The Ride of the Future (1977)

[Music] the family vacation seeing America by car a symbol of our modern way of life we have become dependent upon the automobile but as great a convenience as it is the automobile has also helped to create some of America's most difficult problems it uses huge quantities of energy it is a contributor to environmental pollution its bulk clogs and congests our cities experts agree that to some of these problems practical Solutions must be found and people are working on answers come take a ride of the future I [Music] but this is not the future this is the 70s and you are riding PRT PRT personal Rapid Transit an alternative in urban Transportation PRT is at work here in its first practical application at morgant toown West Virginia nestled among the picture Hills on the winding manaila River the city was tied up in its own traffic and parking problems the greater morgant toown area with a population of 50,000 had a traffic situation which was critical and typical of large urban areas here is the home of the state's Century Old West Virginia University with its 18,000 students and 6,000 faculty and staff [Music] the university is located on separated campuses about 2 mi apart six of WVU's schools and colleges are located on the downtown campus six other schools and colleges are on the Evansdale campus and nearby the medical center includes four more schools and the teaching Hospital the university is located between the city's Central business district and a fast growing residential area there are only two through streets connecting these areas a few years ago during the morning and evening rush hours and during University class changes people often spent as much as an hour in traffic in its own right morgantown's problem was as frustrating as the traffic jams that strangle America's large metropolitan areas parking was a problem [Music] too each day there are 12,000 students and faculty trips between campuses five Peak traffic periods WBU tried to solve this problem by operating an extensive bus system the bus buses helped move people but they also added to the traffic congestion one solution to this Urban problem is PRT personal Rapid Transit Engineers throughout the world have been working to make Urban Rapid Transit more convenient and therefore more popular but to date experiments have been mainly with mass transit buses Subways and trains in the in the mid 1960s an Industrial Engineer and transportation computer specialist at WVU saw the morgant town area as a place to test a personal transportation system that man was Dr Samy Elias the PRT is called personal because the cars are small where a single passenger could ride alone non-stop to the destination he selected systems sometimes described as a horizontal elevator there are no drivers it is totally controlled and monitored electronically the PRT is highly adaptable to the different terrain weather conditions and the volume demands about the time WVU became involved in the subject the United States Department of Transportation initiated research development and demonstrations in new transit systems the urban mass Transportation Administration became interested in Morgantown as a test site and funded the PRT project the Boeing Aerospace company of Seattle Washington was named the system manager responsible for design and construction of the entire project the guideways the cars the control systems Arthur hitzman Boeing's Morgantown program manager the Morgantown project is the first Dem demonstration project sponsored by the urban mass Transportation Administration its purpose is to evaluate the technological operational and economic feasibility of the of a personal rapid transit system in a real world Urban environment we at Boeing expect that these systems will be utilized throughout the country in areas which have severe concentration of people and pollution problems and will provide an alternate to the use of the automobile in these situations development of the guideways and stations followed traditional methods of construction [Music] various footer designs were used to adapt to different physical requirements of the guideway and its location piping for a heating system was installed during cold weather a hot solution is pumped through these pipes to prevent rain or snow from freezing on the guideway [Music] the steering rails are custom made to match the steering arms of each vehicle another distinctive aspect of the PRT construction is a series of groov likee slots which were cut into the guideway they contain the PRT control wire these cables will provide Constant Contact between each of the vehicles and the controlling computer the loops are embedded and sealed in the [Music] slots these trays will shield the electrical wiring like many other components of the system they are several times larger than the size presently needed this will permit future expansion this power rail will house the muscles of the system electricity and conduits along the side of the guideway will carry the system's high voltage power which will operate the vehicles meanwhile the PRT stations began to take shape their configuration falls into two types this station has a traffic flow through design and this type has an endof thee line guideway pattern and platform location the stations and guideways were designed by Frederick R Harris of Stanford Connecticut years before the development of the Morgantown PRT research was underway at the Olden self Transit Systems Corporation at Bedford Massachusetts it was the alen star car concept which Dr Elias and his team found to be the most attractive during early feasibility studies alen a subcontractor developed the steering power collection and other vehicle features of the PRT William Alden president of alen Corporation the PRT cabin was also fabricated here we used one piece molded fiberglass construction such as used with boats and cars there's large Windows to afford visibility for the passengers in the cabin another important contribution that Alden made to the morgant town system was the steering and switching mechanisms in each vehicle uh the PRT vehicles are Guided by Wheels extending from the sides of the vehicle to the guideway walls this onboard steering is unique in that it does not require movement of the guideway itself as trains do permitting much closer safe spacing between cars World attention was quickly focused on the Morgan Town PRT project and West Virginia University and West Virginia breakr today at West Virginia University for the nation's first automated rapid transit [Applause] system the PRT system has more than 45 Vehicles operating at speeds up to 30 m hour on 5.4 single Lane miles of guideway this station in the heart of Morgantown is the best example of the ability of PRT to adapt to an urban environment the guy way laces around existing structures with a minimum use of ground space it is supported from relatively small Kon bases the guideway splits as it approaches the station and has four loading positions on each side of the [Music] building one of the important characteristics of PRT is its potential for expansion additional Spurs can e easily be added so PRT can Branch out to other areas of the community access to the PRT system is by use of a coded pass card which provides unlimited use for the holder occasional Riders may use single magnetic cards [Music] the busiest terminal on the downtown campus shows the distinctive offline nature of PRT stations by going under the station a car May bypass this station without slowing down or a car can enter the station to pick up or discharge passengers and then continue in its original direction or it may Loop through the station and completely reverse its [Music] direction perhaps the most unique aspect of the PRT system is its Total Computer control of each car movement speed and spacing each station has a computer which monitors and determines all of the vehicle flow in and out of that [Music] station incoming cars are guided to Precision stops at a vacant Bay on the station platform and the doors are opened by the computer to permit passengers to exit and enter [Music] each station is linked to the Central Computer where operators are on duty Around the Clock they have visual displays which give them instant monitoring of the entire PRT [Music] system PRT is termed fail safe if a problem should occur anywhere the computer will automatically bring the total system to a safe operating condition then by a series of monitoring devices the control room operator is informed of the problem and the computer will print out corrective instructions each PRT vehicle is a complex machine with its steering braking control and other subsystems the power arms extend and retract as required to meet the configuration of the guideway [Music] servicing of the vehicles is performed by trained technicians in this fully equipped maintenance area also here is a test facility complete with its own computer and a storage yard cars not in use are rooted here by the Central Computer to be parked during non- Peak periods effective maintenance is one of the most important aspects of an automated transit system here in this PRT facility each car received the attention required to assure smooth running and reliable system but most important the PRT design combines the element of public transportation and the convenience of the personal Transit the personal Rapid Transit concept has proved itself here in Morgantown and PRT May well become the Forerunner of similar projects around the world West Virginia University is becoming a transportation Research Center attracting experts in the field from all over the world this system has become a transportation laboratory where Innovations can be tested in a controlled environment personal Rapid Transit is one part of the answer to the distressing snars of traffic which choke so many of our communities and seriously impair the lifestyle quality of civilization personal Rapid Transit a ride of the future [Music] all [Music]