Personal Rapid Transit (with Special Reference to the Morgantown Project)

Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) is a new member of the transportation family primarily oriented toward short-haul and distributor/circulator operations. It can also be used in a quasi line-haul situation. The system utilizes small vehicles on a separate guideway (on, above, and below ground) to convey individuals from origin to destination without intermediate stops. Vehicles are operated entirely automatically and respond directly to passenger demand without any significant waiting period. They are rubber-tired and electrically powered, and therefore nonpollutant and silent in operation. The system is centrally controlled and supervised.

The PRT project was inaugurated in Morgantown, West Virginia, on Oct. 24, 1972. The installation is a combination line-haul and circulatory system over exceptionally difficult terrain, providing a testing ground for the design and implementation of this new technology.