If Anyone is Still Reading....

In keeping with my New Years resolution not to spend a lot of time on the internet, I'm not going to blog here anymore.

The statistics don't justify me posting and nobody is paying me to flog a dead horse for the few readers who bother to read DMO.

I probably will add one more update when Rep. Mark Olson is officially dumped at the polls.

Until then, the blog will remain as a resource for opposition research.

PRT Supporters Lose Special Election in Minnesota

(Cross-posted at Dump Bachmann)

The Northfield News:

Dahle won today's special election with 55 percent of the vote, defeating Republican Ray Cox of Northfield with 42 percent and Independence Party candidate Vance Norgaard of Northfield with 2 percent.

Ray Cox claimed in a debate that there was a PRT facility in Duluth. Cox later admitted to Eva Young and PRT promoter David Gow the the facility did not exist.

Message to Rep. Mark Olson and Michele Bachmann: Being a PRT supporter doesn't win elections.

Click To Play

Daventry's PRT Promoters Want to Pave a Public Swimming Pool for a Parking Lot

Daventry Today:

THERE will be no replacement outdoor pool, no refund to the townspeople who paid for it, and the former site is likely to be built on.

That was the response of Cllr Chris Over, Daventry District Council’s economic and regeneration portfolio holder, to questions asked by Daventry Town Council and the Swimming Pool Association over the future of the former outdoor pool site in Chaucer Way.

Last week the town council wrote to Daventry District Council (DDC) asking if there would be a replacement for the old outdoor pool and if not would DDC reimburse the people who paid for it the estimated current value of £2 million.

The town council also asked if the former site would remain as public open space.

The pool was filled in and the buildings demolished at the beginning of last year by DDC after the Government Office For The East Midlands (GOEM) decided not to examine the planning application on the basis that the site would remain as open public space. At the moment it is fenced off and inaccessible to the public.

Cllr Over said: “The district council is not going to provide a new indoor or outdoor pool as has previously been suggested.

“The current leisure facilities meet the needs of the community at this time, but there will be reviews as the town grows to make sure that remains the case.

“It is my understanding that there will not be a ‘reimbursement’ based on the current value of the former buildings or the land.

“The Chaucer Way site is being considered for a temporary car park, but in the long term the land will be used for the benefit of the community.

“It think it’s unlikely it will remain as open space, but would be put to good use as there are plans for new leisure and cultural facilities.”

In the past DDC has said it planned to expand the existing Chaucer Way car park over the old Outdoor Pool site to create an additional 240 spaces as a temporary measure while other car parks in the town are redeveloped.

In the longer term DDC’s own masterplan for the town’s growth indicates the outdoor pool land would be used for retail units, associated parking, and part of the marina project

... but ... but ... I thought the podcars that the DDC proposed last year were supposed to make cars and parking lots obsolete?

I remember when the PRT promoter Gary Dean Zimmermann voted to demolish two homes in my neighborhood for a parking lot (the demolition began on Earth Day). Like Zimmermann, The Daventry District Council peddles PRT-pie-in-the -the-sky-by-and-by while doing nothing about the pollution, inequity and land-use problems associated with automobile-centric urban planning.

The town council’s questions were prompted by Bob Waldock, from Daventry Swimming Pool Association, who asked the authority to find out DDC’s current plans.

Mr Waldock said: “What we want is what we’ve said all along – a brand new facility. We’re going to get a brand new town, so why can’t we get this brand new facility?

“In the short-term all the district council has to do is mow around the site and put some benches in to make it into a recreation site again.

“What we want in the long-term is for the site to remain as recreational use, and ideally for a new facility to be built so that children can learn how to swim in a safe environment before the marina and canal get built.”

Yet another example of the Personal Rapid Transit public relations gimmick used to mask the true intentions of people who want to privatize, build on and pave over everything.

Ithaca's PRT Promoters Know Better Than You

On another blog, a persistent troll accused me of representing the interests of "the light rail lobby".

It's a ridiculous claim, but it gives me an opportunity to say what I stand for.

