53-481: The ExpressTram is an automated people mover system operating at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport , in Romulus, Michigan , USA. The driverless system transports passengers along Concourse A of the airport's Edward H. McNamara Terminal , which is the world's second-longest airport concourse. Detroit Metro Airport serves as the second largest hub for Delta Air Lines , after Atlanta. Plans were announced for
106-624: A $ 114 million plan for a more conventional steel-wheeled light rail system. The 28-mile (45 km) system would originate in the South Hills area as the present streetcar system did and extend through downtown to the East Liberty neighborhood. Driverless operation would be an option, and the system would be fully grade-separated. WABCO's proposal notwithstanding, PAT voted to adopt the Skybus plan on July 10, 1969. PAT's decision provoked
159-485: A compromise proposal, costed at $ 300 million, which placed Skybus on hold and included six commuter rail lines (including the future PATrain ). A major issue remained the disposition of two sources of money: state and federal. U.S. Secretary of Transportation John Volpe had announced a $ 60 million grant in September 1971, and more money would be advanced as the Skybus project developed. Shapp, as governor, controlled
212-498: A disbursement of $ 38 million in state money. Flaherty argued that the funds could be used for any transit project and were not tied to the Skybus project itself. The position of the Urban Mass Transportation Administration (UMTA) became crucial: Skybus could not be built without federal support. The Port Authority, city, and state could not agree on an appropriate plan which would serve both
265-600: A metro (e.g. Rennes , Lausanne , Brescia , etc.) are now doing so. On September 30, 2006, the Peachliner in Komaki , Aichi Prefecture , Japan, became that nation's first people mover to cease operations. Many large international airports around the world feature people mover systems to transport passengers between terminals or within a terminal itself. Some people mover systems at airports connect with other public transportation systems to allow passengers to travel into
318-472: A right to know how the money's being spent." The Pittsburgh Press editorialized that PAT "pulled a monumental blunder the other night when it not only excluded the public from the meeting at which the WABCO proposal was made but actually tried to keep the details of the proposal from reaching the public." Among the most vehement critics of Skybus was then-City Councilman Peter F. Flaherty (a Democrat ), who
371-442: A storm of controversy, both for the decision itself and the manner in which it was taken. Throughout the decision-making process PAT held numerous closed-door meetings and was less than forthcoming about how it chose Skybus over the WABCO proposal. Pro–Rail Republican County Commissioner William Hunt stated that "PAT officials should be aware ... that they are a public company using taxpayers' money and these taxpayers have
424-415: A system known as Cabinentaxi during the 1970s. Cabinentaxi featured small cars with from four to eight seats that were called to pick up passengers on-demand and drove directly to their destination. The stations were "offline", allowing the cabs to stop by moving off the main lines while other cars continued to their destinations. The system was designed so the cars could be adapted to run on top or bottom of
477-473: A time. The track, referred to as a guideway in the APM industry, is over 3,700 feet (1,100 m) long. LED displays in the stations, and in the trams, provide information, such as the upcoming stops, supplemented with a pre-recorded male voice which delivers audio information and warnings. The ExpressTram services three stations along Concourse A. The stations at the ends of the concourse are appropriately named
530-513: A working title for a new attraction, the PeopleMover . According to Imagineer Bob Gurr , "the name got stuck," and it was no longer a working title. Starting in the late 1960s and into the 1970s, people movers were the topic of intense development around the world. Worried about the growing congestion and pollution in downtown areas due to the spread of cars, many countries started studying mass transit systems that would lower capital costs to
583-455: Is "automated guideway transit", which encompasses any automated system regardless of size. Some complex APMs deploy fleets of small vehicles over a track network with off-line stations, and supply near non-stop service to passengers. These taxi-like systems are more usually referred to as personal rapid transit (PRT). Larger systems, with vehicles with 20 to 40 passengers, are sometimes referred to as "group rapid transit" (GRT), although this term
