The Dump Mark Olson Blog Going Back Into Mothballs

Since the Ithaca Podcar Conference flopped and Rep. Mark Olson's write-in campaign is heading toward likely defeat in November, I'm not going to be wasting time following the pathetic antics of Rep. Mark Olson or his pals the Personal Rapid Transit pod people anymore.

I've closed the comments again so I don't have to bother removing the comments of PRT trolls.

If readers have some really important tips they can still contact me at my g-mail account on my profile like PRT booster Larry Fabian did recently:

Lawrence Fabian to me

How was the Ithaca conference a "bust"?

See the NYT piece on LIRR worker abuse? Like them union types, Mr. Ken?

Lawrence J. Fabian
Trans.21  Boston
www.airfront.us

Yeah, right Larry... let's replace the Long Island Railroad with automated non-union pods... I can really see that happening.

As for the puff piece in the Metro section of the NY Times... we've seen those before... the Jetsons meme, Morgantown, the vague descriptions of studies and projects here and there:

“I think all of the major players were at the conference with their ears wide open,” Mr. Roberts said. “They said they are very interested and looking forward to learning more.”

His group, Connect Ithaca, is now working on the next step: applying for a $75,000 grant from the State Energy Research and Development Authority to study how a pod car system could reduce the number of vehicle miles traveled in Ithaca. Mayor Carolyn K. Peterson said city officials would wait for the study’s findings before going any further.

Connect Ithaca's website is still down... and Connect Ithaca wants $75,000 of the taxpayers' money for a study?... New York could save the taxpayers that money and just download the PDF of the study of PRT that New Jersey wasted money on last year.

Or maybe they can just go and take a look at the PRT going into the DestiNY Mall in Syracuse:

A transportation network that includes monorail and a Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system will connect the complex to Hancock International Airport, the Inter-Modal Transportation Center, DestiNY USA and beyond.

..where else did I read that there is going to be a PRT at the DestiNY Mall?... oh yeah, Wikipedia.

No matter how many times Rep. Mark Olson or his "Jetsonesque" pod-transit scheme flops, they will always be in the news... how may chances do these guys get?

Rep. Mark Olson Accuses Critics of telling "Malicious Lies"

Olson's has a letter in the Sherburne County Citizen that starts with a disclaimer from the editor:

(EDITOR'S NOTE: Staff writer Jennifer Edwards did attempt to reach Mr. Olson regarding the July 19 story. He did not return calls.)

... Apparently Rep. Mark Olson is peaved that the reporter failed to mention his perceived accomplishments...

This was not reported on. Nor was I interviewed for the article that was written on July 19th about my not seeking re-election.

... Olson also fires a shot at his critics...

No other candidates have had substantive interaction with me on the issues to know why my running is so important. My wife and I feel confident that when the truth is known after all the misinformation and politically malicious lies our efforts will be appreciated.

Olson gets some help from his wife Heidi in another LTE:

To The Editor:

Let's clear the air. The unexplained, questionable "fears" expressed in last week's paper by Ms. Krueger came as a surprise. I, as a woman, and Mark Olson's wife, requested that Mark run for the Senate.

I encouraged him to run because I am concerned about the times we are in as a country and trust Mark to represent me. I know where he stands and believe he can help restore fiscal stability. I don't believe that a legislator should spin like a leaf blowing in the wind, changing directions by what the polls say. I believe we need people who don't fear standing on convictions, and are able to "course correct" when necessary.

Encouraging Mark to run opens up the potential for other candidates to exploit the problems that Mark and I had two years ago. This will obviously be very painful for us. No family should have to go through what we did. The decision was not made in haste, but enough is enough.

Mark has complied with all the court requirements and more. He has repeatedly made clear his need for forgiveness, even from the Minnesota House (televised), and we both attend counseling together. There is hope for marriages.

If anyone else is tired of negative and personal attacks, please join me in support of Mark. He does not do that. Look at his voting record and ideas, and then decide. We can be controlled by those who use untrue, fear tactics without substantive evidence, or we can refuse insulting campaigns. Vote based on good ideas with a strong record to back it. Please call with support, questions or concerns. (763) 263-3500.

Heidi Olson

Big Lake, MN

Another letter writer forgives Rep. Mark Olson and urges readers to move beyond his criminal record and challenges reporters and voters to focus on Olson's legislative record:

From your article I compared the incumbent Rep. Mark Olson, and the two hopefuls, Alison Krueger and Lisa Fobbe. Based on the article, it appeared all candidates are friends of Sen. Betsy Wergin, but only one was a co-legislator, Rep. Mark Olson. All candidates want to cut costs and taxes, but only one has done so, Rep. Mark Olson. Krueger has no proposal for the high cost of gas "has yet to determine how best to represent the people when it comes to transportation policy." Rep. Mark Olson has a policy, proposed bills, and has fought for a fiscally sound transportation omnibus.