I am in favor of full and meaningful citizen participation in decisions that effect the neighborhoods they live in. That is why I volunteered to oppose the 35W Access Project.

Meaningful citizen participation requires that citizens be given the power to make decisions based on the best available information.

The PRT promoters of Ithaca seem to have another idea... no meaningful citizen participation.

This is from the local Green Cities blog:

THE GOVERNMENT: Top down approach. This is how any really major change has ever happened in the world of environmentalism. Without governmental guidance or support very little will get done in a short period of time.

And what sort of "major change" do these self-styled "green" tyrants want to force on Ithaca?

Personal Rapid Transit:

Goal 1: To engage the Cornell community in learning, discussing, and eventually approving the vision of Connect Ithaca, which includes collaborative planning for an Ithaca-wide personal rapid transity (PRT) system.

Goal 2: To outreach to the downtown Ithaca community about Connect Ithaca and work with any other parties in promoting PRT in Ithaca.

Looks like the Connect Ithaca Team is going about the business of lining up support for their top-down pod revolution. Here is a resolution passed by the Cornell Student Assembly.

And the Chair of Connect Ithaca Jacob Roberts is also going about the business of lining up support:

Ithaca is well positioned to become a beta-site for one of the first modern PRT networks in the world. Various Industry leaders, International PRT NGOs, and even other US city Mayors are already supporting Connect Ithaca and its effort to situate Ithaca, NY and Tompkins County as the testing, development and manufacturing hub of the first major North American PRT network. Very exciting, indeed!

What Jake means by "beta-site" is that Ithaca is where the PRTistas plan to work out the bugs in their ridiculous concept.

Here's Jake talking about the Podcar Conference:

Click To Play

How Old is Personal Rapid Transit?

In the last post I showed a newspaper clipping that showed that J. Edward Anderson has been wasting everyone's time with his "new" and "innovative" PRT concept since the Nixon Era of the early 1970's.

A PRTista cranked up his keyboard to send me what he thought was a correction:

...PRT ideas trace back to the 1950s....

I suppose he means the sort of "futuristic" crackpot gadgetbahn ideas in this 1958 Disney movie:



... I suppose you could go back to Leonardo's sketchbooks to find a mention of PRT... hey there it is:



.... and look, there's PRT in the caves of Lascaux:



.... wow, they were working on "new" and "innovative" ideas way back then!

Personal Rapid Transit is a Nixon Era Concept

For over thirty years, J. Edward Anderson and his pals have been wasting our time with PRT:



Yes, that is Nixon's face in the photo.

The CPRT's David Gow Calls Rep. Mark Olson a "Certifiable Wacko"

Over at the Dump Bachmann blog, the Citizens for Personal Rapid Transit's Seattle representative David Gow ( Mr_Grant) left this comment:

May I make a strategic suggestion? You should be trying to organize a campaign to recall Slappy Olson. He seems to be the most irrelevant politician in Minnesota and a certifiable wacko, it shouldn't be that hard of a sales job.

It looks as if the CPRT has thrown Rep. Mark Olson under the bus... er ... pod.

The PRTistas were much more loyal to Dean Zimmermann. Even after Zimmermann lost his appeal on his bribery conviction, they still have his PRT plan for Minneapolis on their website.

J. Edward Anderson signed a statement of support for Dean Zimmermann calling the former Minneapolis councilman a "political prisoner".

Not very smart of the CPRT to turn their back on Rep. Mark Olson.

Rep. Mark Olson knows a few things. If the PRTistas turn their back on him, he could find the right publisher for his memoirs and tell all about how the PRT flim-flam operates. It might even become a bestseller.

Heck, I might even help him write it.


Dump Mark Olson in BMRD's Top Seven List

Dump Mark Olson is # 5 on Hal Kimball's years end list of blogs:

5. Dump Mark Olson: Avidor's work this past year on the Mark Olson domestic violence case and his PRT boondoggle have been excellent and consistent. No one is better with photoshop either! I'm looking forward to Avidor covering the Olson House race in 08.

