How PAT will shape the City in the Future

Hengning Wu

Acroscape, Reston, Virginia, USA

What is PAT or PRT

• PAT, Personal Automated Transport
• PRT, Personal Rapid Transit
• Personal, like car and bicycle
• Directly from origin to destination, no unnecessary stopping
• On demand, no schedule
• Automated
• Vehicle controled by computer
• Exclusive guideway
• Transport
• Passengers
• Freights

The Concept of Autoway

• Commercially viable PAT
• Passengers and light freights.
• Fuel efficiency: 500 mile/gallon (200 km/liter)
• Lane capacity: 11,180 person/hr
• Speed: 65 mile/hr (100 km/hr) in urban areas, 90 mile/hr (150 km/hr) for intercity traffic
• Cost: $5 million/mile including vehicles, guideway
• Need $10 million to build a fully functional prototype system

Autoway features

• Vehicle for one adult or one adult plus two kids.
• Energy efficiency,small guideway, cost and right-of-way



• Brick wall stopping criterion, reliability

Transportation and the City

• Transportation is the dominant factor
• Shaping the city structure
• Determining the economical and social development
• Many current problems related to transportation
• Air pollution, urban decay, sprawl, energy shortage
• Traffic congestion, accidents
• PAT is the solution
• Think about the future of city Now
• How to build a better city with a new transportation system
• How to build a better transportation system for a better city
• Urban planning
• The cost of urban infrastructure

The structure of pre-Automobile city

• Grid-pattern, Street and road. (Washington, DC, USA)

The structure of pre-Automobile city

• Grid-pattern, Street and road. (Alexandria, Virginia, USA)

Automobile oriented city

• Some separation of road and street (Reston, Virginia, USA)

Automobile oriented city

• Town center, Business area (Reston, Virginia, USA)

Automobile oriented city

• Mixed use high-density residential area (Reston, Virginia, USA)
• Church, shops, restaurants, swimming pool, tennis court, trails.

Transportation of 21st Century

Transportation Systems for 21st Century City

• PAT network
• Most passenger transportation, especially commuting.
• Majority of local freight transportation
• Road network
• Major highway network, plus local branches
• Passenger cars, trucks, group buses, special vehicles
• Trail network
• Recreational and some local traffic
• Grade-separated from the roads
• Street
• Does not form its own city-wise network
• Mainly for walking, but accessible by vehicles

Grape-structured district

• Grape-structured district, the building block for 21st century city

Suburban village

• Like a typical suburban area in US
• Single family homes in a lot large than 0.20 acre
• PAT station located near the entry to the village
• Public space. Swimming pool, tennis court, etc, nearby form a buffer to homes
• Access point to PAT network
• Convert suburban areas into new cities
• Increase population by several times with better quality of life

Urban village

• Mixed use residential complex
• High population density, 10,000/km2 (25,600/mile2)
• Carefree urban living with lots of amenities
• Garden and lawn professionally managed
• Recreational facilities within walking distance
• A PAT station located at every major building

Characteristics of a district

• Distinct urban identity, by industry, culture, tradition, etc.
• Balance in residential and business development
• more than 50% of people live and work in the same district
• Diversity in housing, income, and race
• Commuting time within district, about 15 minutes
• Typical size, 10-100 km2
• The basic block of a district can be added to form metropolitan area of any size
• Urban planning should be focused at the district level.

Benefits of PAT city

• No traffic congestion
• Improve energy efficiency per passenger-mile by 10 times
• 70% of oil used for cars and trucks. Less oil dependence
• Environment friendly
• Reduce urban air pollution
• Reduce carbon dioxide release (Global warming)
• Reduce land for road and parking. Open space 50%
• People friendly
• mobility for the elderly, kids, and the disabled
• Reduce the traffic death by nearly 2 orders of magnitude
• saving 1 million people a year
• Improved productivity from better transportation efficiency

Summary, PAT and the city

• PAT network, road network, and trail network form the transportation networks
• Grape-structured district, the building block for 21st century city
• Benefits of a PAT oriented city
• Improve energy efficiency per passenger-mile by 10 times
• Reduce urban air pollution
• Reduce carbon dioxide release (Global warming)
• Reduce land for road and parking. Open space 50%
• mobility for the elderly, kids, and the disabled
• Reduce the traffic death by nearly 2 orders of magnitude
• saving 1 million people a year

Afterwords, PAT and the city

• Questions and Answers
• Q: You put up some incredible numbers, and that will push people away from PAT. For example, 500 miles per gallon for energy efficiency.
• A: It might be a good marketing strategy to give "credible numbers" in other people's mind. I am an engineer, and I present just correct numbers in my view. These numbers are actually conservative estimates. In addition, when the vehicles form a train, the energy efficiency will be even higher. Perhaps the data from some old PRTs are so embedded in the brains of many people. There are a few PAT concepts for a high speed and high capacity operation.
• Q: What is your background?
• A: I have a broad backbround in industry and research in US, Europe and China for 25 years. I can do material, mechanical, electrical, and software work. I can build a vehicle prototype in my garage, if funding is available.
• Q:If you get $10 million, where will you build the prototype?
• A: I have not got the money yet. The people who give me the money will have some saying on this. I prefer to build it in a high-tech area.