PRT - Hermes
Safety issues
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Watch the presentation about safety |
Won't Hermes have a multiple-crash problem?
Won't Hermes have a multiple-crash problem?
A PRT vehicle derailment will be a rare event since the carrying bogie moves inside the guideway , not on top of it. In the event of an other failure (e.g. motor) the vehicle will almost certainly stop gradually , not immediately , giving enough time to following vehicles to stop too.
A sudden stop (and a subsequent multiple crash) can only occur in the case of a catastrophic failure of the guideway or if an obstacle heavy enough to stop a vehicle suddenly appeared on the guideway , 4 metres above the ground. Experience from elevated systems shows that such events simply don't happen.
This supposed problem is called "incompatibility with brick wall stop criterion" It is perhaps the single most important reason that explains why PRT , although feasible , is not a reality today.
In general people will use the vehicles alone or in groups of 2 persons travelling together because they want to. Noone has to ride a vehicle with a stranger.
Every station will have 1-2 survellaince cameras , deterring acts of violence or vandalism.
There will be no cameras inside vehicles. However if anything punishable happens in a vehicle , there will be available the camera captions of the offender entering and exiting it.
How many are the casualties of road accidents in Greece?
3500 dead each year , 10000 persons with permament disabilities , 45000 injured
Most of it happens in our cities.
There is no doubt that the main responsible for these terrible statistics are cars and motorcycles. Mass transit's contribution to death toll is small.But can Mass transit help to further reduce casualties?
The answer is absolutely not! As explained at Cost:The big Picture , Mass transit is unable to reduce car and motorcycle usage.
Today many people use motorcycles (instead of a safer means) because they can swerve between cars and get the pole position at the traffic lights (and of course they can find more easily parking space). Thousands of people do that every day despite being illegal and dangerous , yet police silently allows it because everybody knows that MASS TRANSIT IS NOT AN ALTERNATIVE FOR SOMEONE THAT DOESN'T WANT TO SPEND THE WHOLE DAY ON THE ROAD
For the transit policy maker there is no doubt: Investing in Mass Transit means that casualties in the future , due to car and motorcycle accidents , will continue to grow at today's rates. PRT combines safety AND fast commute. PRT is the only hope to see a real reduction in casualties.