Check out the other blogs on Hal's list.

SD 25 GOP Candidate Ray Cox Supports Rep. Mark Olson's PRT Boondoggle

If anyone you know still has any doubts that PRT is anything but a scam, listen to this segment of an interview I did with the Government's chief witness in the Zimmermann corruption trial.

January 3rd is the SD 25 election.

At the Senate District 25 candidate forum December 20th, candidate Ray Cox described himself and the Independent candidate Vance Norgaard as "PRT guys".

Ray Cox was referring to "Personal Rapid Transit". PRT is an infeasible, controversial transportation concept which has been wasting the time of citizens and public officials for over 30 years. There are no working PRT systems anywhere in the world.

Cox also says there is a 1/4 mile Personal Rapid Transit demonstration project in Duluth. That is not true.

Ray Cox also said PRT has "a lot of potential" and "the State should get behind it".

Ray Cox is misinformed. PRT is a classic boondoggle. There isn't a community in Minnesota that would willingly cut down half the trees on their streets for a monorail-like structure with a view into their second-story windows.

PRT was promoted heavily in 2004 by Rep. Mark Olson (recently ejected from the House GOP Caucus) and former Minneapolis Councilman Dean Zimmermann (now serving a sentence for bribery).

Rep. Mark Olson's PRT bills inn 2004 would have allowed Duluth (or Minneapolis) to bond for PRT, but those bills never made it past the conference committee.

Rep. Margaret Kelliher said in 2004 that PRT had "junk bond status"... she was right then and she is still right. PRT is a boondoggle that has wasted hundreds of millions of dollars in cities around the world.

Even if PRT was everything its promoters claim it to be, PRT is not funded by the Federal Government as they do with conventional transportation infrastructure projects.... Minnesota taxpayers would have to pay for the ENTIRE cost of developing the technology AND building a system (if it were possible) that would cost billions of dollars just for the Metro Area alone.

I hope the voters of SD 25 elect a senator who supports proven, conventional transportation initiatives. Minnesota does not need more fiscally imprudent legislators eager to risk scarce public dollars on pie-in-the-sky concepts like PRT.

Dean Zimmermann Asked Developer for $250,000 for PRT

IN this video interview for Minneapolis Confidential, developer and builder Gary Carlson talked about the trial of Rep. Mark Olson's fellow PRT associate Gary Dean Zimmermann. Carlson briefly mentions that Zimmermann asked him for $250,000 for his PRT project with the Taxi 2000 Corporation... listen:



Longer version of this video at Minneapolis Confidential.

Skytran LTE Claims PRT "... delivers the best transit service in the United States."

Totally bizarre.... even for Skytran promoters who claim their "system" is cheaper to build than LRT because Skytran is built with a guideway-extruding robot:

Another smart way to go

I would like to join the IJ in thanking Supervisors Judy Arnold and Charles McGlashan for inviting Unimodal to share its vision of personal rapid transit with the citizens of Marin on Dec. 5. I also appreciated the public's insightful and at times critical questions. However, an important point went unmentioned in your editorial (Dec. 12, "Public transit and Buck Rogers").

Personal rapid transit is not in some distant future. PRT is here today. And has been for 30 years. As we noted in our presentation, the federal government built the Morgantown, W.Va., PRT system in the 1970s and it is still delivers the best transit service in the United States. Unfortunately, for political reasons, Morgantown remains the best system you've never heard of. In Europe, politics has been swept aside and a second generation of PRT is being deployed in the at London's Heathrow Airport and in Uppsala, Sweden. These systems can be ordered today.

Next generation PRT builds on these proven first- and second-generation systems and will deliver a level of service and performance unmatched by automobiles or transit. As such, Unimodal's SkyTran PRT system is the middle way to the sustainable transportation future the Earth needs today.

Because the stakes are so high, all options should be on the table for Marin, the United States and the world. Planning our future in these dangerous times is not a zero-sum game. The old and new can co-exist and work together side by side.

That would be the smart way to go.

