Passive Vehicle-Automated Guideway Transit. Documentation of Previous Work and Assessment of Impact of New Technology on This Concept

摘要

In the early 1970s, the Vought Corporation developed a small vehicle (three to six passengers) Automated Guideway Transit (AGT) system called LectraVia which utilized passive vehicles (PV) operating on an active guideway. This report documents the development of this PV-AGT system and assesses its potential as a concept that could provide technology to improve AGT system operational costs. The documentation includes a full description of the system, the application and cost studies performed, details of the control system, the 1/5-scale operational model, the results of the full-scale LIM motor thrust verification tests, fullscale engineering prototype system and test results. A cost/benefit analysis relative to conventional AGT systems is presented. Application study results are given which show the effect of vehicle size on costs, service, and performance. The technical and economic feasibility of modular construction of the Active Guideway System is also explored. The critical technology required for full development and deployment of passive vehicle systems is identified and a plan for implementation of this development is presented. This report not only describes the PV-AGT system concept in detail but also evaluates the economics of the system through a comparative analysis of the passive vehicle (LectraVia) versus the active vehicle (AIRTRANS) proposals made for the Las Vegas application. The results indicate that the passive vehicle has the advantage of superior system availability at equal or slightly lower costs than can be expected for the active vehicle systems.