Public Transportation and Smart Growth

of PRT.

I hate sprawl as much as you do, but it's the individual nature of PRT that makes it just like an automated highway.

By the way, crossing lines at different levels LOOKS great until you think about the question of transferring from one line to another, because as one who has experienced rail transit systems in many cities, I know that's what people do in real life. Tokyo's subway lines run at different levels underground, but there are pedestrian walkways, escalators, and elevators between them. (The escalators are equipped with motion detectors so that they run only when someone is actually on them.)

You also have more faith in computer systems than I do, and even the best models can't predict every surge in demand.

I'd suggest a serious model of multiple lines overlaid on a real city, handling both rush hour and off-peak traffic and any special events, ensuring the proper supply of pods at each stop whenever needed, accommodating disabled people, and allowing transfers among lines. I've challenged many PRT advocates over the past ten years or so, and no one has come up with a working model yet.

All I've ever seen working models of is single lines or oversimplified animations with little dots moving around but no dealing with the issues.