Christopher Perkins, chief executive officer, Unimodal Systems

Chris uses the word "smart" because the proposed rail transit line the local anti-transit group Marin Citizens for Effective Transportation opposes goes by the acronym S.M.A.R.T.

Maybe Perkins is confused by the existence of PRT in "Second LIfe"?

It's interesting that PRT always seems to pop up in places where rail transit is being proposed.

Marshall Independent: "Seifert says expelling lawmaker was right thing"

Column in Marshall, Minnesota's Independent by Editor Dana Yost:





In his first year as House minority leader, state Rep. Marty Seifert has faced some tough moments.



Tense talks over the state budget. Criticism at home from Lyon County commissioners. Telling Republican House staff workers last year before Christmas they were being laid off because the GOP had lost the majority.



In context, that makes what he had to do this month seem not so tough — actually seem like the right thing to do.



In a story that broke this week, Seifert and the House Republican Caucus he leads voted to expel Rep. Mark Olson, R-Big Lake, from the GOP caucus after Olson was convicted on a domestic violence charge.



Olson had already been suspended after the case had gone to court, but the caucus took stricter action after the conviction.



"It's never easy to tell a guy you've served in the House with for 11 years that you're expelling him," Seifert said the other day. "It's never an easy thing to do stuff like this. But this was not as hard as telling good, hard-working people they weren't going to have a job or making budget decisions. This was tough, but it wasn't the worst thing.

"

In fact, it was easy to justify.



Olson was convicted of misdemeanor assault against his wife.



The jury convicted him of causing his wife to fear of bodily harm after an much-publicized incident in which they collided and fell to the ground and he supposedly hit her with a Bible. The jury acquitted Olson of the more serious charge of intentionally harming or trying to harm his wife. The original charges said he knocked his wife to the ground three times.



Olson frequently talked about how he follows the Bible and stresses the importance of family values. Seifert said the criminal conviction points to some hypocrisy the GOP caucus simply couldn't be associated with.



"We certainly have a lot of concern in elected office — are we going to try to keep on a higher ground of ethics?" Seifert said. "If he had been acquitted, it would have been cut and dry (Olson would stay in the caucus). But he was convicted. He's going to appeal, so we put in the caveat that he could be reinstated if he's successful (with the appeal or on Election Day).

"

For now, though, Olson is a convicted wife-assaulter. That alone made Seifert upset. He said he grew up in a peaceful household and lives in one now, and doesn't understand or tolerate domestic violence no matter how angry someone gets.



"People are bothered by the hypocrisy," Seifert said. "You can't have office-holders talking about family values and have a caucus member engage in domestic assault. It's hypocritical and feeds the cynicism people feel about politics.

"

Olson is still in the House and can still call himself a Republican, but by being booted from the Republican caucus he loses all access to staff support and other privileges.



Seifert said Olson was angry when Seifert called him with the news, and Olson told the Twin Cities media Tuesday he will seek re-election — either as a Republican or a third-party candidate. He said he and his wife have reconciled and the issue shouldn't be as big as it is.



Seifert disagreed.

"He may well win his seat again, but that doesn't mean I have to be part of it," Seifert said, speaking as the caucus leader.

Seifert also contrasted the GOP's expulsion of Olson with the way the U.S. Senate has waffled over Republican Sen. Larry Craig's sex-related conviction, and how the state Senate DFL caucus responded to the DWI arrest of Senate

President James Metzen on the final day of the 2007 session.

Metzen was also convicted and apologized. The DFL hasn't called for Metzen to be penalized legislatively, but has supported his treatment program.

"That might be seen as a little different than domestic violence," Seifert said. "But he could have killed somebody (while driving drunk).

But people are saying if the DFL didn't do anything to Jim Metzen, why are the Republicans doing this to Mark Olson.

"Well, we're not the Democrats ... when it comes to domestic violence, that's a big deal."

The Republicans didn't rush to judgment, Seifert said, deliberating Olson's fate over long hours and waiting until the judicial process had run its course.



