Automated Guideway Transit Systems Warrant Careful Study
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REPORT OF THE PANEL ON CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE UNITED STATES Prepared for the Office of Technology Assessment PANEL MEMBERS Clark Henderson, Chairman John K. Howell John R. Jamieson Thomas A. Lancaster Roy LobOScO CONTENTS Page introduction ------ _ -------------- _ --------- _ -------------------- -- 115 Chapter: 1. Ft’hy 14GT?- ---------------- ---- ------------------ --------- 117 2. If’hat arc the A~,T System Types?-- -------------- ------------ 123 ~. It-ho Owns AGT Systems? ------------ --------------------- -- 129 4. \\”ho I\’ants ACT?- ----------------- ---- ------------------ -- 151 5. if-ho Supplies ACT?- ---------------- ---------------------- - 163 ~. Summary and}’icw-s of I{cspondents ---------- ---------------- 181 Appendix: Biographies of Panel hlcmbcrs---- -------------------- ----- 195 (113) Introduction The Panel on Current Developments in the United States was asked to examine the background and current status of automatic guideway transit in the United States. Attention was devoted to each of the following questions: . Why AGT? How do the advocates of AGT argue their case? . What are the AGT system types? How do personal rapid transit, group rapid transit, and shuttle-loop transit differ from one another? . Who owns AGT systems? What systems are in service and in construction? . Who wants AGT? What agencies have studied possible applications? What do they have in mind? . Who supplies AGT? What are the problems of suppliers? . What have Federal agencies done? ● What are the obstacles to progress? What actions would encourage early, effective and general exploitation of AGT? The panel includes five individuals with extensive experience in the field of urban public transportation. Brief biographies of the panel members are included in Appendix A. The panel members have performed this work for OTA within a period of three months while attending to their regular jobs. Only one meeting of the entire panel was held—in Washington, D.C. on February 18 and 19, 1975. Four panel members attended a meeting with UMTA officials on February 14. Some six or eight additional meetings were held when two members of the panel could et together. Many sources of data have been used by the panel. Formal docu- mentation of the field is not yet well established. Much of the data contained in the report was gathered by correspondence, telephone interviews, and conferences with specialists and leaders in the field. Although some information expresses the considered positions of these specialists and their firms the panel has attempted to compile and report on as factual a basis as possible. The panel has had valuable assistance from many individuals, firms, and agencies. The assistance of the following individuals was especially valuable: Dennis Elliott, Dallas-Fort Worth Airport. Phillip E. Gillespie, Westinghouse Electric Co. James G. Harlow, West Virginia University. Charles Hickox, LTV Aerospace Corporation. Arthur E. Hitsman, Boeing Aerospace Co. Eino Latvalla and Richard Donlon, Otis—Transportation Technology Division. Hendrik Pater, Universal Mobility Inc. Farrel L. Schell, Kaiser Engineers. A. J. Sobey, General Motors. Russell Thielman, Ford Motor Company. W. J. Holt, Rohr Industries, Inc. (115) Chapter 1: Why AGT? N EED FOR M OBILITY People congregate in cities to obtain access to opportunities for housing, jobs, education, recreation, purchase of goods and services, medical care and so on. Mobility is the principal means of gaining ac- cess to such opportunities. The means for achieving mobility are far from ideal, and consequently there are strong incentives to improve transportation services. A review of the characteristics of existing modes reveals limitations and deficiencies that cannot be easily re- moved. Therefore the promises of improvements made by advocates of entirely new automated guideway transit systems warrant careful study. W ALKING Walking is the most nearly universal means of achieving mobility and is used to some extent by all but the severely handicapped. Meas- ures are being taken in some communities to increase the effective- ness and the usage of walking as a mode of urban travel. Among these are land use patterns that promote closer spatial rouping of urban structures; better walking surfaces and shelters; eY imination of bar- riers; installation of mechanical aids such as elevators, escalators and conveyors; and the elimination of competition between pedestrians and vehicular traffic. Howeve~, even if all possible encouragement and assistance is given to pedestrian travel, most urban residents will re- main heavily dependent upon vehicles and other mechanical aids. P RIVATE V EHICLES Automobiles, motorcycles, and bicycles provide