HN Theater @HNTheaterMonth

Reminds me of the The Morgantown Personal Rapid Transit system.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaSaWfw07Sw

If you used battery electric cars would likely be a lot cheaper to build.

Speaking of electric, in Taiwan they have occasional dedicated paths for scooters. With the advent of battery power bicycles grade separated bike lanes seem more useful. Because battery power eliminates the hill problem.

⬐ Tempest1981

More stats: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgantown_Personal_Rapid_Tr...

I had to see how the cars are powered:

> The cars are powered by three-phase 575-volt alternating current rectified to drive a 70 horsepower (52 kW) direct current motor. Electric pickups are fixed on both sides of each car, which connect to electrified rails on one, or both, sides of the guideway.

And controlled:

> When it opened, the PRT was controlled by DEC PDP-11 computers installed in 1971. Due to difficulty in procuring replacement parts, these older computers were replaced in 1997-1998 with Intel Pentium computers

⬐ efleeus

I went to school here. The PRT was a staple of transit and culture. Being a 70's proof of concept, maintenance and retrofitting were a way of life. The cars were also controlled by DTMF tones that would play over the vehicle loudspeaker.

I also recall one professor telling me that after they could no longer repair the mechanical parts of the PDPs that ran the system, they programmed an emulator that ran on a pentium III but the software itself never changed. The hardest part of the emulation was apparently getting the timing correct as the original system simply ran at the max speed for the original hardware.

Every few years that PRT would have a problem and in addition to getting outside consultation, they'd have a context in the engineering school to fix the problem. Generally the student body was pretty fond of it.

⬐ kgin

I have been in love with the Morgantown PRT for awhile now. How can you not love a still-running proof-of-concept world's fair style vision of futuristic transportation in a college town in West Virginia.

⬐ enkid

Riding a PRT in Morgantown during a football game is quite an experience. At least when I was familiar, it was quite the smell was often a mixture of piss, and vomit, only occasionally from the person's currently riding it.

Every year they wouldsee how many people they could cram into one PRT car, I think the record was 28, which was pretty significant. The PRT is definitely a unique experience.

Tom Scott gives a good overview of these and the ones at a University in West Virginia:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaSaWfw07Sw