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NICHES+ Champion City Daventry Implementing Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) NICHES+ is a Coordination Action funded by the European Commission under the Seventh Framework Programme for R&D, Sustainable Surface Transport Automated and Space Efficient Vehicles

Implementing Personal Rapid Transit (PRT)...Implementing Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) NICHES+ is a Coordination Action funded by the European Commission under the Seventh Framework

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Page 1: Implementing Personal Rapid Transit (PRT)...Implementing Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) NICHES+ is a Coordination Action funded by the European Commission under the Seventh Framework

NICHES+ Champion City Daventry

Implementing Personal Rapid Transit (PRT)

NICHES+ is a Coordination Action funded by the European Commission under the Seventh Framework Programme for R&D, Sustainable Surface Transport

Automated and Space Efficient Vehicles

Page 2: Implementing Personal Rapid Transit (PRT)...Implementing Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) NICHES+ is a Coordination Action funded by the European Commission under the Seventh Framework

1

The Region and NICHES+

The projectNICHES+ is a FP7 co-ordinationaction aiming to network key actorsactively engaged in developinginnovative urban transportconcepts and to facilitate the co-ordination of their activities acrossEurope. The project duration is from2008-2011.

Daventry is a Champion City within theproject that aims to implement a systemof Personal Rapid Transit (PRT). Thisdocument summarises animplementation scenario that givesadvice on how to realise the givenconcept in the specific context of thecity. This also provides an example toother cities interested in the uptake ofthe measure.

DaventryPhoto: Daventry District Council

The CityDaventry is a market town situated in arural ie green environment, although itlies in the midlands area of the UKwhere car manufacturing in nearbytowns and cities such as Longbridge,Birmingham and Coventry, hastraditionally been a major industry.

The town of Daventry is expected togrow from 23,000 to 40,000 by 2021.The District Council are looking for anew sustainable public transportationsystem to facilitate this expansion andto provide improved connections to thelocal main line trains and motorways.

The innovative concept

Significant new roads building will not bepossible so the new system will need toprovide flexible transport between theexisting and new residential, business,retail and leisure areas and at the sametime help reduce the need to travel,especially by car; support thedevelopment of sustainablecommunities; reduce social exclusionand improve intermodality.

Daventry has investigated the use ofPersonal Rapid Transit (PRT) as themeans of public transport to meet theserequirements. PRT is clean, green,quiet, and potentially sustainable, and inparticular, appears to have highpotential for attracting car users and soreducing private car usage.

Photo montage of PRT in Sodertalje,SwedenCourtesy: WSP Sweden

Travel Training in SalzburgPhoto: StadtBus Salzburg

Page 3: Implementing Personal Rapid Transit (PRT)...Implementing Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) NICHES+ is a Coordination Action funded by the European Commission under the Seventh Framework

2

The Challenge

The Milton Keynes and South MidlandsStudy undertaken for the Department ofCommunities and Local Governmentdesignated Daventry as an area forfuture development; this wassupported by Daventry District council(DDC) in 2003.

However, mobility in the City is heavilyfocused on the use of the private car(59% modal share). Public transport isonly used for 2% of all trips. Currentlythe public transport services are basedalmost exclusively on a bus network. Butthe size of the City and the passengernumbers are too small to allow aneconomic service with a sufficiently highfrequency to be attractive to users.

Benefits of PRT

Highly efficient “on-demand”operation

Low operating costs as drivers arenot required

Personal public transport Pollution reduction as vehicles are

automated, electric and quiet Direct origin to destination stop

services, ie no intermediate stops Simple, accessible services similar

to a lift Very short waiting time Congestion-free transport due to

operating on a segregated guideway

The Challenge and the Vision

The Vision

The vision for Daventry was set out inthe Master Plan (2006) produced forDDC by Marchini Curran Associates.This provides a plan for thedevelopment required to accommodatethe proposed growth in population andassociated business, retail and leisureactivities by 2021.

The plan stated that there was atransport opportunity and PRT wassuggested as an option. This was thebrainchild of a spatial town planner. Itwas not based on any formal analysis ofPRT, but appeared well suited to servethe requirements for mobility. Thepossibilities have been further exploredby DDC.

