2getthere Proposal for R&T Park

[Canard]

Don't you think this would be the ideal low-cost solution for a circulator within R&T Park, connecting to the ION Light Rail station?



http://www.advancedtransit.org/advanced-...ns/rivium/



The example above in the Rivium Business Park in Utrecht, the Netherlands, very closely mimics what we would need to service the park.

The "guideway" is a simple paved path (standard technology), like a bicycle path or a road, with embedded magnets. It can do road crossings and pedestrian crossings (the only Automated Guideway Transit system in the world to be able to do so). In periods of peak demand, it operates in a circulator mode with fixed stops. In off-hours, it operates on-demand between stops directly, just like PRT. The vehicles take turns charging and can run all day.

[nms]

An intriguing idea that could connect the two campus LRT stops though crossing Columbia might take some work.

[Drake]

Here is a better one, why not connect the R&T park, UofW and WLU with an independant monorail system that shares a stop or 2 with the LRT?

Those three 'hosts' could pay for it too. Disney could design it. (last comment hyperbole-sort of)

[Canard]

Nah, the Disney (Bombardier, actually) monorails are way too high of a capacity for that kind of installation. You'd want something more like a Von Roll.

I've always thought an ULTra PRT network would work very well in this area, but hesitate to suggest it, given the general hate for any mention of elevated transport in this forum. I thought the 2getthere solution (ParkShuttle, above) was a comprise that might see some acceptance.

I'll be riding one of Disney's (well, WED Enterprises) only commercial installations later this week. Really looking forward to it.

[DHLawrence]

If you wait a while, I'm sure the Detroit People Mover will be available. You can buy spare parts from the Scarborough Rapid Transit.

[jgsz]

Quebec City uses a similar bus as part of its transit system.

   

[goggolor]

I've been taking transit or biking to work in R&T Park for many years. It's hard enough to convince park management and the companies that reside here to clear the sidewalks and pathways in winter (they tend to see pedestrian paths as handy places to dump all the snow from their meticulously cleared, half-empty parking lots). If you don't drive to work, you're effectively invisible.

I can't see the park  investing more than a bare minimum in the needs of pedestrians or transit users. I'd be happy to be proven wrong though - I'm not looking forward to the increased walk to the LRT station.

[Canard]

Exactly why I brought up the automated circulator idea - I can't see anyone at accelerator centre walking a kilometre in the winter to the LRT stop. It's wide open and the wind in the winter would be awful.

[Drake]

I think what it will take to make something like this a reality is private money. Governments can't run this stuff effectively and the property owners don't want to cooperate.

[nms]

Since UW charters a specially marked school bus to run their campus shuttle through the R+T Park to IQC/RAC and a campus shuttle to Columbia Lake Village, perhaps they can be convinced to upgrade?  Maybe they can turn the design phase into one of their student design projects like the Midnight Sun or the Alternate Fuels Team.  

[Canard]

http://www.therecord.com/news-story/5804...ide-at-uw/

Wonder if they know about 2getthere and Parkshuttle, since that's essentially exactly what this is. Hopefully the university invests in this and realizes what a good idea it would be.

[Canard]

Ontario just released that starting January, autonomous vehicles are A-OK in Ontario, paving the way for a system like this.

http://news.ontario.ca/mto/en/2015/10/on...1444755020

Easy Mile would be another technology choice here for R&T Park.