POD TAXI - A Game Changer Technology

Personal Rapid Transport (PRT) is a public transport mode that offers Personal on-demand origin to destination travel on a dedicated network. The system features small automated vehicles - Cable car or POD cars equipped to carry a small group of passengers.

The modern PRT concept began around 1953, by Donn Fichter a city transport developer started research on PRT and alternative transit methods.

In 1967, Aramis Project an experimental PRT system was started by MATRA in Paris however the project was cancelled due to its qualification trials. Between 1970 and 1978 Japan operated a project named Computer Controlled Vehicle System (CVS) which operated 84 vehicles at the speeds up to 60 kilometres per hour on a 4.8 kilometre guideway.

  Union minister of Road Transport and highways Mr. Nitin Gadkari said the work on pilot project of Personal Rapid Transport (PRT) - proposed POD taxi between Rajiv Chowk of New Delhi to Gurugram under National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).

POD taxi is a dream project of our Union minister Mr. Gadkari which estimated cost around Rs. 4000 crore.
This project is headed by SK Dharmadhikari with five members in the committee to maintain safety standards and and technological support. The POD taxi will follow the American standards of safety laid down by American society of civil engineers.

What is POD TAXI and its Features 

  POD taxi is a high speed, driverless, electric vehicle which runs through dedicated platform. POD taxi is a unique way for travel to provide a taxi like responsive feeder and shuttle services for small groups of travellers.
    PODs can carry up to  5 passengers at a time.
    Its a fully automated, driverless vehicle that travel independently over an overhead network which is usually about 5-10 metres above the ground, ergo we can easily say it's a "Mini Metro"
    PODs are equipped with military grade wireless technology and sensors which are monitored at a command base and on the ground for extra security and safety.
   The PODs are not affected by the adverse weather conditions.

For sustainable future POD taxi will be a game changer technology to reduce traffic as well as pollution. Being an inexpensive, sustainable, profitable, quickly implementable in difficult situation, high capacity, extremely comfortable and more over eco friendly this transit model has a bright prospect not only in National capital region or throughout India but also globally as it has relevance in every urban context in every continent.