And this didn't help Olson, either: While Metzen apologized for his DWI arrest, Olson has hardly acknowledged he was wrong in the domestic assault incident, Seifert said.

"I have never seen any sense of remorse from Mark Olson on this," Seifert said. "I've served with him for 11 years and I would have expected some sort of contrition. I haven't seen that at all.

"

Seifert said the GOP has taken some heat that the expulsion could cost the party Olson's seat entirely. Or on the flip side, that it was a calculated GOP step to get rid of damaged goods and clear room for other possible candidates, including former secretary of state Mary Kiffmeyer.



Ultimately, though, something else overrode political concerns, Seifert said.

"At some point, you have to say we've got to do what is right and take politics off the table," Seifert said. "This was right."

H/T Beyond Sound Bites and Headlines

Heathrow Terminal 5 to Open Without ULTra Personal Rapid Transit System

From the BAA 2005:

On successful completion of all the milestones a year long pilot scheme will be introduced at Heathrow airport in 2008.

From the BBC on Monday:

Heathrow Airport operator BAA said the guided vehicles should be up and running in 2009.

No mention in the article or at the ULtra site why the project has been delayed a year (of course).

Mark Olson Says He will Run Again and May Appeal Verdict

T.W. Budig on the ECM website:

Rep. Mark Olson plans to seek re-election, says House Republican caucus vote was academic

Thursday, 13 December 2007

Rep. Mark Olson plans to seek re-election and portrayed the recent House Republican caucus vote to permanently suspend him as academic.

“There’s really no difference between that and what they’ve already done,’ said Olson, speaking Wednesday (Dec. 12).

Indeed, Olson depicts working independently at the Minnesota Legislature — an independence resulting from his being charged with domestic assault last November — as liberating.

“(It’s) very freeing and very beneficial to have my own staff. And I’ve enjoyed working under this situation,” said Olson.

... Olson feels at peace...

“So it’s been very freeing and it’s a more peaceable way of operating down here (at the Capitol),” said Olson. “So it’s been good,” he said.

Olson was temporarily suspended from the Republican House caucus after as his arrest for domestic assault.

Olson was eventually found guilty of one count of misdemeanor domestic assault with the intention to cause fear.

Last Thursday (Dec. 6) the caucus voted to permanently remove Olson, an eight-term Republican lawmaker from Big Lake.

House Minority Leader Marty Seifert, R-Marshall, explained the vote was to clarify misunderstandings the public might have about Olson’s status with the caucus.

... But, Olson said the vote was unnecessary...

But Olson views the vote, beyond being unnecessary, as a means for the caucus to oppose his re-election.

Olson expects a number of Republican candidates to vie for the District 16B endorsement. “I think it will be healthy,” he said. “With the state (Republican) caucus involved, I think it will be unhealthy,” said Olson.

He is determined to run again for the House, explained Olson.

“ And I’m gearing up for it,” he said.

Olson believes he has support in the district.

“When I came out of jail, I had 53 contacts of support. I had five against,” said Olson. “What happened to my family was the most awful experience I’ve ever had,” he said. “It was tragic. It was wrong, and uncalled for,” said Olson.

Olson is considering appealing the court decision against him, but would not elaborate.

As for last Thursday’s caucus vote, he looks at it as an example of good coming out of bad, said Olson.

Seifert indicated Olson’s status with the caucus could be reexamined were he to be re-elected or if his conviction were overturned on appeal.

... has anyone added up what Rep. Mark Olson's legal problems have cost the taxpayers? Start with the arrest and his arraignment, then add the expense of rescheduling his trial every time he fired his lawyer. Now, he wants to appeal his misdemeanor conviction... how much is the appeal going to cost the taxpayers of Sherburne County and the State of MInnesota?

House GOP Dumps Mark Olson

WCCO:

ST. PAUL (AP) ― State Rep. Mark Olson was already a Republican without a caucus last session.

Now, House Republicans have formally expelled him from their ranks.

House Minority Leader Marty Seifert says the caucus acted at a meeting last Thursday. Olson did not attend.

