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Personal rapid transit
Public transport mode / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Personal rapid transit (PRT), also referred to as podcars or guided/railed taxis, is a public transport mode featuring a network of specially built guideways on which ride small automated vehicles that carry few (generally less than 6) passengers per vehicle. PRT is a type of automated guideway transit (AGT), a class of system which also includes larger vehicles all the way to small subway systems. In terms of routing, it tends towards personal public transport systems.
![]() | This article needs to be updated. The reason given is: There are many references throughout to what 'will', 'may', or 'should' happen when implemented; there are several PRT systems operational. (February 2024) |
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PRT vehicles are sized for individual or small group travel, typically carrying no more than three to six passengers per vehicle.[1] Guideways are arranged in a network topology, with all stations located on sidings, and with frequent merge/diverge points. This allows for nonstop, point-to-point travel, bypassing all intermediate stations. The point-to-point service has been compared to a taxi or a horizontal lift (elevator).
Numerous PRT systems have been proposed but most have not been implemented. As of November 2016[update], only a handful of PRT systems are operational: Morgantown Personal Rapid Transit (the oldest and most extensive), in Morgantown, West Virginia, has been in continuous operation since 1975. Since 2010 a 10-vehicle 2getthere system has operated at Masdar City, UAE, and since 2011 a 21-vehicle Ultra PRT system has run at London Heathrow Airport. A 40-vehicle Vectus system with in-line stations officially opened in Suncheon,[2] South Korea, in April 2014.[3][4] A PRT system connecting the terminals and parking has been built at the new Chengdu Tianfu International Airport, which opened in 2021.[5][6]