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#1732781148238636-661: Is generally used only to describe systems serving relatively small areas such as airports, downtown districts or theme parks. The term was originally applied to three different systems, developed roughly at the same time. One was Skybus , an automated mass transit system prototyped by the Westinghouse Electric Corporation beginning in 1964. The second, alternately called the People Mover and Minirail , opened in Montreal at Expo 67. Finally
689-475: Is not essential. In the event that trams lose synchronization, as is frequently the case with passenger induced delays, the first tram to arrive at the Center station will be held until the opposite tram enters the bypass area, providing a clear path for the waiting tram. People mover A people mover or automated people mover ( APM ) is a type of small scale automated guideway transit system. The term
742-419: Is not particularly common. Other complex APMs have similar characteristics to rapid transit systems, and there is no clear cut distinction between a complex APM of this type and an automated mass transit system. Another term " light metro " is also applied to describe the system worldwide. One of the first automated systems for human transportation was the screw-driven 'Never-Stop-Railway', constructed for
795-514: The British Empire Exhibition at Wembley , London in 1924. This railway consisted of 88 unmanned carriages, on a continuous double track along the northern and eastern sides of the exhibition, with reversing loops at either end. The carriages ran on two parallel concrete beams and were guided by pulleys running on the inner side of these concrete beams, and were propelled by gripping a revolving screw thread running between
848-526: The Erie Railroad to the Hudson and Manhattan Tubes . This unit was 227 feet (69 m) long with a rise of 22 feet (6.7 m) on a 15 degree grade , and only cost $ 75,000. A Carveyor consisted of many small cubicles or cars carrying ten people riding on a flat conveyor belt from point A to point B. The belt rode on a series of motorized rollers. The purpose of the motorized rollers was to facilitate
901-470: The Mt. Lebanon and Beechview neighborhoods before reaching Downtown Pittsburgh via the unused Wabash Tunnel . The entire project would cost $ 295 million; Skybus alone was $ 232 million. In July 1969 an alternative emerged to the Skybus plan. The Westinghouse Air Brake Company (WABCO)—an unrelated company also founded by George Westinghouse , several years prior to Westinghouse Electric's founding—proposed
954-479: The New York City Board of Transportation , had several meetings with a group of architects who were trying to revamp the whole New York City Subway system in the heart of town to connect Pennsylvania Station, Madison Square Garden , Times Square, Grand Central and several new office complexes together. Several of these architects were involved in other programs, and in later years many variations of
1007-616: The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania quashed the injunction on both procedural and factual grounds, holding that the suit was not timely and that Westinghouse's role was not improper. Opposition to the Skybus project continued, with Flaherty and Hunt demanding that the proposal be submitted to a referendum in the 1973 election. The projected cost of the Early Action Program, including Skybus, had risen from $ 228 million to nearly $ 400 million. Governor Milton Shapp offered
1060-650: The Carveyor people movers were developed. In November 1954 the New York City Transit Authority issued an order to Goodyear and Stephens-Adamson to build a complete Carveyor system between Times Square and Grand Central. A brief summary and confirmation can be found in Time magazine on November 15, 1954. under the heading "Subway of the Future". The cost was to be under $ 4 million, but the order
1113-514: The Detroit hub. Despite the merger, the trams have retained their red color, but new Delta logos replace the Northwest ones. The trams were refurbished in early 2019. The system was custom designed by Poma-Otis Transportation Systems, a joint venture between Otis Elevator Company and Poma that has since been dissolved. Installation was performed by Otis, who currently operates and maintains
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#17327811482381166-560: The Downtown People Mover Program. Four systems were developed, Rohr 's ROMAG , LTV 's AirTrans , Ford 's APT and Otis Elevator 's hovercraft design. A major presentation of the systems was organized as TRANSPO'72 at Dulles International Airport , where the various systems were presented to delegations from numerous cities in the US. Prototype systems and test tracks were built during the 1970s. One notable example