Olson was suspended from the caucus a year ago while his domestic assault case was pending.

In July, he was convicted of causing his wife fear of bodily harm when they ran into each other and fell down behind their home. He was sentenced to two years' probation and ordered to pay fines and court costs of almost $400. His attorney said Olson acted in self-defense in an abusive relationship.

Seifert says Olson might get back into the caucus if he overturns his conviction on appeal or wins re-election, but several other Republicans are already interested in running in the Sherburne County district.

Olson said he didn't see much difference between suspension and explusion. "It really does nothing more than give these folks license to send people out into the district to run against me," he said.

Editorial: "Transit solutions and Buck Rogers"

Marin County Independent Journal

The Skytran concept is intriguing but untested; Unimodal doesn't have a working prototype, which means its claims and cost projections need to be taken for what they are - optimistic, to be kind.

... of course, the supervisor who brought in the Skytran folks, Judy Arnold is anti-rail:

McGlashan hit the nail on the head when he said in his introduction that such a system might be "pertinent" in 10 or 20 years, but that he feels it his responsibility to share what is out there.

He also said it is his job to worry about the present, which is why he is a strong supporter of Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit, the proposed passenger rail system.

Arnold is an opponent of SMART, but is willing to discuss such "Maglev" concepts.

PRT has long been an effective tool for the opponents of rail transit, but it hasn't been working as well as it did in the past.

Google Sponsors Organization that Promotes Personal Rapid Transit

The Advanced Transit Association (ATRA) promotes gadgetbahn (gadget transportation). The ATRA gadgetbahn mode of choice is Personal Rapid Transit (PRT).

It was recently brought to my attention that Google's corporate logo has appeared on the front page of ATRA's website indicating that Google is a sponsor of ATRA:



Jeral Poskey's LinkedIn profile says he currently works for Google:

Current: Manager, Automated Operations at Google
Past: Advisor at Message Scape
VP of Sales and Marketing at Taxi 2000
Network administrator at Danka

Why doesn't Jeral Poskey mention that he is the Chairman of the Advanced Transit Association (ATRA). on his LinkedIn profile?



(More about Jeral Poskey and other PRT promoters' LinkedIn profiles in the previous post).

To give you an idea just how bogus ATRA is, ATRA's treasurer Larry Fabian pesters me with emails... here's the most recent one:

Lawrence Fabian

[lfabian21@********]

SUBJECT: Jake Roberts

Dec 1 (1 day ago)

He's a handsome, well-dressed dude -- a hell of lot better looking than you and me.
He's head up the 30th Ithaca Festival in late May. Come on out -- you can exhibit your venom towards innovation.

I wonder how Google's stockholders would react if they knew that Google supported a bogus organization such as ATRA?

To underscore just how bogus ATRA is, Rep. Mark Olson introduced an amendment in 2006 and 2007 that required ATRA to be involved in the Central Corridor LRT Project.

From the Minnesota House Journal for the 12th of April, 2006:

Olson moved to amend H. F. No. 2959, the second engrossment, as amended, as follows:
Page 32, delete lines 15 to 17 and insert:
"(a) For design, environmental studies, and preliminary engineering in the Central Corridor Transitway, if the study and analysis requirements of paragraphs (b) and (c) are met. Journal of the House - 89th Day - Wednesday, April 12, 2006 - Top of Page 6648
(b) The Metropolitan Council must approve a study and analysis of transit options, including personal rapid transit (PRT), express bus transit, and light rail transit. A published report of a recent study done of any Central Corridor Transitway transit mode may satisfy this study and analysis requirement for the listed transit option. The study and analysis must:
(1) determine the effectiveness and viability of each transit option;
(2) specifically address whether the Central Corridor Transitway would be a cost-effective and viable site for the PRT option; and
(3) contain an unbiased analysis that is not performed by any party or organization that has a conflict of interest.
(c) The Metropolitan Council must give serious unbiased and objective consideration to implementing PRT, and must ensure that consultants or other persons with expertise in PRT systems, and associated national or international organizations such as the Advanced Transit Association, are consulted and utilized at each phase of the study and analysis. "

The Olson amendment was voted down in 2006 with 26 yeas and 107 nays

Only two DFLers voted for Olson's silly amendment.

