinternational.com
www.prtinternational.com
www.prtnz.com

I have a confession to make. I am not a transportation professional, although I assume the role of one in this organization. Please do not underestimate what I know about transportation systems after many years of observing and studying transportation "in the large".

I returned from the conference late last Wednesday, missing the Azalea Celebration at Lake Wilderness Arboretum as a result. It is the volunteer's dilemma, trying to decide where my energies are best expended and where I will be having the most fun. It is not like most volunteer organizations are truly fun.