A people mover is a fully-automated light rail or tram system. The term usually implies an elevated single track loop, although several considerably more complex systems are in operation.
Types
Simple back-and-forth shuttles are referred to as hectos, short for hectometric, meaning designed for a few hundred meters.
Multi-station systems intended for mass transit in a city are more formally known as automated guideway transit (AGT) systems. This term is generally limited to rubber-tyred vehicles led by a guiding track; fully automated urban heavy rail lines, such as the Singapore MRT's North East MRT Line, are usually not considered AGTs.
Complex APMs deploy fleets of small vehicles over a network of guideways with off-line stations in a dynamic configuration that supplies non-stop service to passengers. These taxi-like systems are referred to as personal rapid transit (PRT).
History
The world's first airport people mover was installed in 1971 at Tampa International Airport in the United States. The VAL (Véhicule Automatique Léger) system in Lille, France, opened in 1983, is often cited as the world's first mass transit AGT, but the title is disputed by Kobe's Port Liner , which opened two years earlier in 1981. Lille's VAL is, however, acknowledged to be the first AGT installed to serve an existing urban area.
Driverless metros have become common in Europe and parts of Asia. The economics of automated trains tend to reduce the scale so tied to "mass" transit, so that small-scale installations are feasible. Thus cities normally thought of as too small to build a metro (e.g. Rennes, Lausanne, Brescia, etc.) are now doing so. In the U.S. APMs have become common at large airports and progressive hospitals.
Examples
Urban transit
- Bangkok, Thailand: Skytrain
- Detroit, Michigan elevated loop system
- Jacksonville, Florida -- in the form of a monorail
- Kuala Lumpur, Putra Light Rail Transit
- London, UK: Docklands Light Railway
- Miami, Florida: Metromover
- Osaka, Japan: New Tram(Osaka Municipal Nanko Port Town Line/OTS New Tram Technoport Line)
- Singapore: Bukit Panjang LRT, Sengkang LRT, Punggol LRT
- Tokyo, Japan: Yurikamome
- Toronto, Ontario: Scarborough RT (semi-automated)
- Vancouver, British Columbia: SkyTrain
Airport
Many people movers operate at airports and some also connect with other public transport systems. Airport examples include:
Other
Different meanings
The term people mover is sometimes used to refer to moving sidewalks.
The name People Mover is also used by:
See also
External links