Here is Mark Olson introducing (and withdrawing) a similar amendment in 2007:



UPDATE: Larry Fabian has sent me another email informing me that Jeral Poskey is no longer the Chairman of ATRA. The ATRA site still says Poskey is the Chairman.

PRT Promoters' LinkedIn Profiles

David Maymudes:

Summary

Current: Software Designer at Taxi 2000
Past: Development Manager at Microsoft Corp.
Software Engineer at GW Instruments

Software Designer at Taxi 2000 and Computer Software Consultant
Greater Seattle Area

I worked at Microsoft for nine years on Windows, Internet Explorer, and Media Player; I have the dubious distinction of having defined the AVI file format. 

More recently, I have been working on Personal Rapid Transit, see www.gettherefast.org or www.skywebexpress.com for more information.
Specialties:

Systems programming, transportation, mathematics

Maymudes is also a member with some other PRT promoters such as Emory Bundy and Jerry Schneider in CETA which opposes LRT and commuter rail... and the Darwin-deprived think tank Discovery Institute's Cascadia Project invited David Maymudes to give a talk about PRT. More about Maymudes and PRT in this DMO post.



David Gow:

With 14 years of direct experience in nonprofit fundraising, I wish to make a transition to other areas of nonprofts, such as:

- Program officer with a private foundation or corporate foundation.
- Columnist or reporter with an online environmental news organization.
- Executive with an organization involved in innovating mass transit.
- Program development of a new Puget Sound water quality monitoring project involving school-based data collection and dissemination via the Web.

I have developed expertise in the policy side of transportation, going back to 1989, with an emphasis in the nascent area of "personal rapid transit" (PRT). I operate one of the world's leading unaffiliated websites on PRT, kinetic.seattle.wa.us/prt.html . My body of work in transportation analysis and advocacy qualifies me for community relations, spokesperson, executive staff and policy staff positions with public transit agencies and companies involved in advanced transport technology.

At present I write the online column Wiseline Institute NW Presents Mr_Blog's Left Turn (kinetic.seattle.wa.us/blog).

I also have a sideline in design and administration of websites, portfolio available at www.kinetic.seattle.wa.us/hegemony

David Gow’s Specialties:

Nonprofits: typical grants duties from prospect research through annual program design, crafting of project descriptions and budgets, proposal submission, and compliance.

Transportation: education, outreach and community relations work in the field of innovative transit systems. Contributions in that field include spokesperson duties, writing, editing and review of scholarly articles.

Now I know why he calls himself "Mr_Grant". David Gow doesn't mention that he has not one, but two blogs about me... and a few other spamming blogs.

Ed Anderson:

Chairman & CEO at Taxi 2000 Corporation
Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

Anderson is still claiming he is the CEO of Taxi 2000? Here's two recent articles HERE and HERE in which he claims to be the managing director of another would-be PRT vendor called PRT International LLC (domain name prtinternational.com, but no website).

J. Edward Anderson has two other LinkedIn home pages HERE with this summary:

Long history in PRT development.
Currently organizing a group of engineers and preparing plans for building a test system.

...and another page HERE.



Jeral Poskey:

Current: Manager, Automated Operations at Google
Past: Advisor at Message Scape
VP of Sales and Marketing at Taxi 2000
Network administrator at Danka

For laughs, read this DMO post about Poskey's days peddling PRT in Minnesota

Poskey doesn't mention that he is the Chairman of the Advanced Transit Association (ATRA). There might be a very good reason for that... but, I'll leave that for the next post.

Another Green Party Personal Rapid Transit Booster

An organization called "Connect Ithaca" promotes Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) in upstate New York, and they recently shared their "JPod" vision on the pages of the Cornell Daily Sun.