Really! Does the author of that letter think that Rep. Mark Olson's incessant promotion of the PRT boondoggle was "fiscally sound transportation"?

Rep. Mark Olson, PRT Promoter, Right-Wing Hypocrite Dumps Himself

MN Publius:

Mark Olson is not running for reelection. Just subtracting the total time wasted on his pointless amendments and floor speeches, the 2009 legislative session should be roughly six weeks shorter. Even better, House staffers will no longer have to wear helmets while passing Olson’s office. His 16 year reign of terror is over.

Strib:

Olson said his involvement in the criminal justice system and a desire to change the process was actually one of the factors that tempted him to stay in elected office.

The Star Tribune fails to mention Rep. Mark Olson's work promoting Personal Rapid Transit (PRT).

There was a time when The pod people were very proud of Rep. Mark Olson as this Advanced Transit Association newsletter Transit Pulse (PDF) item titled "PRT HATERS" attests:

There’s a real Avid guy named Ken in Minneapolis. He can whip off some pretty wild cartoons. Check out www.roadkill.com. That’s seems to be his main occupation, but he devotes inordinate amounts of time to belittling PRT designers and promoters in the wildest of ways. (One wonders how this pays him, or is he wealthy enough to bash PRT in his leisure?) Ken Avidor thinks that all PRT promoters start with a hate-LRT premise. He sees the PRT community, including ATRA, as an anti-LRT conspiracy. That’s fine: he has a right to his opinions.

Yet he attacks people more than ideas and is ready to condemn with guilt by association. He conducts political crusades to defeat Minnesota politicians who are receptive to the benefits of PRT. Seattle-based ATRA member David Gow, having sparred with Ken on-line many times, concludes that it is pointless to debate this Minnesota activist and blogger. Gow finds Ken’s typical conversations a series of false claims about PRT, none of which he can back up, including ad hominem smears and wild conspiracy theories. Ed Anderson simply describes Avidor a madman.

Your editor called him in early July to offer a copy of the recent EU report summarizing the multi-faceted, multi-year PRT research program, with urgent recommendation for a pilot program. His first reaction was, “No, don’t send it.” Later he called my offer desperation! Under the delusion that PRT is a well-moneyed monolith, he blurted out, “You guys buy those reports.” After a further step in this very unpleasant exchange, he screamed “F#@& you!” and hung up. Nice guy, this New York transplant to Minnesota!

His original name is apparently Ken Weiner, born in Brooklyn in 1955. Check out his political thinking at dumpmarkolson.blogspot.com. The website seeks to unseat a Minnesota legislator who per Ed Anderson (who ought to know) says is currently the strongest, most articulate PRT supporter there. Many think it is best just to ignore Avidor. Others say he craves attention.

... a few issues later the editor of Transit Pulse admitted that Rep. Mark Olson may not have been the best pick to advocate for PRT at the Capitol.

According to Dick Gronning of the Minnesota group, activities are dwindling and membership is down. The Minnesota Sierra Club and other environmental groups are pro-LRT, judging their Hiawatha Line as a great success and often dismissing PRT as a right-wing conspiracy. Jeral Poskey has left Taxi 2000 and relocated back to the Silicon Valley. Taxi 2000 is busy but quite. Ed Anderson also remains quiet these days. A pro-PRT Republican legislator who bucked the Democrat landslide last month is in trouble over charges of domestic abuse.

Learn more about Rep. Mark Olson's boondoggle at the PRT is a Joke web site.

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.

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.

Minnesota History Center's Misleading Exhibit on Transit

My Uptake video about misleading exhibit at the History Center on LRT and PRT:

Click To Play

By Ken Avidor

Rising oil and gasoline prices and the collapse of the 35W bridge have made Transportation a very important issue for the next legislative session and for the 2008 election. Northstar commuter line and the Central Corridor LRT line will likely be competing with highway projects for scarce public dollars as lesser-known transit projects such as the Southwest LRT Line get into the queue.

The exhibit on transit at the Minnesota Historical Society's History Center in Saint Paul is a musty time capsule of the debate on transit from the years leading up to the completion of the Hiawatha Light Rail Line in 2004. Much of the information in the exhibit, particularly statements in the videos about Light Rail Transit (LRT) and Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) is either wrong or misleading.