In addition to the Master Plan, Daventryhas completed two feasibility studies:one (DDTS, 2007) to confirm that PRToffers a viable solution; and a second(DPRTSS, 2008) to confirm that it offersthe preferred solution (compared with abus based alternative), and to specifyand evaluate a proposed pilot scheme.The results show the pilot scheme ispotentially economically viable andperforms better than a high quality busoption.

The PRT test track in Uppsala,Photo: courtesy of Vectus Ltd

Personal Rapid Transit (PRT)

a state-of-the-art form of publictransport (PT) using small automated(driverless) electric ‘podcars’ to: provide a taxi-like service for

individuals or small groups oftravellers

provide demand responsive feederand shuttle services

The podcars run on a segregatedguideway to ensure unhindered directtrips between origin and destination.They provide clean, safe, efficient andsustainable transportation. With highvehicle speeds and very smallheadways, PRT provides fast,individual, on-demand and point-to-pointPT with very short waiting times.

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The Good Examples

There are not many examples ofoperational PRT systems yet. Thetechnology is very new. However, thereare two systems that have beeninfluential in developing Daventry’sthinking and ideas, these are theParkshuttle at Rivium and the PRT atHeathrow Airport.

The Parkshuttle at Rivium,Rotterdam/Capelle aan den Ijssel, theNetherlands

ParkShuttle is an automated system ofdriverless electric mini-busesconnecting the Kralingse Zoom metrostation and car park with the Riviumbusiness park about 2km away. Thesystem was built by the ‘2getthere’company and is operated by theNetherlands PT operating companyConnexxion. The system was fullyoperational in early 2006. It uses sixbuses, each with seats for 12 and amaximum capacity (including standingpassengers) for 24.

The vehicles are electric and provideclean, green, efficient andsustainable public transport with lowwaiting times (1.5 to 3 minutes onaverage).

This system is not strictly a PRT. It is aGRT (Group Rapid Transit) which muststop to pick up and set downpassengers on route. It does not offerthe higher speed and direct todestination trips provided by PRT, but itdoes demonstrate the automatedvehicle technology working and theuser’s acceptance of the system.

The Parkshuttle at RiviumPhoto: 2getthere

Start up costs of the Parkshuttle arereckoned to be more expensive than fora conventional bus scheme, but theoperating costs are less.

Contact: Robbert Lohmann, 2getthere,email: [email protected]

PRT at London’s HeathrowAirport

The pilot PRT scheme at HeathrowAirport (UK) which is scheduled to openin the spring of 2011, is the firstimplementation of a real PRT system inthe world. It provides transport fortravellers between the business car parkand the new Terminal 5, about 2 kmaway.21 automatic electric podcars, eachwith room for 4 persons and theirluggage, transport users along asegregated guideway at up to 40kph.The trip takes about 5 mins, the podcarsoperate on-demand, but are usuallywaiting so that waiting times are zero for70% of users and very low for theothers.The capital cost is estimated to be abouthalf that of an equivalent tram schemeand with the potential to provide asimilar passenger carrying capacity.If the pilot is successful, it is planned toextend it eventually, to interconnect allthe car parks and terminals with the bus,rail and metro stations, car rentals andhotels on the airport site.

Contact: David Holdcroft, Heathrow,email: [email protected]

“PRT is a potential form of PublicTransport that could offer a travelexperience sufficiently close to using aprivate car (eg personal space, on-demand) that it should be able tocompete directly in a wide range ofimplementations.”

Richard Caple, PRT Project Manager,Daventry District Council, UK

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4

The Users and Implementers

The user needs

There are essentially two classes ofusers for PRT systems: the end usersi.e. passengers, and the buyers of thesystems.

Passengers include all classes oftravellers on trips for all purposes e.g.:

Leisure

Commuting

Business

People with individual requirements,such as:

o Mothers with pushchairs

o Travellers with heavyluggage

o Wheelchair users and otherphysically disabled travellers

o Visually impaired travellers

Their main expectations and needsinclude accessibility, information, easeof use, comfort, low cost, high reliability,safety and security.

Buyers: as the system buyer DDC mustrecognise the needs of passengers, andfor this purpose has established a PublicAdvisory Panel as a means to informand learn the opinions of the localcommunity. DDC also have additionalconcerns relating to factors such asoperations, maintenance, costs andfinancial viability.

