Cornell University at Ithaca college will get a new transportation system… with podcars.

A podcar is:

A car-sized vehicle without a driver, that runs on rail. The system is built on a network of high beams. The vehicle arrives when you press a button - like an elevator - and then takes you to the adress you have ordered.

Watch a movie about… “the transportation of the future”… (Screenshot below):

Podcars are not new:

There has been podcar ideas already since the 1900th century but the first real podcar concept is considered to be developed in 1953. Donn Fichter, a US town planner started research in alternative transportation methods. In 1964 he published a book called “Individualized Automated Transit in the City”. There he suggested an automised transport system for areas with middle high or low population density.

During the 60s, analyses and trials were made from authorities and instituttions in USA, France and Japan. The first real – and today still functioning! – podcar project was realized in Morgantown, West Virginia, and was ready 1975. In today´s modern eyes it can appear a little bulky and has not got the flexibility that the podcar concept nowadays implicate. It has however been running without any real problems since the start and managed to transport several millions of passengers.

For more information about Morgantown, West Virginia, Personal Rapid Transit – PRT – hyperlink here:

The Morgantown Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system is one of five automated urban “people mover” systems that have been built in the United States since the late 1970s. (The others are in Detroit, Michigan; Irving, Texas; Jacksonville, Florida; and Miami, Florida.) It is operated by West Virginia University, and connects the university’s Evansdale and Downtown Campuses with downtown Morgantown. It is a single line, 3.6 miles long, with five stations. The section from Walnut St. (downtown Morgantown) to the Engineering station opened in 1975; the rest of the line opened in 1979.

And finally a picture: