Comments on Dumbarton Corridor Project

Subject: Public Input to Dumbarton Rail Corridor Project
To: dumbartonrail@samtrans.com

San Mateo County Transit District Board members,

During my 17 years in the electric transportation business, I came across another class of electric transport – Personal Rapid Transit (PRT). Over the years, I learned a lot about PRT and other advanced transit systems.

Thus, I was excited to hear of the Public Meeting held on March 15th about the Dumbarton Rail Corridor proposal. This is a worthy project I hope to see completed as soon as possible. While you are in the process of making decisions about which technology to use, I would like to share my knowledge and viewpoint which aligns with some of the consultant’s data regarding Autonomous Vehicle Transit (AVT). While I realize project decision makers are being bombarded with opinions and ideas, I believe this read will be worth your valuable time.

These are the main points elaborated below:

  1. AVT vehicles comes in large, medium and small sizes.
  2. The small size, Personal Rapid Transit (PRT), creates a boom in transit use when included with existing transportation options.
  3. Because PRT vehicles (cabs) bypass all stations between the rider’s starting and ending station, every ride is an express ride.
  4. At the origin station, even more time is saved because awaiting PRT cabs are ready to go – which adds another level of personal security much appreciated by many people these days.
  5. PRT has substantial advantages in real estate purchases, parking structure costs and O&M. The presentation excludes all three.
  6. PRT can do the job for dramatically less cost.

    [Read 4-page submission at https://milpitasprt.com/wp-content/uploads/SamTrans-Dumbarton.pdf ]

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