The key stakeholders forimplementation

DDC propose to procure a PRT systemthrough a Private Finance initiative(PFI) or other form of public-privatepartnership. The main actors will be:

DDC as the scheme promotertogether with NorthamptonshireCounty Council (NCC) who are theRegional Transport Authority withresponsibility for planning andowners of the infrastructure on whichthe scheme will run.

A PT operating company, to bedetermined by tender, as theoperator of the PRT system.

A Technology supplier and systemintegrator, also to be determined bytender, who will provide the podcars,the control centre andcommunications systems.

An Infrastructure supplier andcontractor, also to be determined bytender, to implement the necessarycivil engineering facilities, includingthe guideway and stops, andbuildings for the control centre anddepot.

Managing consultant, also to bedetermined by tender, to act asproject manager to oversee theoverall implementation and ensureco-ordination between thetechnology and infrastructuresuppliers.

National government forcertification and funding support.

Other Funding partners eg banks,and the developers of the sitesserved by the PRT scheme.

Other groups that will need to beconsulted will include:

Neighbouring local and regionalauthorities

Emergency services Local community Passenger interest groups Special needs groups Media

Several models for PFIs are possible,such as the DBFO (Design, Build,Finance, and Operate). They involveestablishing a formal legal ‘consortium’agreement between the public andprivate sector partners involved to clarifytheir respective roles, responsibilitiesand liabilities.

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The Transferability Potential

The transferability to Daventry

The example case of the PRT schemeat Heathrow has been the keyreference for the transferability analysisthat has supported the development of atailored approach for Daventry.

Supportive factors are:

Cost benefits, studies show thatunlike most public transportsystems, PRT systems should covertheir costs.

System efficiency, the system ison-demand so vehicles are onlyused when there is a demand,waiting times are low, and vehiclesgo direct to the destination withoutstopping.

System attractiveness, the highquality on-demand personal serviceis expected to be highly attractive tousers and to have a substantialeffect on modal split.

High degree of compatibility withprevailing transport policies andstrategies, including pollutionreduction, increased use of publictransport, accessibility, sustainabilityand land use.

Major constraints are:

Funding, start-up costs aresignificantly higher than for anequivalent bus (though not for atram) scheme, even thoughoperational and whole life costs areexpected to be significantly lower.

Legal and contractualrequirements, where nationalgovernment is the ultimate authorityfor the necessary safety certificationof a scheme.

Organisational and institutionalaspects, where national andregional government need to beinvolved to establish the planningand procedures required to obtainnecessary approvals.

Technical requirements, mainly interms of the infrastructure required,which must be segregated (wherethe guideway is elevated, there arepossible problems of visual intrusion,where the guideway is at groundlevel, there are possible problems ofseverance).

Awareness and communications,because the system is so radicallydifferent from existing services that itwill require greater effort to educateand familiarise potentialusers/stakeholders.

Also worth mentioning are:

Stakeholders, because of the effortrequired to involve the users andbusinesses likely to be affected byimplementation from the outset, andget them on-side; and, if necessaryfor funding, to involve nationalgovernment as a partner.

Human resource issues, in termsof the skills and training required forthe operators of the system.

Technology risk and safety andsecurity, even though it isrecognised that these aresatisfactorily dealt with in existingautomated systems such as Metrosin cities and Transits at airports.

It can be concluded that transferringPRT into Daventry will be difficult.Nevertheless, the benefits are verypersuasive and the numerousproblems have been overcome inexamples such as Morgantown (USA)and Rivium (NL), and are beingovercome currently at Heathrow (UK), inRome (I), in Masdar (UAE), and in oneof Uppsala or Stockholm (S), to bedecided imminently. The FP7 CityMobilproject (www.citymobil-project.eu) ishelping to show the way, and NICHES+is helping to promote the concept locally.

