The Development of Personal Rapid Transit

This paper reviews some of the considerations which led up to the development of the concept of personal rapid transit. It includes a discussion of the possible development of the market and indicates that even with extensive use of conventional rail and bus transit systems, new and innovative systems (such as Personal Rapid Transit) will be required to meet the overall needs of the urban areas. The development requirements of PRT systems, both technically and economically, are discussed and examples are included to illustrate the comparative performance of PRT, bus, and rail systems in a wide corridor and in a large urban area. The institutional problems which will influence the ultimate development of the systems are also reviewed.