AUTOMATED PEOPLE MOVERS: A TECHNOLOGY RESOURCE IN MAJOR INVESTMENT STUDIES

Major Investment Studies (MISs) provide comprehensive information for transportation investment decisions in metropolitan areas. This information includes an assessment of the range of alternatives to address transportation problems: modes and technologies, alignments, ridership and service levels, benefits, costs, impacts, and financing. The definition of a major investment is "high type highway or transit improvement of substantial cost that is expected to have a significant effect on capacity, traffic, level of service or mode share at the transportation corridor or sub-area scale". This broad definition includes many corridors and sub-areas where the level of service provided by automated people movers (APMs) can be a viable solution. APMs can provide such metropolitan transit service as intermediate line haul, shuttle/connectors, and major activity center circulation. The service flexibility of this technology allows it to provide a transit solution for a variety of transportation needs commonly identified in the MIS process. A general process to evaluate technologies and the role and value of APMs within it are described in this paper using several case studies of recently completed or on-going MISs. These studies are described, the technology assessment process is reviewed, and conclusions with respect to APMs, both in the study and for specific transit applications, are presented.