Future Urban Transportation System Categories and Concepts Examined in 1968 Stanford Research Institute Study
This study was but one of several that were done in response to an amendment to the Federal Urban Mass Transit Act of 1996 which said:
"study and prepare a program of research and development and demonstration of new systems of urban transportation that will carry people and goods speedily, safely, without polluting the air, and in a manner that will contribute to sound city planning. The program shall (1) concern itself with all a aspects of new systems of transportation for metropolitan areas of various sizes, including technological, financial, economic, governmental and social aspects; (2) take into account the most advanced available technologies and materials; (3) provide national leadership efforts of states, localities, private industry, universities and foundations."
The SRI study defined three categories of transportation technologies that they concluded were needed in metropolitan areas to significantly improve the mobility of all residents and businesses. The following table describes the functions and other attributes of the transportation technologies examined in the SRI study. Most of these systems would be able to carry both passengers and goods.
Summary of Urban Transportation System Characteristics
| Name of System | Type of Service | Prospective Maximum Speed (mph) | Typical Station Distance | Desired Vehicle Capacity (persons) | Hourly Passenger Capacity per Line | Technical Problems | Illustrative Fares or Costs* |
| Major Activity Center-1 | Short trips within major actitivy centers | 15 | 1-2 blocks | Conveyor System | 8,000 or more | Difficult mechanical problems | 5-10 cents per ride |
| Major Activity Center-2 | Short trips within major actitivy centers | 15 | 1-2 blocks | 3 | 2-2,500 | Difficult control problems | 10-15 cents per ride |
| Public Auto Service (PAS) | Local area service and feeder trips | 15-25 | 1-2 blocks between stops | 4 | --- | Solvable | 10-15 cents per ride |
| Dial-a-bus | Local area service and feeder trips | 25-30 | --- | 10 | --- | Solvable | 35 cents per ride |
| Areawide Network Services (NET-1) | Medium speed extended area travel | 70 | 1-2 miles | 4 or 12 | 500-10,000 | Solvable | 3-6 cents per mile |
| Areawide Network Services (NET-2) | Same as NET-1, but without transfers | 70 | 1-2 miles | 4 | 500-10,000 | Difficult control problems | 4-7 cents per mile |
| Areawide Network Services (NET-3) | Same as NET-2, plus option of dualmode vehicles for operation on network and streets | 70 | 1-2 miles | 4 or more | 500-10,000 | Very difficult control problems | 6-9 cents per mile |
| Fast Transit Link (FTL-1) | High speed corridor | 160 | 4-8 miles | 20 or 80 | 3-15,000 or more | Propulsion, guidance and suspension | 3-5 cents per mile |
| Fast Transit Link (FTS-2) | High speed corridor | 250 | 4-8 miles | 52 | 3-15,000 or more | Propulsion, guidance, suspension, tunneling | 7-9 cents per mile |
* The costs in this column include both captial and operating costs and thus represent charges at which the system would pay their own way at patronage levels analyzed in SRI evaluation studies.
Source: Henderson, Clark et al, Future Urban Transportation Systems: Descriptions, Evaluations and Programs, Final Report, Volumes 1 and 2, Prepared for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development by the Stanford Research Institute, 1968
Last modified: September 28, 2002