Personal rapid transit

Personal rapid transit (PRT) is a transit system in which small automated vehicles carry passengers on demand along dedicated guideways, often directly between stations without intermediate stops.

Automated guideway transit: Automated guideway transit uses driverless vehicles on tracks or guideways separated from ordinary traffic. PRT is a small-vehicle, on-demand form of automated guideway transit.
Morgantown Personal Rapid Transit: Morgantown Personal Rapid Transit is an automated transit system connecting locations at West Virginia University. It is the best-known early system built around PRT principles, though it uses larger vehicles and scheduled operation.
Bus rapid transit: Bus rapid transit uses buses, often on dedicated lanes, to provide faster service than ordinary bus routes. BRT shares separated right-of-way with PRT but usually runs larger vehicles on fixed routes.
Transit-oriented development: Transit-oriented development concentrates housing, jobs, and services around public transport stations. PRT proposals often claim station networks could support compact, connected development.
Headway (transportation): Headway is the time or distance between successive vehicles on a transport route. Short headways determine how many PRT vehicles a guideway can safely dispatch.
ULTra (transit system): ULTra is a driverless pod-based transit system developed for short trips on dedicated guideways. Its airport deployment provides a prominent example of small automated vehicles operating on demand.
Light rail: Light rail is urban rail transit using electric trains, commonly operating on tracks in streets or reserved corridors. Light rail carries many passengers per vehicle on fixed routes rather than offering small direct trips.
Induced demand: Induced demand is increased travel resulting from expanded transport capacity or reduced travel costs. Convenient PRT service could generate additional trips rather than merely replace existing ones.
Vehicle routing problem: The vehicle routing problem seeks efficient routes for vehicles serving multiple origins and destinations. PRT control systems must assign vehicles and routes as trip requests arrive.
Heathrow Pod: Heathrow Pod is an automated electric pod service connecting a parking area with Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport. It is the first operational ULTra deployment and serves a limited airport route.

Linked from 6 pages