the greater part of urban transportation and will continue to do so for a long time. How- ever, the automobile is too costly for the poor and is not directly usable by many, including the more affluent, who are unable to drive because of youth, old age, physical limitations and lack of skill. Even those who own and operate automobiles are being pressed by circumstances to re-evaluate their customary practice and to con- sider alternatives. The main forces at work are all too familiar: ● Environmental programs. ● Energy shortage. ● Traffic safety. ● Congestion. c Resistance to urban sprawl. Desire for transportation efficiency. Today urban sprawl and the lack of public transit forces many families to own and operate two or more automobiles at considerable expense. Future growth in urban population and in affluence will ag- gravate present auto-related problems and will accentuate the need for alternatives. (117) 118 Bicycles are extensively used, especially by the young, and their use should be encouraged. However, like walking, bicycling will not be used enough to make everyone mobile. Motorcycles are probably a negligible factor although they offer advantages over the automobile in most respects other than safety and comfort. C ONVENTIONAL U RBAN P UBLIC T RANSPORTATION The conventional public transportation modes now serving urban America are: ● Transit: Scheduled Buses. Rail Rapid Transit—Subways. Street Cars—Light Rail Vehicles. Trolley Coaches—Electric Buses. ● Commuter Rail Trains. School Buses. ● Taxis. These systems provided about 12.5 billion rides in 1971 for outlays totaling about $5 billion. These outlays were about 5 percent as great as the amount spent on the private automobile in the same year. Transit in typical urban areas provides 3–10 percent of all trips, 15–30 per- cent of all peak-hour tmps and 30–50 percent of peak-hour trips to the central area. The programs of UMTA and earlier agencies have focused on the four transit modes and commuter rail. These programs began mod- estly in the early 1960’s and have increased greatly both in scope and in funding levels. Yet a decade of federal support passed before the decline of transit patronage was stopped and regrowth has been small. The characteristics of the two principal conventional modes of transit are ill-suited for universal application in all urban situations. Rail systems are capital-intensive and are difficult to justify except where their high capacities can be utilized. Buses are labor intensive and, in most cases, slow. Frequent service is usually provided only on heavily traveled routes and only during peak hours of travel. Rail and bus systems appear incapable of providing service of good quality throughout metropolitan areas at all times of day and at acceptable costs. Even 100 percent or 200 percent increases in outlays for rail and bus service would leave most of the problem of urban mobility unsolved. The level of public expenditure necessary to extend rail and bus service to all urban areas and to raise the quality of transit services to the level enjo~-ed by auto travelers would almost certainly be un- acceptable. Therefore, compelling reasons exist for a search for new modes of transportation that will be more effective and less costly. Both public and private agencies are making innovative uses of conventional vehicles in providing para-transit services. Among these are: Dial-a-Bus. Shared ride taxis. Employer or developer supplied van pools. Subscription bus pools. Matching schemes for car pools. 119 These systems undoubtedly provide valuable services and may en- joy considerable growth. However, some are costly and others are mainly suitable for work trips to major employers. They offer aid but are not full solutions. A DVANCED S YSTEMS Since the early 1960’s there has been growing interest in the pos- sibility that advanced urban public transportation systems can be explolted to overcome existing deficiencies and to satisfy other broadly defined urban goals. Advanced systems include accelerating pedestrian conveyors, continuous capacity or moving way vehicle systems, fast urban transit links, and dual-mode transit as well as several types of automated guideway transit systems (AGT).l The latter class is the subject assigned to this panel. A major incentive for U.S. development of AGT systems was pro- vided in 1966 by the Reuss-Tydings Amendments to the Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964. These amendments required the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to: 11 . undertake a project to study and prepare a program of research, development, and demonstration of new systems of urban transportation that will carry people and goods within metropolitan areas speedily, safely, without polluting the air, and in a manner that will contribute to sound city planning. The program