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6

The Implementable Measure

The measure justification

The main justification for implementing aPRT scheme in Daventry has beenshown from the feasibility studycommissioned from Colin Buchanan Ltd(DDTS 2007) which showed aBenefit/Cost Ratio (BCR) in the range5.3 – 7.6 for a city wide system, and thedetailed study for a pilot scheme (firstcity phase) commissioned from SinclairKnight Mertz (DPSS 2008) whichshowed a BCR in the range 1.84 – 2.74.The BCR figure for the pilot has beenseparately confirmed at about 2.12using the Business Case Tool producedby the CityMobil project (CityMobil 2008)which also included a multi-criteriaanalysis showing that PRT wassubstantially preferred over analternative High Quality Bus scheme.

The implementable measure

An outline specification produced forDDC by Sinclair Knight Mertz, sets outthe route and high level requirements ofa pilot scheme of PRT for Daventry. Thegeneral requirement is for the design ofall elements of the PRT system toconform to relevant standards for safety.The specification covers:

Access Requirements including: stations to conform with

requirements of the DisabilityDiscrimination Act 1995

requirements for lighting, publicannouncement system, informationdisplays and means ofcommunicating with control

means of requesting vehicles means of fare collection

Quality of Service including: maximum and average waiting times station capacity passenger and luggage capacity of

podcars vehicle headways the passenger carrying capacity of

the system

requirements for wheelchair access ride quality journey times system availability operations

Safety procedures in the event of problems walkways and amenity areas lighting

for night use requirements for fire protection requirements for collision protection secure two way voice

communication between control andall podcars

the guideway designed to minimisethe risk of damage from road vehiclecollisions

CCTV for supervision of all stationplatforms and cars

Guideway, including designrequirements to: support and contain vehicles and

cope with weather conditions provide support for and escape of

passengers in stranded podcars provide a means of safe access for

maintenance staff incorporate suitably insulated and

protected traction power and othersupplies

provide alternative routeing in theevent of a failure or blockage at anypoint

The report concludes:

The PRT pilot scheme performs well atthis stage, confirms the range ofpotential benefits indicated in phase 1(of the study) and is preferred to theHigh Quality Bus option. Daventry DCshould develop the implementationstrategy.

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7

The Implementable Measure

The implementation strategy

It is expected that DDC supported byNCC as the regional highway authorityand a key stakeholder, will be the mainplayers in the PFI procurementprocess to select the successful tender.They will then transfer responsibility tothe successful tenderer which isexpected to be a Special PurposeVehicle (SPV) or similar company thatwill oversee the project and finances,and will sub-contract the variousdifferent aspect of the work eg for thedesign, build, operate andcommunications work.

The programme of activities andtimeline to implementation are:Determine procurement modeland performance spec.

2011

Procurement 2011 –2012

Establish SPV 2012

Prepare full business caseand detailed design

2012 -2013

Prepare and submit a fullgrant application

2013 –2014

Prepare TWA (transport andworks act) Order application

2015

Construction of infrastructure 2015 –2017

Procurement of vehicles 2015 –2016

Staffing and training 2016 -2017

Acceptance testing 2017

Operations 2017on

The capital costs are estimated to be£28.5M (EUR 33.9M) made up from£22M (EUR 26.1M) for infrastructureand £2.5M (EUR 3M) for vehicles.

The operating costs are estimated at£1.2M (EUR 1.4M) per year plus about1.5 persons full time equivalent fromDDC to monitor scheme operations andcommunications on behalf of thecommunity.

The long-term perspective

Unfortunately the proposed pilot schemecannot be self-funding. It is a necessaryfirst phase to test the technology anduser acceptance, but is almost certainlytoo limited in scope to attract sufficientpassengers and revenue to pay its way.The evidence suggests it should do sowhen it is extended to cover a propernetwork, but initially some pumppriming money will be required to get apilot operational.

It is therefore hoped that some fundingto support a pilot will be found fromcommunity eg national or Europeanfunds. PRT is a new technology. It isclean and green, and looks to offer realpotential for paying its way and realisinga significant mode shift away fromprivate cars. It is therefore potentiallysustainable in both economic andenvironmental terms. At the same timeit will offer new opportunities fordeveloping local skills and industriesthat should in turn lead to new jobs andwealth creation.

Monitoring and evaluation should bebuilt into all activities to ensure that themeasures are on track. This can includesimple tools as surveys with thetrainees.

