This proposal is not really PRT because (due to street crossings) it doesn’t include fully dedicated guideway. But please see new website: RailCAT.org

This new concept was specially designed in 2022 for the Santa Cruz County Rail and Trail. It could work well for almost any dormant or seldom-used rail corridor.
Key principles:
- Use only currently available technology
- Tracks remain available for freight (during off-hours)
- Complements the bike/pedestrian Rail Trail
- No need for elevated guideways
- Minimal impact on automobile traffic
Key benefits, compared to conventional passenger rail:
- 24/7 service (except during freight usage) with minimal waiting time
- Unlimited boarding locations (without compromising travel time)
- Whisper-quiet operation
- Potentially eliminate the planning process for stations
- (likely) Reduced cost to taxpayers and/or riders
- (future potential) Direct service to transit stations and Cabrillo College
This proposed system is based on a simple combination of pavement and railroad tracks co-existing in the same space, just as they currently do on Chestnut Street and Beach Street in Santa Cruz, and Walker Street in Watsonville.
Currently there is a 17-foot width reserved for rail usage, and this 17-foot width is more than enough for three lanes of narrow vehicles. That is to say, the existing space can accommodate bidirectional traffic plus passenger loading zones (pod stops). For example, Glydways vehicles are 3.7 feet wide, designed to operate within 5-foot lanes.
We emphasize that an unlimited number of boarding locations can be located throughout the rail trail. There could be pod stops at every street crossing, since each pod stop is just a ramp and maybe a gate and a canopy for weather protection and solar panels. Passenger waiting time is very short, perhaps a minute or two, so these loading zones do not interfere with bicycle traffic any more than ordinary pedestrians do. Furthermore, each pod stop serves passengers going either direction.
We recommend that stop signs should be installed at every railroad crossing so that pods and trail users have the right-of-way. This provides the benefits of a dedicated guideway, and also improves safety for pedestrians and cyclists using the rail trail. The pods will be equipped with sensors and technology to respond automatically to any obstruction in the road, including wayward autos or bikes. The system can be choreographed to group pods together if necessary to ensure adequate opportunities for automobile (and other) traffic to cross the tracks.
We anticipate that automatic driving technology (and/or strategically placed dedicated lanes) in the near future will allow the system to provide direct service to key locations such as the three transit stations and Cabrillo College.
We assume that freight usage will be restricted to a few hours in the middle of the night so that the passenger transit system can operate all day and most of the night. This concept is known as “temporal separation” and is well-established for conventional passenger rail and freight.
Additional notes:
- A prototype of this system could be tested on a small section of the rail corridor.
- Boarding locations can be included on both sides of the railroad tracks. They don’t all need to face the rail trail. See image below for an indication of how this might work.
- The vehicles are bidirectional, with no distinction between front and back, so turning around is simply a matter of changing direction. There is never any need for a U-turn or 3-point turn, but in some situations the vehicle might need to wait for a break in the opposing traffic.
- It is our impression that most of the rail corridor has 20-foot width available, providing even more flexibility than described above. The 20-foot width is sufficient for the standard Glydways system design which uses four lanes.
- For the Rail Trail boarding locations, ADA compliance is achieved by designing the stopping zone to be approximately the same elevation as the Rail Trail.
- For a busy “station” location, the boarding zones can be ten feet apart (or whatever is the length of the vehicle), using slightly different vehicle choreography.
- This system doesn’t require stations. Conventional transit stations and benches can be installed if desired, but they are not needed because the waiting time is very short.
- “Traffic jams” don’t occur because the system is managed as a whole. In the unlikely event of vehicle failure, the remaining pods can simply go around, and the “stuck” passenger can easily transfer to another pod.
- Energy Efficiency: PRT vehicles from Ultra and 2getthere use 0.11 to 0.12 kWh per vehicle-km (source), or about 604 to 659 BTU per vehicle-mile. In 2018, US transit rail used 1,813 BTU per passenger-mile, and commuter rail used 2,398 BTU per passenger-mile (source). We found another source suggesting that electric trains typically use 0.07 to 0.18 kWh per passenger-km.
