AUTOMATED PEOPLE-MOVERS

The interweaving of public transit and public spaces will be a vital ingredient in the evolution of more civilized and prosperous community centers in the 21st century. Increased population and congestion increases the need for high-quality circulation systems within major activity centers and for connections between these centers and longer-distance modes. Automated people-movers (APMs) are well suited for this purpose; their exclusive rights-of-way and driverless operation allow unimpeded, frequent service on an around-the-clock basis, attributes that vastly enhance their attractiveness to riders. APM technology has already proven its merit, but for its potential to be realized, communication between community planners and APM system designers must be established at the conceptual stage. APMs must be tailored to urban and suburban criteria, and costs must be brought sufficiently low to induce developers to incorporate APMs into their plans. This paper discusses the state of the art of APMs in activity centers and major APM issues.