Daventry: the proposed route of the pilotscheme would use a section of oldrailway line, now a public foot and cyclepath, to connect a residential area withthe town centre.Photo: Daventry District Council

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8

Photo montage of PRT in the setting of anew developmentCourtesy BAA

The Lessons Learnt

PRT is an exciting new technologywhich appears to have very realpotential to provide future publictransport systems that are botheconomically and environmentallysustainable.

Studies suggest that in a comprehensivenetwork, PRT should be very nearly asattractive to use as the private car forlocal journeys. As a result PRT canexpect to attract high levels ofpatronage which should in turn producerevenues that are more than sufficient tocover their capital and operating costs.

In addition they are easy to use, like alift, and consequently easily accessibleto all classes of users including theyoung, the elderly and the disabled.

The main worries appear to centre ontechnology risk and user acceptance.Both have been effectively allayed inexisting systems, including automatedmetro systems which are nowcommonplace in many large cities, andin the more closely related Parkshuttleand Heathrow example systems.

Nevertheless, problems remain andprivate funding will continue to be hardto find until a pilot scheme is available toprove the facts. At the same this pilotwill need to address the difficultprocedures needed to get planningapprovals and safety certification.

Check list

City size Best suited to smaller cities wheretrams and metros are uneconomic.Also useful for widening catchmentareas e.g. for stations etc. andserving new &/or dispersed sites.

Keyconditionsforimplement-tation

Dedicated will and motivated team toimprove accessibility and providesustainable transport for the future.

Kick-off funding to get a schemestarted and long-term commitment tokeep it running.

Resources Less than for a tram and less thanthe full life costs for an equivalent busscheme using drivers. Capital costsare needed to procure the podcars;provide the control system/centre anda depot for vehicle maintenance andcharging; and also to provide andequip the guideway, stations andsecurity measures.

Implemen-tation time

Medium term, 5 years or more maybe needed to plan and implement ascheme in a city environment.

Stake-holdersinvolved

Operating company, local authority asthe infrastructure owner, nationalgovernment for safety certification.Local community and users.

Undesirablesecondaryeffects

Possible visual intrusion caused byelevated sections of guideway, and ofseverance caused by sections at-grade.

Postscript

Following a conference to present theNICHES+ findings and identify futureactions, the way forward could be via aGRT system as a first step. It would becheaper to implement initially and at thesame time provide a means forinvestigating the options and proceduresfor both types of systems. It would alsosubstantially avoid the visual intrusionand severance issues identified as aproblem by the local community.

Check list

The following check-list summarises keyaspects for implementing PRT andintends to give the reader advice onwhether the concept is suitable for theirown context.

Page 10: Implementing Personal Rapid Transit (PRT)...Implementing Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) NICHES+ is a Coordination Action funded by the European Commission under the Seventh Framework

NICHES+ is a Coordination Action funded by the European Commission under the Seventh Framework Programme for R&D, Sustainable Surface Transport

This document has been prepared by the authors in the framework of a project funded by the European Commission,

DG Research. It does however not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission.

For further details on how to implement Personal and Group Rapid Transit (PRT and GRT) schemes please see the NICHES+ Guidelines for implementers (available from www.niches-transport.org).

The more detailed full version of the Implementation Scenario for PRT in Daventry is also available on the NICHES+ website.

Photo on title pagePRT at Heathrow airport, courtesy BAA, and Daventry High Street, courtesy Daventry District Council

Prepared for the European Commission by : David Jeffery, University of Southampton, Transport Research Group ([email protected]),February 2011

Co-author and contact in the Champion CityRichard Caple, Daventry District [email protected]

NICHES+ team POLIS (coordinator, Ivo Cré: [email protected]), Rupprecht Consult, Newcastle University, University of Southampton, EUROCITIES, Transman

Further information on NICHES+ www.niches-transport.org www.osmose-os.org

GUIDELINES F

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Person

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NICHES+ is a

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by the E

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Prog

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GUIDELINES FOR IMPLEMENTERS OFGroup Rapid Transit (GRT)

Automated and Space Ef cient Vehicles

NICHES+ is a Coordination Action funded

by the European Commission under the

Seventh Framework Programme for R&D,

Sustainable Surface Transport

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