The Connect Ithaca Steering Committee's Chairperson is Jacob Roberts(website no longer up).  In 2005, Roberts was a Green Party candidate for Mayor of Syracuse, New York – as shown in this video.  However, his campaign was upstaged by a hockey mascot called Al the Ice Gorilla:

...prominent activist Jacob Roberts "must be burned that Al the Ice Gorilla's late entry into the mayoral race is garnering way more ink than Roberts' write-in campaign."

According to this article, Roberts supported the Destiny mall development:

Roberts, who is running on the Youth Empowered Sustainability (YES!) ticket, proposes partnering with Destiny, while the Greens advocate public development.

The Destiny mall was supposed to have a monorail and a PRT system for its parking lots.

Now, Jake is promoting PRT:

I have just returned from a PRT conference in Sweden and listened to EXPERTS in Global Climate Change, Peek Oil, [sic] Environmental Analysis, Solar Energy Systems, Tranportation [sic] and Urban Planning, Property Development, Citizen Advocacy and more...they all conclude that PRT is a superior solution to mass transit options like the Car, Light Rail, Heavy Rail, Buses, etc...

Readers of this blog may recall that PRT is a bogus, anti-transit scam that was heavily promoted by Gary Dean Zimmermann – who is now serving a federal prison sentence for accepting gratuities.

While Zimmermann sits in prison, his public defender has filed an appeal with the U.S. 8th Circuit Appeals Court.  The judges heard oral arguments on September 24, 2007.  What follows are extended excerpts from Mike Cheever, the Assistant U.S. Attorney who delivered the federal government's case against Zimmermann:



UPDATE:: As you may have noticed, the Connect Ithaca website is no longer up.

Also, from the the Podcar site, a picture of Jake "The 3rd Force" Roberts:

Rep. Ray Cox is a PRTista

From Lloydletta:

Tom Neuville R, Northfield, has been appointed to a judge position. Ray Cox is planning on running for his seat.

MN House website:

NEWS RELEASE REP. COX SAYS PERSONAL RAPID TRANSIT WILL IMPROVE JOB CLIMATE (3/19/2004)

ST. PAUL - On the heels of the recent announcement that the state deficit is falling thanks to a rise in job growth, State Representative Ray Cox (R-Northfield) is co-authoring legislation that would create more new jobs, showcases Minnesota technology, and puts consumers in the driver’s seat of public transit services.


“The February budget forecast recently noted the reason for the declining deficit is an increase in new jobs,” Cox said. “The Personal Rapid Transit project will continue this trend by providing hundreds more good-paying jobs for Minnesota workers. At a time when Minnesota is looking to expand its job base and lure new business to the state, PRT already provides all the necessary ingredients: local technology, a willing community, and an eager workforce.”

Cox said Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) is a very innovative automated transit system developed right here in Minnesota, and the bill he is co-authoring would provide the Duluth Transit Authority with incentives to construct a PRT safety certification facility. It operates on demand; PRT passenger vehicles wait at stations for riders, not vice versa. As designed, PRT passengers would select an empty vehicle; swipe a pre-paid card; and enjoy a private, computer-run trip that would take them non-stop to their selected destination. The computer system automatically selects the fastest, most convenient non-stop route for passengers, and would be available 24/7. In addition, unlike any other system, PRT infrastructure and vehicles are fully mass-producible and can be quickly erected on site.

Cox said there are many benefits to PRT, including its high efficiency and low pollution rate. But Cox said the most important benefit may be a new job base.

“Once I discovered how many new jobs the project could create, co-authoring this bill became a no-brainer,” Cox said. “If we don’t act to keep PRT, this system and hundreds of jobs will most likely be exported to some other state.”



I asked Ray Cox recently if he still supports PRT and he replied that he does.

I recently received this message from a DMO reader:

I was rooting around on Lexis Nexis for info on Taxi 2000. There's very little but there was this one recent article which I paste below. You may know about this already. I also noticed that they have no registered patents ...and only registered two trademarks (skyweb express and Minnesota PRT), the second of which has been "Abandoned".

Interesting.