Personal Rapid Transit for Microsoft Campus in Redmond, WA
Microsoft is growing their 30,000-worker Redmond campus by another 12,000 workers.
For details on the expansion program, see :
"Microsoft re-imagines its corporate home,"
Seattle Post-Intelligence, January 27, 2005.
We have a better solution for Microsoft campus expansion:
3 Minute Animation of PRT on MS campus:
Very high quality (640x480 664Kbps) 20MB WMV version.
Highest quality 64MB (DIVX AVI) version. (Requires DIVX play bundle or DIVX codec: http://www.divx.com/.)
Lower res, lower quality, 6MB Real Networks version: http://www.cities21.org/MS.rm.
Still Images:
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Click on images for higher resolution downloadable images - courtesy Studio Z Imagery |
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| PRT TECHNOLOGY PRT is an elevated monorail system with many three-person, driverless, electric vehicles. It is ideally suited for short "feeder/distributor", shuttle, and "circulation" operations at train stations, airports, office parks, and shopping centers. PRT provides non-stop, no-wait, 30 mph service. Vehicles travel above ground on 16' elevated "guideway." Stations are located near building entrances. Many stations are situated along the route to minimize walking once the trip ends. Vehicles travel non-stop to their destination along the main guideway at 30 mph, speeding at twice the average speed of autos on congested streets below. Stations are NOT located on the main guideway; instead, stations are located on separate station guideway that branches from the main guideway. Thus, stations are described as "off-line," meaning "not on the main line." PRT combines concepts from monorail (Disneyland), automated people movers (SeaTac Airport), roller coasters, and automated highway systems (California Governor Schwarzenegger's GM OnStar van drives itself in the science fiction movie The Sixth Day). |
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| Passengers travel alone or with people of their choosing. Vehicle weight minimization
greatly reduces the size of the elevated guideway and supporting columns, dramatically reducing construction cost
and right of way acquisition. Vehicles flow along the guideway almost like data packets on the Internet, anticipating
demand so that wait time is eliminated. In addition to improving commute alternatives, the PRT system eliminates
mid-day stranding caused by traditional carpooling/transit, by providing efficient transit to Pro Sports Clubs
and alternate Microsoft cafeterias. PRT system capacity is roughly 4,000 person trips per hour per PRT "loop." Systems may have many loops, providing more capacity. System Benefits: Less traffic, less greenhouse gas, more auto-free mobility, improved public transit fare recovery, increased ability to attract employees. |
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| New Technology can help reduce congestion Recent national studies by the Texas Transportation Institute and the Brookings Institution conclude that there is no 'silver bullet' to reduce traffic congestion. A more accurate conclusion is that our current national tool kit for reducing traffic congestion is ineffective, thus new tools should be developed. MICROSOFT CAMPUS PRT SYSTEM: Microsoft's three Redmond campuses (Main, West, and RedWest) hold more than 30,000 employees and contractors. Microsoft recently purchased new parcels, and has plans to add another 10,000 to 20,000 employees and 8,500 parking spaces. The local street network is already overburdened, as the success of Microsoft was not contemplated when the streets were first designed. Some intersections serve more than 30,000 car trips per day. Microsoft currently has one of the nation's most impressive shuttle bus systems, with 43 buses serving 5,500 campus trips per day, often bring employees to and from remote meetings. While the bus system is state-of-the-art, employees find door-to-door trip times comparable to walking. In contrast, PRT provides local service that is faster than a car, especially when time spent searching for parking spaces (Microsoft is infamous for scarce parking) and time spent walking from distant parking lots is factored in. A preliminary Microsoft Campus PRT system map at right shows 29 stations (including one at Pro Sports Club), 9.5 miles of one-way guideway, and five high-capacity loops. Yellow diamonds depict station locations. |
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