While Gurgaon is ready to invite it, Delhi is thinking of implementing it. Provide-On-Demand (Pod) Personal Rapid Transit is a necessity but a far-fetched plan for Namma Bengaluru.
Pod is an automatic, driver-less, battery/power operated, laser ray-guided taxi running on or hanging from an elevated track. It is a personalised transport like hired high speed cab, but centrally controlled.
Passengers will choose their destinations from a list of options on a touch-sensitive screen beside the rank of waiting pods at a station, board in, press 'close doors' button inside the pod cab and then press 'go' button.
London Heathrow airport has already got Pod from airport to nearest metro stations and transport junctions and even New York and many places in the US have got PRT. India is trying to bring Pod home. Sweden is considering PRT. South Korea and Japan are enjoying pod taxi.
Recently, Haryana chief minister announced that the detailed project report for the Pod PRT for Gurgaon is already out and Delhi CM Sheila Dixit discussed the viability of Pod PRT in Delhi during the last week of April. Even Amritsar is trying to consider Pod soon.
Haryana government has announced the cost at Rs40 per kilometre involving 143 stations stretching to 31km in its first phase and 73km in the second phase. Stations will be at every 100 yards on the elevated tracks under which multi-level parking facility will be designed.
Delhi chief minister, who had a meeting with transport authorities to discuss the viability of Pod during the last week of April, is now thinking of bringing it on in ITPO, Dwarka City, Karol Bagh and North campus as pilot project.
On the other side, transport authorities in Bangalore feel the futurist idea is welcome but not everything new can just be implemented without thoughts being put to it. Bangalore Metropolitan Land Transport Authority commissioner V Manjula says she will wait to see how Pod PRT works in Gurgaon.
“I saw the demo of Pod in Mobility India conference in Delhi but I am still to see how it performs. Let us first see how Gurgaon, even Delhi and Amritsar fares. Everything new cannot be right away implemented without realising whether the place needs it or not,” said V Manjula.
However, she agreed that Pod is necessary to quicken the transportation time in cities where the road traffic eats up commuters’ time to reach one point to other. “Pod could be thought of in places where there are a lot of culturally improved places, airports and airport connectivity from a common point in the city,” she said.
She added the focus of easing transportation in Bangalore is now mass transit. “Pod is a form of PRT. Here we are not thinking of such futurist ideas like personlalised rapid transport. Our focus at this point in time is on mass rapid transit,” she said.
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