Personal Rapid Transit

In a recent Technology Quarterly from "The Economist", a report was made on Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) systems. Unlike Mass Rapid Transit systems, these would be small, 1-4 person transport pods, travelling on fixed rails, but with lower running costs, more accessible stations and overall faster transit times.

Cute. But if you're talking about overhauling transportation, reducing wait times and congestion, I prefer another solution.



This is the Volvo Tandem, a concept car being developed by the Volvo Monitoring and Concept Centre (VMCC), Volvo's design studio in Southern California. This is the 1-seater version; here's a 2-seater:

The basic idea behind this car? The driver sits in a narrow, bobsled-like vehicle while the passenger (in the 2-seater version) sits in-line behind the driver (just like a bobsled). That's essentially it.

Small Idea, Big Impact

I had an epiphany once, while sitting in one of KL's interminable gridlocks. I was looking around at the cars around me on the 3-lane highway I was on. Most had only single occupants, like me. Everyone was bored and frustrated. Some were picking their noses.

In terms of square feet of road and lane space, the average 3-car-abreast space on the road held a grand total of.... 3 people. I looked at the empty seat next to me. I thought, wouldn't it be great if we had smaller cars, that could fit just one person, so you could squeeze 6 cars in 3 lanes instead? Just chop my Proton Waja in half and presto, you're done.

As if to complete the epiphany, a fleet of motorcycles then chose this time to whiz past, in the small crevice between my car and the car next to me.

(One week later, I saw the Volvo Tandem cars you see above in a weekly paper. Oh well.)

Just imagine: the amount of road space already built in your city would double. Instantly. No need to build any thing at all. Just imagine the city you're living in, effectively doubles the size of its roads overnight, with no loss of living space. Would that traffic jam you're sitting in still be there? I'd bet not.

Just as long as some teensy-weensy problems are overcome.

Costs and Benefits.

The idea is sound, if we can get past the following problems:

1. Safety. For instance, distance between the head of the driver/passenger and either side of the vehicle (Volvo says the Tandem provides more clearance than even some vehicles today). Also, side impact and collision protection. These would all need to be enhanced in a slimmer vehicle like this.

2. Real-world problems. Can we truly achieve a vehicle with half the width of conventional cars? Can it steer? Do we need to re-sit driving lessons? How does the possible need to change 6 lanes before turning off alter driving behaviour? (quick answer: none at all. Go visit L.A., check out the 101 or 405 freeways near Downtown or Hollywood)

3. Secondary vehicle. Even Volvo doesn't say that this will replace all cars. Just that we will use such vehicles for commuting, and perhaps keep another, larger one, for holidays, camping, bringing the family out to eat etc. That means you, Mr. and Ms. Consumer, will still need that SUV, and hence you may not want to expend the cash buying what essentially is a commuting vehicle.

4. Cost. So, could a car like the above be built economically for the masses, at the same cost levels as today's Kenaris, Kancils and Kelisas? I think so.

5. Lanes, ramps and turn-offs. That's a serious amount of additional road painting that would need to be done, y'all.

However, getting past those little niggling problems above could yield huge, huge benefits:

1. Savings in public transport infrastructure. Bus lanes. MRT. Car pool lanes. LRT. PRT. All these things cost money and eat into public funds. Even in vaunted Singapore, which has most of the above, congestion is creeping up. Then think about other urban metropoles that don't have Singapore's public infrastructure. KL, Bangkok, Jakarta and Manila? This is a way to increase the capacity of existing infrastructure without governments needing to spend a dime. We're talking savings of billions and billions of dollars.

2. Middle-class aspirations. It doesn't matter how much infrastructure is built. At the end of the day, governments in this region are committed to the growth and creation of a large middle-class, and one of the pillars of middle-classhood is car ownership, especially in sprawling cities where public transport is hampered by distance and suburban fragmentation. That means governments are fighting a losing battle on this if they want to encourage public transporation past a certain point.

3. More market friendly. Adopting this vehicle would be less dramatic than governments think. All existing market-oriented transport policies - congestion pricing, road tax, parking fees, tolls, COEs - can be easily amended to adapt to this new vehicle. In fact, they could be adapted precisely to encourage using this vehicle. Wanna pay half your season parking fee every month? Wanna pay half your road tax every year? Wannna pay half the COE you would normally pay for a new car? Half the toll? OK, OK, I exaggerate, maybe it won't be half, but it will definitely be less.

4. Green. Smaller cars, smaller mass, smaller loads... less carbon emissions, less oil, less everything. Its good for the planet.

One last thing to note: Volvo says that in their study, 90% of all commuting vehicles in today's roads are have only 1 person, the driver. 77% of ALL car trips (whether commuting or not) only have 1 or 2 people.

So, to recap, that's why I prefer this car over some PRT system bubble-pod which will cost more money, won't be as convenient, and still won't help me lugging my groceries home.

For more on the Volvo Tandem concept car: Motortrend review, Car Design Online