1219-541: The Industrial Products Division of Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. , if Goodyear had ever considered working on People Movers. He felt that with Goodyear's ability to move materials in large quantities on conveyor belts they should consider moving batches of people. Four years of engineering design, development and testing led to a joint patent being issued for three types of people movers, named Speedwalk, Speedramp, and Carveyor. Goodyear would sell
1272-525: The McNamara Terminal in 1996 by Wayne County and Northwest Airlines , who operated their largest hub in Detroit at the time. The McNamara Terminal was designed to accommodate Northwest's hub operation, which was previously housed in the airport's Davey Terminal. As part of the design, a people mover on the upper level of Concourse A was planned to help transport passengers quickly thorough the 4,900-foot (0.93-mile) concourse. The people mover, which
1325-645: The North Station (which serves gates A56–A78) and the South Station (which serves gates A1–A28). The center station serves gates A29–A55, Luggage Claim, Ground Transportation, and Concourses B and C. The center station is officially known as the Terminal Station, based upon its close proximity to the main terminal building, which houses baggage claim, airline check-in counters, and ground transportation facilities. A maintenance garage lies beyond
1378-544: The North Station. The system's primary infrastructure consists of a single guide-way. At the Terminal station, a bypass guideway splits from the main guideway allowing the two trams to pass each other. The Terminal station has an island platform between the main guideway and the bypass. Operating software attempts to keep the trams synchronized, so that the trams arrive at the Center Station simultaneously, but this
1431-629: The Pittsburgh area. With support from the state of Pennsylvania and the federal government, Westinghouse and PAT built a 9,340-foot (2,850 m) demonstration track at the Allegheny County Fairgrounds in South Park . The cars, which could operate separately or be coupled together, were powered by a pair of 60 horsepower (45 kW) motors and could travel at a maximum speed of 50 miles per hour (80 km/h). Each of
1484-525: The United States. Driverless metros have become common in Europe and parts of Asia. The economics of automated trains tend to reduce the scale so tied to "mass" transit (the largest operating expense is the driver's salary, which is only affordable if very large numbers of passengers are paying fares), so that small-scale installations are feasible . Thus cities normally thought of as too small to build
1537-419: The airport's city. [REDACTED] Media related to People movers at Wikimedia Commons Transit Expressway Revenue Line The Transit Expressway Revenue Line ( TERL ), commonly known as Skybus , was a proposed people mover rapid transit system developed by Westinghouse for the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania during the 1960s–1970s. In contrast to the traditional streetcars then in use,
1590-536: The balance. The Commission's decision did nothing to end the controversy. Flaherty, now mayor, remained opposed and used his powers as mayor to frustrate the project. In 1971 he and the Port Authority came to blows over the Wabash Tunnel , which Skybus would use to reach the downtown area. The Pittsburgh City Council voted to convey land at the mouth of the tunnel to the Port Authority. Flaherty vetoed
1643-605: The city of Pittsburgh and surrounding Allegheny County. The Port Authority remained committed to Skybus, as did a majority of the County Commission. Mayor Flaherty continued to favor a mix of traditional heavy and light rail, as did Governor Shapp. Ultimately in 1976 a cross-jurisdiction task force recommended light rail instead of Skybus, and the UMTA support was withdrawn. Once the Allegheny County Fair
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1696-577: The concept and Stephens-Adamson would manufacture and install the components. A Speedwalk consisted of a flat conveyor belt riding on a series of rollers, or a flat slippery surface, moving at 1.5 mph (2.4 km/h) (approximately half the speed of walking). The passengers would walk onto the belt and could stand or walk to the exit point. They were supported by a moving handrail . Customers were expected to include airport terminals , ballparks , train stations , etc. Today, several manufacturers produce similar units called moving walkways . A Speedramp
1749-845: The decision. The council voted to do so again, overriding Flaherty's veto. Flaherty then refused to sign the necessary papers. The matter reached the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania , which ruled against Flaherty in July 1972. PAT would spend a total of $ 9.2 million rebuilding the tunnel and then undoing the work after the system was canceled. In November 1971 the City Council had decided to table legislation funding Skybus. Construction stopped after Court of Common Pleas Judge Anne X. Alpern issued an injunction, ruling that PAT had failed to consider alternatives and that Westinghouse had "an illegal conflict of interest." In January 1973
