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:
- AVT vehicles comes in large, medium and small sizes.
- The small size, Personal Rapid Transit (PRT), creates a boom in transit use when included with existing transportation options.
- Because PRT vehicles (cabs) bypass all stations between the rider’s starting and ending station, every ride is an express ride.
- 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.
- PRT has substantial advantages in real estate purchases, parking structure costs and O&M. The presentation excludes all three.
- PRT can do the job for dramatically less cost.
[Read 4-page submission at https://milpitasprt.com/wp-content/uploads/SamTrans-Dumbarton.pdf ]
