TriMet is Bully
No to 3-424 & 3-425
Hillsboro, Oregon: PRT circulator sketch for AmberGlen / Tanasbourne / OHSU
First sketch: Aug '09, current version May '10.
"Thinking Bigger at OHSU/AmberGlen"
ULTra
is a battery-driven, 200-mpg-equivalent, elevated personal rapid
transit (PRT) system with many four-person vehicles. First deployment is
scheduled for London Heathrow Airport in 2010, to serve Heathrow's new
Terminal 5. Working as circulator transit for office parks, airports,
universities, and other major activity centers, ULTra is faster than a
car. In these applications, ULTra makes carpooling, MAX LRT, and TriMet
bus more effective, by solving the "last mile problem." PRT also enables
longer bike commutes and shopping trips. A three-minute youtube video
of ULTra can be viewed here: http://www.ultraprt.net/
Portland
suburb Hillsboro (home to more than 16,000 Intel jobs; part of “Silicon
Forest”) became the first U.S. city to adopt language favorable to PRT
within a “specific plan.” A specific plan is a city-adopted long-range
plan for real-estate development and transportation for a contiguous,
significant portion of a city. Hillsboro’s ambitious AmberGlen Plan
states, “A transit circulator facilitates quick connections to transit
stations. Eventually … PRT or other local circulator could serve to
focus area investment near transit corridors.”
The
AmberGlen area encompasses 582 acres including the Quatama MAX LRT
station. “The vision: create a vibrant regional activity center
enlivened with high quality pedestrian and environmental amenities,
taking advantage of the region’s light rail system.” “Better mobility”
and “live close to work” are mottos. Options include 10-story or even
25-story buildings surrounding a central green.
The
distance from the north end of AmberGlen to Quatama MAX LRT is 2.0
miles. A faster-than-a-car PRT system makes this connection five times
faster than jogging speed circulator bus or 19th century streetcar.
There are no successful suburban streetcar circulators in the U.S.
Below
is an approximate PRT system concept sketch. 22 stations. 6.4 miles of
one-way PRT guideway. Very rough capital cost range: $48M - $96M (The
latest PRT cost information may be found at: http://www.ultraprt.net/
200 meter walking radius shown around the PRT stations
Relevant PRT Quotes
-
"We've concocted a system where local trips take an auto. That's our biggest tragedy. Streetcars, such as those used in Portland's Pearl District, and elevated people movers, like those in downtown Miami, are moving people from rail stations to their final destinations. But a new concept, PRT, may help revolutionize urban transportation, providing a cost-effective way to get people from train stations to where they need to go." - Peter Calthorpe, co-founder, Congress for New Urbanism.
-
One of the advantages of a PRT network "is that it offers a lot of flexibility. It's much less expensive than traditional transit. It doesn't serve the same needs as high-speed rail or BART metro. It's a complement to those systems," Laura Stuchinksy, Sustainability Officer, City of San Jose Department of Transportation.
-
"All the advantages of New Urbanism - its compact land saving density, its walkable mix of uses, and its integrated range of housing opportunities - would be supported and amplified by a circulation system that offers fundamentally different choices in mobility and access. Smart Growth and new Urbanism have begun the work of redefining America's twenty-first century development paradigms. Now it is time to redefine the circulation armature that supports them. It is short sighted to think that significant changes in land-use and regional structure can be realized without fundamentally reordering our circulation system. We've been developing TOD without the T for far too long. PRT is the T." - Peter Calthorpe.
PRT is Faster than a Car. Trip time from Sunset Center Office Park (19225
NW Tanasbourne Dr.) to Quatama MAX LRT (2.0 miles)
-
PRT: 4:30 minutes (including 20 second average wait time)
-
Driving: 6:00 minutes via Google Maps driving directions. (Add additional time for traffic. Add additional time for parking hassle.)
-
Streetcar: 22.30 minutes (6.5 min average wait time with 13 min headways, 8 min/per mile [jogging speed])
-
Trip time for a "milk run" circulator bus is similar to streetcar
120
years ago, streetcar transit was a brand new technology, providing
faster, better, and cheaper local transit than the alternatives.
Starting in 1888, streetcars changed the way cities were built.
Likewise, PRT is a brand new technology, providing faster, better, and
cheaper local transit than current alternatives. Conventional local
transit serves narrow strips at a slow pace. Non-stop, faster-than-a-car
PRT serves two-dimensional areas. Cities are two-dimensional areas, not
narrow strips. A PRT system can put all AmberGlen workers and residents
within a 300 meter walk of a PRT station; conventional local transit
will serve only a small fraction of that many people. At the Congress
for New Urbanism 2005 Conference, Peter Calthorpe said, "One
of my pet peeves is that we've been dealing with 19th Century transit
technology. We can do better. We can have ultra light elevated transit
systems with lightweight vehicles. Because the vehicles are lighter, the
system will use less energy. If you think about what you'd want from
the ideal transit technology, it's PRT: a) stations right where you are,
within walking distance, b) no waiting."
Background info:
-
http://www.ci.hillsboro.or.us/
Planning/documents/AmberGlen_ Plan_Final_with_Appendices_ for_web.pdf (32MB). Please see Chapter III, page 54 for the "favorable to PRT" language. -
http://www.ci.hillsboro.or.us/
Planning/documents/amberglen_ concept_plan3.pdf - this is a 1 pager with a land use sketch
Streetcar notes:
Typical streetcars provide an average speed of 7-12 mph for local-stop service (6.5 mph from a separate analysis) - jogging speed.
Streetcars are further slowed long waiting time - headways are 13
minutes during peak hour in Portland. The streetcar speed is often
exceeded by ordinary local-stop bus services. One clear
speed-and-reliability benefit of the bus is intrinsic to the technology:
Buses have the physical ability to go around obstructions that occur in
their lane, while the streetcar is stuck behind them. (see: http://www.humantransit.
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