The future is here – taxis without drivers

February 7, 2009 by admin
Filed under Transportation

One of my favourite Arnold Schwarzenegger movies was Total Recall. It was a straight out sci-fi action movie that dealt with one of my teenage fantasies – seeing a colony built on Mars. What struck me as one of the hallmarks of that futuristic world were the taxi transports that basically had only talking “dummies” that you communicated with. It was a definite sign that it was the future.
But the future is apparently here. Abu Dhabi is reportedly going to start using driver less electric pod cars. The new transports are expected to be deployed in Masdar (http://www.masdaruae.com/), Abu Dhabi’s eco city.

The podcars are the city’s answer for transport because traditional cars are not allowed inside the city. It is a massive and very ambitious undertaking that only a place like the United Arab Emirates (who have amassed so much wealth because of their petroleum resource) can actually afford. Although it is reported that Heathrow airport will also begin deploying its own podcar service this year.
The podcars will be a part of the personal rapid transit (PRT) system. The transports will be powered by electricity that promise quieter operations and of course more efficiency with power consumption.

The podcars will also be a part of the light railway system that will really force residents and visitors to the city to use these non-emission transports. All of the regular cars will be left outside the city in one of the many multi-storey car parks. From the light railway visitors can now take the PRTs. It takes about 90 seconds to wait for a taxi, which travels at a 7 meters per second. With the longest trip about 2.5 kilometres, the journey will take about 7 to 10 minutes.

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