At last Thursday's presentation to the City Council, Calthorpe Associates principal Peter Calthorpe suggested that a Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) might solve any traffic woes that SunCal's plans to build 6,000 units might bring to Alameda. The PRT would run on an elevated track from Alameda Point and connect commuters Jack London Square across the Oakland Estuary.

After the meeting, some said that the idea of a PRT brought to mind the gondola that the Alameda Point Community Partners proposed in 2001 to unsnarl traffic any development on the Point might bring to Alameda's already congested streets. The gondola idea surfaced again in 2004.

"The PRT has to work for all," Calthorpe said in a telephone interview. The system has to be a win-win for both Oakland and Alameda, he said.

United World Infrastructure — one of SunCal's competitors for the contract at the Point — was working with CyberTran to develop a PRT that would have run "along the north side of Alameda and take passengers to the BART stations at Fruitvale and West Oakland." A PRT might cost $10 to $15 million a mile, CyberTran said in 2004.

Real-world costs

During his presentation, Calthorpe pointed to London's Heathrow Airport's PRT as an example of what Alamedans might expect at the Point. Heathrow's owner, BAA LTD, quotes the projected cost for the 2.4-kilometer-long rail line at 25 million British pounds ($44.47 million). This translates to 1.49 miles and a cost of $29.53 million a mile, a hefty increase from the $10-15 million CyberTran estimate.

Calthorpe also said that he would like to use the same company that put Heathrow's PRT together, British-based Advanced Transport System, Ltd.

In an interview with McGraw Hill's Engineering News, Heathrow's PRT manager David Holdcroft said that BAA LTD chose Advanced Transport System with its four-person automated vehicles because "We found it difficult to solve the problems we face [by] traditional means."

The London Airport's PRT's lightweight track system will carry passengers between the Heathrow's new Terminal 5 and stations at two airport parking-lots. Holdcroft touts the PRT as well suited to a cramped airport. "You can insert PRT...without very much disruption [or] displacing what's there," he said.

That is all very true for a PRT built entirely on private property, but where would SunCal's PRT run on its elevated tracks from Alameda Point to BART? First of all, Calthorpe points out that SunCal's plans to build a PRT 10 to 12 years from now and only with what he called, "proven technology."

Calthorpe said he would like to see the PRT run from Alameda Point to Jack London Square and into downtown Oakland. Eventually the system could expand to include Park Street. The PRT is only a part of the plan to build 6,000 units, Calthorpe pointed out. If SunCal receives approval to build 4,200 units, transportation would be provided by bus and ferry,

SunCal will deliver financial estimates for its entire project, including the PRT, to city officials tomorrow.