July 2018
From the President
Greetings! I went to Greenville and Clemson, SC last week to report on an ATN Feasibility study we have been working on. Both communities were very receptive to the findings and interested in moving ahead. A summary can be found here. The completed report will be posted on the ATRA website in a few months, once it has been accepted. A news clip can be seen here.

Prior to Greenville, I attended the American Society of Civil Engineers International Conference on Transportation and Development. Wessel van der Pol of 2getthere gave a presentation titled Connected and Autonomous Vehicles Make Smart Cities Smart Cities. I gave one titled Personal Rapid Transit as an Alternative to Bus Service in Two Communities and another one titled A Light Rail, Group Rapid Transit, Personal Rapid Transit Comparison. These presentations will be posted on the ATRA website.

As always, enjoy reading!

Best regards,
Peter Muller, ATRA President
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ATRA News
History of the Advanced Transit Association (ATRA) Year by Year (16)
by J. Edward Anderson, first ATRA President.

1991 – The Sixteenth Year.

ATRA contributions at the 2018 APM-ATS Conference
My first Automated People-Mover conferences was Las Colinas in 1993. This biannual conference has since been rebranded APM-ATS to clearly also embrace Automated Transit Systems such as PRT. The 2018 conference took place in Tampa Florida this April-May.
 
The Advanced Transit Association contributed in 12 different sessions. ATRA president Peter Muller presented his and my joint paper comparing the business cases of LRT, GRT and PRT. He also made another presentation on airport inter-terminal train replacement.
The Advanced Transit Association contributed in 12 different sessions. ATRA president Peter Muller presented his and my joint paper comparing the business cases of LRT, GRT and PRT. He also made another presentation on airport inter-terminal train replacement.
 
Robbert Lohmann presented progress and plans for 2getthere in Bluewaters Dubai and Rivium Holland and a study on automated vehicles on an airport apron.
 
Former ATRA president Stan Young presented a modelling architecture for Automated Mobility districts and moderated a panel on that theme.
 
My own presentation described the simulation modelling evolution from PRT to aTaxi. I also moderated a session on New and Emerging Technology including a presentation of TransitX PRT.
 
ATRA were represented in four discussion panels including planned updates of the APM standards with the relaxation of the Brick Wall stopping requirement.
 
During the final session I had the pleasure of presenting the Award for outstanding contributions to advanced transit. As you know, the award this time honours Prof. J. Edward Anderson for his pioneering PRT research.
 
In summary, an interesting conference with important ATRA contributions.
 
Ingmar Andreasson
ATRA VP
Other News
Run smaller buses, not pod taxis: Prof Ashish Verma
With Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy’s maiden budget reviving the pod taxi for five stretches in Bengaluru at a cost of Rs 1445 crores,   several eyebrows have been raised in questions  over what makes the government favour it as a possible solution to the city’s traffic nightmare.

Changing the way people get around the Upstate
Green pods could be the new way people in Greenville get around.

Delhi-Gurgaon Metrino | India’s first Pod Taxi on the way
Due to the increasing population of the metropolitan cities, the traffic jam is a co mon sight in big cities. As these big cities have many options to earn, so many people rush towards these cities for possibilities of good jobs. Other than this the cities itself have so many permanent citizens also. And with all these, the human and the vehicular traffic is also increasing. The main cause for all these traffic jams is also that everyone nowadays wants to have their own vehicles and besides that, there are many people who have more than 1 or 2 vehicles of their own and all these leads to add fuel to the fire.

Pod taxi start again, Critics says it’s rikshaw in air
Bangaluru: Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) proposed pod taxi as one of the commuting options for citizens. The BBMP earlier abandoned the project because of the assembly elections for not being in the controversy but now it has started talking about it again.

Phase 3 metro: Hosakerehalli-Marathahalli line dropped
The budget has provided an elaborate plan for the Namma Metro Phase 3 network, including a metro ring along the Outer Ring Road. Studies are under way for six lines, about 95 km in length.

Elevated corridors will be just another bane, say civic experts
BENGALURU: Opposition to the six elevated corridors mooted by chief minister HD Kumaraswamy and the pod-taxi project proposed by Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has intensified, with citizen groups maintaining the two projects will only add more pain to the city.

Emission-Free Last-Mile Connectivity: Why Bengaluru Must Build Safe Cycle Tracks Than Go After Pod Taxis
The Bruhath Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) recently announced that it was looking to scrap a proposed metro line under the third phase of the Namma Metro project and instead replace it with a Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) or pod taxi system. It said that the PRT proposal was a part of its plan to provide the city with “last-mile connectivity without carbon emissions”. While it is good that the corporation is finally looking at last mile connectivity, the approach to it is, unfortunately, wrong.

Discussion analyses pod taxis and elevated corridors in Bengaluru
Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy’s maiden budget has revived the pod taxi at a cost of Rs 1445 crores (five stretches totaling 29.8 kms at an estimated cost of Rs 50 crore per km) and the elevated corridor project at an estimated cost of and Rs 15,825 crores for Bengaluru. However the proposal has come under fire by citizens and experts alike, who termed it unscientific and can’t solve the traffic woes of Bengaluru city.

BBMP floats pod taxi again, critics say it’s rickshaw in air
Public resistance is building up against the pod taxi project, proposed by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) as one of the commuting options for citizens. The BBMP abandoned the project ahead of the Assembly elections to steer clear of any controversy but has now started talking about it again. 

Bengaluru’s Pod Taxi Plan Gains Steam, But At The Cost Of A Metro Line
Bengaluru’s much talked about Pod Taxi project is back in the news again with the Bruhath Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) looking to scrap a Metro line proposed in the third phase of the Namma Metro project in favour of the personal rapid transit (PRT) system reports Deccan Herald.The PRT project has been chosen to provide what BBMP terms is “last-mile connectivity without carbon emission”.

BBMP pushes for pod taxi
The opposition to pod taxi notwithstanding, the BBMP seems to be bent on going ahead with project and has sought the endorsement of the council that met on Thursday. A metro line proposed under Phase 3 has been scrapped to make way for pod taxi infra...

Kaushik led team to tour Europe to study public transport 
Dehradun: A delegation headed by state urban development minister Madan Kaushik will travel to Europe in August to study the pod system at Heathrow Airport in London. 

HeadinShaxian, China agreement to build JPods Solar-powered Mobility Networksg Here
Contract signed on 2018-01-17 to build the world's first solar-powered mobility network by Dec 2018.

Around Atlanta’s airport, study launches to examine possible innovative transit options
The sizable, under-appreciated commercial areas wrapped around the world’s busiest airport have taken a step closer to a planned transformation..

The above links are to articles that appear relevant to advanced transit but no guarantee is made as to their accuracy and no verification of the integrity of the associated websites has been made.

Editorial comments are in italics.
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