| Automated People Movers (APM) and Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) are two of the main transportation modes in the realm of grade-separated automated transit technology. APMs can be seen in various US locations and resemble traditional heavy rail or light rail, as they all operate on fixed routes, but APMs are completely automated. PRT systems, which are not well established in the US, use low capacity vehicles to transport passengers directly from their origin to their destination, bypassing intermediate stations. Each type of automated guideway transit technology may have a niche where one type is preferable to the other. This study uses simulation to quantify the passenger levels and geographical contexts that are preferable for APM or PRT. The simulation results show that PRT tends to have lower trip times than APM if the PRT has shorter distances between stations, fewer passengers, and a more complex geometry. |
