[PRCo] Re: Where are you?

[Bob Rathke]

Variations of the Skybus concept work well - and have since as long ago as
1974 - at Dallas-Ft. Worth and Tampa Airports, and later at airports in
Newark and Chicago.  These applications are basically horizontal elevators,
using 1960's technology to transport stand-up riders less than three miles,
to a few stops, without an operator.  Unfortunately, in Pittsburgh from 1963
to around 1975, the small Skybus vehicles were promoted as an alternative to
higher capacity light rail over distances of 15 miles where trips of 45
minutes required a higher degree of passenger comfort.

By the 1990's in Vancouver, engineers had figured out how to combine a
higher capacity, longer distance system with auomated operation.

Bob 2/23/04

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----- Original Message -----
From: "Harold Geissenheimer" <transitmgr2 at earthlink.net>
To: <pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org>
Sent: Monday, February 23, 2004 1:10 PM
Subject: [PRCo] Re: Where are you?


> Ed and others
> Ed.  you are right.  Sky bus woirks well at many airports
>
> Tampa, Seattle, Orlando, Denver, Atlanta, Pgh,San Francisco, Frankfurt,
> Miami
>
> and the downtown people mover in Miami (expanded several times)
>
> Westinghouse wanted Sky bus to create manufacturing jobs in Pgh.
>
> In fact they did.  Plant is in West Miflin.  Ownership went from
> WElectric to
> AEG Westinghouse to Adtrans to now Bombardier
>
> They did bring jobs to Pgh
>
> Harold Geissenheimer
>
> Edward H. Lybarger wrote:
>
> >But it works thoroughly well at a variety of airports I've visited!
RR