1802-581: The four cars was 30 feet 6 inches (9.30 m) long and could seat 28. Power was provided a 565 volt three-phase AC underrail system. During the 1960s the Port Authority formulated its so-called "Early Action Program", the purpose of which was to establish a more robust rapid transit system in Pittsburgh. The program called for an 11-mile (18 km) Skybus line and two "busways" ( bus rapid transit routes), plus rehabilitation of existing equipment. The Skybus route would originate South Hills Village and follow existing streetcar right-of-way through
1855-468: The gradual acceleration and deceleration speeds on the conveyor belt and overcome the tendency of all belts to stretch at start up and during shutdown. At point "A" passengers would enter a Speedwalk running parallel to the belts and cars of the Carveyor. The cars would be moving at the same speed as the Speedwalk; the passengers would enter the cars and be seated, while the motorized rollers would increase
1908-448: The hearings to express their views. Flaherty accused the PAT board of directors of having an "emotional commitment ... to the Skybus plan" and of collusion with business-industrial interests in the Pittsburgh area who favored the plan. Tabor split the difference, presenting a plan which included WABCO and a 16-mile (26 km) Skybus loop east of downtown. A continuing source of contention
1961-677: The immaturity of the technology and other factors, led the Port Authority to abandon the project and pursue alternatives. By the start of the 1980s most politicians had lost interest in the concept and the project was repeatedly de-funded in the early 1980s. Only two APMs were developed as a part of the People Mover Program in the U.S., the Metromover in Miami , and the Detroit People Mover . The Jacksonville Skyway
2014-485: The last, called PeopleMover or WEDway PeopleMover, was an attraction that was originally presented by Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company and that opened at Disneyland in 1967. Now, however, the term "people mover" is generic, and may use technologies such as monorail , rail tracks or maglev . Propulsion may involve conventional on-board electric motors, linear motors or cable traction . Generally speaking, larger APMs are referred to by other names. The most generic
2067-572: The point where any city could afford to deploy them. Most of these systems used elevated guideways, which were much less expensive to deploy than tunnels. However, elevating the track causes problems with noise, so traditional steel-wheel-on-rail solutions were rare as they squealed when rounding bends in the rails. Rubber tired solutions were common, but some systems used hovercraft techniques or various magnetic levitation systems. Two major government funded APM projects are notable. In Germany, Mannesmann Demag and Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm developed
2120-432: The speed of the cars up to the traveling speed (which would be preset depending on the distance to be covered). At point B Passengers could disembark and by means of a series of flat slower belts (Speedwalks) go to other Carveyors to other destinations or out to the street. The cars at point B would continue on rollers around a semicircle and then reverse the process carrying passengers back to point A. The initial installation
2173-599: The system. The system operates 21 feet (6.4 m) above the main floor, and it consists of two cable-driven trams that ride upon an air-cushion , similar to a hovercraft . 3-PSI of air pressure is enough to lift the tram vehicles approximately 1/2" above the guideway surface. (The same " Hovair " technology is used in the Hub Tram and the Cincinnati Airport People Mover ) Each tram is made up of two cars and can carry up to 208 passengers at
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2226-557: The technology used a dedicated elevated concrete track and rubber-tired driverless cars . A demonstrator was built and operated in the South Hills area but political opposition killed the deployment of a larger system. Westinghouse, a Pittsburgh firm, developed the technology during the early 1960s in cooperation with the Port Authority of Allegheny County , a public entity which by 1964 controlled most mass transit in
2279-428: The track (but not easily converted from one to the other), allowing dual-track movements from a single elevated guideway only slightly wider than the cars. A test track was completed in 1975 and ran until development was completed in 1979, but no deployments followed and the companies abandoned the system shortly thereafter. In the U.S., a 1966 federal bill provided funding that led to the development of APM systems under
