Mass transit also suffers from another big problem: Because of decreased ridership, it is at times less efficient than cars. According to U.S. Department of Energy data, in the year 2000, buses consumed 4,775 BTUs of energy per passenger mile, whereas cars only consumed 3,543. The problem is that buses run empty for most of the day, wasting energy. Trains are actually more efficient than cars, coming in at 3,105 BTUs per passenger mile, but that data is probably skewed by the New York City subway and commuter trains that only run at peak hours.

Jeral Poskey, Taxi 2000's director of applications and the person in charge of launching the company's short-term goals, doesn't see mass transit's situation as a permanent problem. "The good news for rail and bus is that getting new riders doesn't require expending new energy," he says, "so if we can increase ridership we increase their efficiency." The premise that SkyWeb Express is based on, and the idea behind all PRTs, really, is that it can greatly increase ridership. In terms of efficiency, Taxi 2000 estimates that it will attract enough riders that its PRT will end up using a fifth of the energy per passenger mile of urban buses or light rail, and a fourth that of metropolitan heavy rail.

The PRT system boasts a ton of other benefits as well. It's fast -- SkyWeb cars can move anywhere from 20 mph in city centers and around tight corners, to 80 mph on straight runs -- and it's adaptable to the needs of city planners. SkyWeb Express would use up only 1 percent of the land, as opposed to 30 to 50 percent for automobiles and highways -- in populated areas. The system can run above or under the ground. "Planners invariably say that elevated is the way to go," says Edward Anderson, "because it's safer than surface-level systems." But SkyWeb still has the advantage over heavier rail, since the lack of bulk means "the visual impact is more acceptable."

Additionally, because the guideway is so slim, and because the cars are able to turn tight corners, the system can be implemented in urban centers where light and heavy rails can't go. This, according to Rep. Mark Olson, a Minnesota Republican and PRT advocate, is why the system is "the least likely to encourage sprawl, by far, because it's designed to make urban areas the most efficient possible."

Despite the promise that SkyWeb Express shows, the company has not had an easy time actualizing the system. It has built a 60-foot section of guideway and a test car, and according to Edward Anderson's most recent paper, this Phase I prototype has been tested thousands of times with only one minor failure. Now the company is looking to build a safety certification and training facility to test all of the components and train people to run it. Anderson estimates that the program would cost $24 million and take 30 months to complete, but at the end of it, Taxi 2000 would be ready to implement the first commercial system. Santa Cruz, Calif., Houston, Cincinnati and Minneapolis have all expressed interest in building SkyWeb Express tracks.

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