What's New Archive, 2000


December, 2000

Agenda and on-line materials from speakers at a futurist conference entitled Transportation Vision 2050, held in Seattle, September 26-27, 2000

Sound Transit (Seattle) conducts an Advanced Transit Technology study. The objective of this study is to identify 6-10 advanced transit technologies for possible use by Sound Transit (Seattle) after 2007

First National Station/Shared Car Conference, Atlanta, April 17-19, 2001

Friends of the Monorail (FOM) in Seattle files a lawsuit against Sound Transit, charging that its Final Environment Impact Statement (FEIS) did not adequately consider alternative technologies. The full text of the FOM motion and brief are available at the FOM website. It asks that the FEIS be vacated.

The Elevated Transportation Company in Seattle begins a $6 million study designed to produce a monorail plan for the City of Seattle to take to the voters for approval. Details are available at the ETC website.

Florida High Speed Ground Transportation Initiative - ballot title and full text (passed November, 2000 with a 52.7% Yes vote)

November, 2000

Link to a Swiss website that describes the Twike technology - a small electric/bicycle-like vehicle

Link to an article by Emory Bundy entitled "Why Rail?". This article has had a significant impact on rail transit planning in Seattle in recent months.

Attendee reports and presentation papers from the New Visions in Transportation conference, held in Aspen, Colorado, October, 2000

October, 2000

Air-powered monorail called Whoosh under development in the U.K. 

Engineer develops Personal Flying Machine

Link to a new website that describes a Freeway Monorail concept for the Seattle region. A monorail initiative (I-53) will be voted on in Seattle in November, 2000.

News from Japan: The Future Shape of Transportation

New Intelligent Transportation Systems - Decisions website at the University of California, Berkeley

New transportation website now available. It has a European location and orientation

Conference announcement : SAFE Highways of the Future 2001 to be held in Cannes, France, January 10-12, 2001 Includes a session on Automated Highway Systems.

September, 2000

Link to a new website that describes the Serpentine automated guided vehicle technology that is being developed in Switzerland

Link to Trafficlinq - a new European Tracking Service website that provides a  wide variety of transportation information.

Several excellent photos of the Jacksonville, Florida Downtown Peoplemover are now available.

The Advanced Transit Association (ATRA) Newsletter for Autumn, 2000, is now available for downloading

August, 2000

Link to information about how to acquire a copy of the book entitled Innovation and Public Policy: The Case of PRT, by Professor Catherine Burke; includes a review and table of contents

Link to the new website for the ULTra PRT technology being developed at the U of Bristol in the U.K.

Link to the California Maglev Project, one of seven competing in the FRA Maglev Depolyment Program

Link to the Evacuated Tube Transportation website from a company in Florida

Posted Chapter 9 (A New Type of Minicity) from the book entitled Tomorrow's Transportation by Garrison and Ward, published in March of 2000. It describes a concept that would use a simple, indoor PRT-type peoplemover technology

Updated information about the FRA Maglev Technology Deployment Program

Conference announcement - 8th International Conference on Automated Peoplemovers; includes a Call for Papers

July, 2000

Added a major update to the Urbanaut monorail page 

Link to a website that features a list of the 100 Top Transportation websites

Link to a website called Fuel Cells in Transportation

June, 2000

Link to a German website (English version available) that describes a maglev dualmode concept called Autoshuttle

Eleven photos of opening day (June 9, 2000) at the RUF test track in Denmark are now available (look under events).  An overview of the RUF dualmode concept is also available for those unfamiliar with it.

Added paper by Ingmar Andréasson that describes results obtained from a simulation of a large PRT network for Gothenburg, Sweden

Added several new contributions to the Dualmode Debate page

May, 2000

Article on prospects for a maglev application on the Las Vegas-LA route

Conference announcement: New Visions in Transportation: Accelerating Emerging Technologies and Innovative Designs, Aspen, Colorado, October, 2000

Added  comments from William Bowen regarding the attributes of the Autobus dualmode concept.

Added a discussion of the problems and potentials of a national dualmode system to the Dualmode Debate page.

Link to an article in the Daily Herald newspaper (Chicago suburbs) entitled "Plan falls apart for Personal Rapid Transit system", printed May 13, 2000.

Link to a press release concerning a revolutionary material handling system called MagneTrak

Link to an updated website that describes a maglift type monorail being proposed for connecting Brisbane to Redcliffe and Sunshine Coast in Australia.

April, 2000

Link to a new website by Autran Corporation - a system with carrier vehicles that will carry autos, passenger cabins and freight containers

Link to a new capsule pipeline website, which is focused on urban goods movement

Link to the EAZEway transport website - a suspended railplane concept being developed in Canada

March, 2000

ADART - Autonomous Dial-a-Ride - overview report (1988) - Table of Contents only.

Tomorrow's Transportation: Changing Cities, Economies and Lives - see the Table of Contents of this new book by Garrison and Ward.

Link to a new website from Frog Navigation Systems in the Netherlands - see peoplemover and automated cargo sections.

Request for letters of interest regarding a study of a maglev route from LAX to Riverside in Southern California (Los Angeles region), due April 15, 2000

February, 2000

Added link to the VLRS ultra-light rail system website in the U.K.

Added two new contributions to the Dualmode Debate page

Posted article entitled Analysis of Dualmode Systems in an Urban Area, by Peter Benjamin

Photo of the first test vehicle for the Danish RUF dualmode system

Link to the Synchro-Rail website in the U.K. - features dual mode, small electric autos propelled by linear synchronous motors

January, 2000

Call for Papers: 2nd International Symposium on Underground Freight Transport by Capsule Pipelines and Other Tube/Tunnel Systems, Delft, 28-29 September 2000 

Link to a Special Report entitled "Is Maglev in Our Future", published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in March, 1999. You may have to search the archives for this series of articles.

Link to the MegaRail website - a dual mode system being developed in Texas

Link to the Modular Automated Transportation (MAT) website in Switzerland

Two new contributions to the PRT Debate page, by J.E. Anderson 

Press release that describes a new maglev project at Old Dominion University in Hampton Roads, VA

Link to the website of The Flash - a new, low-cost PRT system concept


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Last modified: February 02, 2008