2332-550: The tracks in a pit; by adjusting the pitch of this thread at different points, the carriages could be sped up, or slowed down to a walking pace at stations, to allow passengers to join and leave. The railway ran reliably for the two years of the exhibition, and was then dismantled. In late 1949, Mike Kendall, chief engineer and Chairman of the Board of Stephens-Adamson Manufacturing Company, an Illinois-based manufacturer of conveyor belts and systems , asked Al Neilson, an engineer in
2385-485: Was Pittsburgh 's Skybus, which was proposed by the Port Authority of Allegheny County to replace its streetcar system, which, having large stretches of private right of way, was not suited for bus conversion. A short demonstration line was set up in South Park and large tracts of land were secured for its facilities. However, opposition arose to the notion that it would replace the streetcar system. This, combined with
2438-406: Was WABCO's cost estimate, which PAT's consulting engineer said was at least $ 100 million too low. The viability of the unproven Skybus technology, in particular the switching system , remained a concern. In September the County Commission voted 2–1 to adopt the plan. The Commission stated that of the $ 228 million only $ 20–30 million would be paid by the county, with federal and state funds making up
2491-557: Was a candidate for Mayor of Pittsburgh . Flaherty accused PAT of prejudging in favor of Skybus and rushing the decision to secure federal funding for the project. Flaherty urged additional, open, hearings to better evaluate the merits of the Skybus and WABCO proposals. In response, the Allegheny County Commission agreed to hold a series of public hearings into the competing plans. Both Flaherty and John K. Tabor , his Republican opponent for mayor, appeared at
2544-629: Was built in the late 1980s. Although many systems were generally considered failures, several APM systems developed by other groups have been much more successful. Lighter systems with shorter tracks are widely deployed at airports; the world's first airport people movers, the Tampa International Airport People Movers , were installed in 1971 at Tampa International Airport in the United States . APMs have now become common at large airports and hospitals in
2597-493: Was done away with in the early 1970s, rides on the Skybus track ceased. In the Spring and Summer of 1980 the county had the track, cars and computer dismantled and bartered for scrap, with the computer building becoming a park police office. The Skybus tests proved that rubber tire driverless transit could function. Westinghouse Electric would later have a role in the development of the first major fully automated transit system in
2650-446: Was eventually named ExpressTram, was the world's first airport people mover to operate on the inside of a terminal building, and not outdoors or in tunnels like other airports. The ExpressTram entered service when the McNamara Terminal opened on February 24, 2002. The two trams on the system were painted red because Northwest Airlines' primary branding color was red. Northwest merged with Delta Air Lines in 2010, who continues to operate
2703-569: Was never fulfilled due to political difficulties. Chocolate World in Hershey, Pennsylvania , Disneyland in California, and Walt Disney World in Florida are among many locations that have used variations of the Carveyor concept. The term 'people mover' was used by Walt Disney , when he and his Imagineers were working on the new 1967 Tomorrowland at Disneyland . The name was used as
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#17327811482382756-644: Was to be the 42nd Street Shuttle in New York City between Times Square and Grand Central station. The first mention of the Carveyor in a hardback book was in There's Adventure in Civil Engineering by Neil P. Ruzic (1958), one of a series of books published by Popular Mechanics in the 1950s in their "Career" series. In the book the Carveyor was already installed and operational in downtown Los Angeles. Colonel Sydney H. Bingham, Chairman of
2809-594: Was very similar to a Speedwalk but it was used to change elevations; up or down a floor level. This could have been accomplished by an escalator, but the Speedramp would allow wheeled luggage, small handcarts etc. to ride the belt at an operating cost predicted to be much lower than escalators or elevators . The first successful installation of a Speedramp was in the spring of 1954 at the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Station in Jersey City, New Jersey , to connect
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