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Civil Engineer Assesses Personal Rapid Transit System as a Parking Problem Solution for K-State Campus Parking is a problem on the Kansas State University campus. A Personal Rapid Transit System or PRT may be a future possibility for K-State to address the parking crunch. One demonstration system is already being featured on CD-ROM presentations given by Dean Landman, adjunct professor at KSU and civil engineering graduate, who is doing a parking solution assessment. Landman started the project in 2000 and is working on research to show local officials the benefits of a PRT system to the university.
Landman said individuals working for the campus are very concerned about parking, about students being able to go from class to class on time given the expanding size of the campus, and about congested sidewalks. "The goal of a PRT system is to effectively bring people right to the classroom building," he said. "The PRT system would provide intra-building transportation and transportation from outlying parking lots." "Our initial study shows that with 10 minutes between classes, if you allow a two to three minute headway, a Personal Rapid Transit System would serve as many as 20,000 riders a week," Landman said. The PRT system at KSU is in its very early discussion stages. Landman said the University of West Virginia in Morgantown is the only college in America where a PRT is operating now. The West Virginia system has been in operation since the late 1970s. It connects the university's newer campus and its older campus in downtown Morgantown. It is 99.8 percent effective without having any problems or breakdowns. Comparing a PRT system to that of a bus system, Landman said the PRT system requires less manpower and is a quicker means of transportating passengers. Though a conventional bus can hold up to 40-50 people, because of the need to make frequent stops, every rider is subjected to the time required to make all of these stops. Most small bus systems operate on a timetable of 30-minute headway time between buses during peak hours and one hour during the rest of the day. With a PRT system, four to six people can fit into a car and the vehicle goes directly to an assigned destination. "If you want to go to station 5, you don't have to waste time stopping at stations 2, 3 and 4," he said. The Morgantown system uses larger vehicles that hold up to 20 persons, he noted. A PRT is automated, meaning no driver; it runs along an electrical-powered track that is 8 feet wide. Brushes on the cars pick up the power that runs along side of the track, which moves the cars along. Cameras throughout the routes indicate where each car is and television screens inside the main control center show exact location of the cars at all times. Parking garages seem to be one alternative solution for KSU's campus parking issues. "We have been told that one parking stall in a multi-story parking garage costs about $15,000," he said. The cost for a PRT system is estimated at anywhere from $5 million to $10 million per mile. Landman's research indicates that the KSU campus could be served by a track that is approximately 3.1 miles long, costing from $15 million to $30 million. Landman has built a database that gives him results of the number of potential users of the PRT. In the database he included a typical schedule of a student going from home, from class to class, class to other activities and then back home. He also included home to work and return trips for KSU faculty and staff.
He based the calculations on class schedules provided by the KSU Registrar's Office for Fall semester 2000, and compiled a trip table. Landman put together PRT simulations of two concepts. One includes crossing routes that go from the old West Stadium lot, around the south side of the Union parking lot, along the west side of Anderson Hall between Seaton Hall and the Library, around Waters Hall to a parking lot nearby and also from Aggieville, crossing the first route near the Library and then going on to the new stadium parking lot at Wagner Field. A second simulation is a loop concept that circles the campus. "The ideal track would be an overhead, suspended track out of the way of pedestrians with the car traveling the track at about 30 mph," he said. Landman is doing more research to learn how well a PRT system would work at KSU. "Research hasn't gone beyond discussions into a planning stage, yet. So far, we're just saying okay, here are the tools, and here's what we think will be better. "So far, there are promising responses from the city and university."
Story prepared by Kendra Wecker
Source: Dean Landman
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