September 2019
From the President
Greetings! Podcar City 2019 is less than a month away. Now is the time to register since early-bird rates are expiring October 7. Remember, ATRA members get a discount and new members get a year's free membership in addition - just say you are a member on registering, its that easy!

If you are attending and are, or plan to be, an ATRA member please join the ATRA table(s) (look for the ATRA banner) at lunch on November 6. Let's get to know each other better and talk about how ATRA could leverage social media better.

This year's conference promises to be very interesting with lots of new faces and well-qualified speakers addressing a wide range of topics. Download the latest conference newsletter here.

As always, enjoy reading!

Best regards,

Peter Muller, ATRA President
Upcoming Events
ATRA membership is an opportunity for you and your organization to contribute to a better world by leveraging advanced transit to improve mobility and accessibility. Membership works best for those that get involved and contribute.
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ATRA News
Delivery Robots can Complement Automated Transit in Reducing Auto Trips
By Robert Johnson

A key benefit of automated transit is its ability to reduce auto Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) and parking requirements. Many of these same benefits can be achieved by using robots operating on sidewalks to deliver small items, thus eliminating person trips to and from stores and restaurants by any mode.

What is PRT?
by J. Edward Anderson

Based on discussions at the September 20, 2019 ATRA Board Meeting about the ASCE Standard’s Committee decision to drop the Brick-Wall-Stop Criterion in favor of requiring the development company to demonstrate safety, I thought I would provide some background that perhaps only one who has been involved with PRT for over 50 years would know.

Other News
Speed Is Killing the Planet. Time to Focus on Efficiency
History may be cyclical, but for centuries it's been an undisputed truth that with time things get faster. Humans have gone from their feet to bicycles, from the steam engine to the jet plane, always looking to boost their miles per hour. But especially since the turn of the millennium, this quest for quickness has hit some speed bumps.

ZF boss does not expect robotaxis before 2030
FRANKFURT -- There is still a "tremendous" amount of engineering work to be done before the first robotaxis appear on public roads, ZF Friedrichshafen CEO Wolf-Henning Scheider said, prompting his company to take a step-by-step approach to autonomous driving.

Opinion: Loren Pahlke: Boulder’s unending growth leads to metrobesity
According to the National Center for Health Statistics, American men have been gaining weight at the compound rate of 0.27% per year during the last two decades. At the current point in this trend, about 38% of us are obese. Over the same interval, the City of Boulder has been gaining residents at a compound rate of 0.7%, a rate of growth two or three times as fast as we men are getting fat. While there is no doubt that American men are getting obese, the Boulder statistic raises the question of whether our city is getting “metrobese.”

Toyota reveals the bizarre autonomous and electric vehicles that will whisk athletes and visitors around for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics
Toyota, in partnership with the Olympic and Paralympic Games, has released its full lineup of electric vehicles that will be used in the Tokyo 2020 games.

Design and Feasibility Analysis of Personal
Rapid Transit Network for an Indian Heritage
City
Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) is a state-of-art amalgamation of automotive, computer,
network and transit technologies which could prove to be very economical if properly
managed. In this study, a PRT network is proposed for the city of Varanasi in India which is
one of the oldest cities in the world. The study area constitutes of narrow streets having mix
traffic with a predominance of pedestrians and slow moving vehicles. The proposed track
connects the primary tourist and heritage spots of Varanasi to various centers of crowd
generation. 


Editor's note: This link was incorrect in last month's edition
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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