In the years leading up to when the exhibit was installed, there was some debate whether LRT was going to be successful in the Twin Cities. That debate for the most part has been settled and LRT has wide support among public officials and citizens.

The portion of exhibit about Personal Rapid Transit is even more out of date and misleading. For over 30 years PRT seemed to have support in Minnesota from members of anti-transit, pro-highway groups. PRT had no support from traditional transit groups such as Transit for Livable Communities and the Sierra Club North Star, both of which have resolutions opposing the public funding of PRT.

Perhaps the high point for PRT promoters at the Capitol was the 2004 session when a PRT bonding bill for $4 million was passed by the House only to be extinguished in a conference committee. Things went quickly downhill after that.

Late in 2004, PRT "visionary" Professor J. Edward Anderson was prevented from regaining control of the Taxi 2000 Corporation from Morrie Anderson who was also the chair of the Citizen's League's Transportation Committee at that time. The Citizens League is a Minnesota organization that has traditionaly been opposed to rail transit.

A previous CEO of Taxi 2000, Sheffer Lang 1927-2003) was a strong opponent of rail transit at the Citizens League. Lang was known for fierce attacks on transit such as this statement: "The highway sets the standard. ... Behind every single one of these [rail] initiatives is a bunch of people who are convinced... that the automobile is the curse of modern civilization”. It is very likely that the strident Citizen League comment about LRT featured in the exhibit is from Lang.

Oddly, the one quote in the Skyweb Expres exhibit attributed to Sheffer Lang describes Lang as an "engineer" and does not mention that Lang was a professor of transportation at MIT and the prominent and influential role he played in public policy on transportation in Minnesota.

In 2005, the Taxi 2000 Corporation filed a lawsuit and restraining order against J. Edward Anderson and two associates. J. Edward Anderson is still trying to find a city willing to fund a testing facility for his new PRT company PRT International LLC. A recent report in the Springfield News-Leader says Anderson Anderson is trying to bring PRT to the Ozarks

Also in 2005, One of PRT's most energetic promoters, Minneapolis Councilman Dean Zimmermann, was investigated and charged by the U.S. Attorney's office with extorting bribes from a developer. Zimmermann subsequently lost his seat on the council to Robert Lilligren, a supporter of conventional transit. Zimmermann was eventually convicted and is serving his sentence in a Federal prison camp in Littleton, Colorado.

Without Zimmermann, the remaining promoters of PRT in the Minnesota legislature are mostly Republicans opposed to rail transit. PRT has lost its support among liberal and moderate Minnesota politicians. An attempt by Rep. Mark Olson to attach a PRT amendment to a bonding bill in the Minnesota House on April 12th, 2005 was voted down 26 to 107. In the 2007 legislative session, no PRT legislation was voted on.

Five days after his re-election in 2006, Rep. Mark Olson was arrested for domestic abuse and was convicted on one misdemeanor charge of domestic abuse.

The Taxi 2000 Corporation's lawsuit against J. Edward Anderson as well as Olson and Zimmermann's troubles likely sealed PRT's fate at the Capitol, however a far more likely factor was the phenomenal success of the Hiawatha Light Rail Line... unfortunately, none of this history is in the History Center's exhibit.

More information:

Complete History Center video about PRT.

Complete History Center video about LRT.

Transit for Livable Communities resolution against public funding of PRT.

Sierra Club North Star resolution against public funding of PRT .

"Personal rapid transit spending draws fire at Capitol"- Laura McCallum's MPR report about PRT legislation in 2004

Skytran Flim-Flam in Marin County

From the Novato Advance:

Maybe, but Marin County Supervisors Judy Arnold and Charles McGlashan are willing to take a look at technology designed by the southern California company UniModal Inc. that could make these traveling times a reality.

The two supervisors will host UniModal representatives as they discuss their, Sky Tran, at a community meeting Dec. 5 in the Board of Supervisors Chamber in the Civic Center from 4 to 6 p.m. The public is welcome to attend.

“We’ll all learn together. I don’t know if this would work,” Arnold said. “I don’t know enough about it, but I want to learn more.”

Don't waste your time, Judy.

This is what the so-called inventor of Skytran Douglas J. Malewicki said about Skytran on the Skytran website:

"Aaaarrrrgghh! Ain't no such animal - yet. It is still just a concept that makes a lot of theoretical sense. It needs money to tear into it properly - a lot. Why it hasn't happened yet is mostly my fault. I detest paperwork and details. I can't see myself applying for any government energy or innovation grants because of all the bureaucratic crap that I would be stuck with. If they supplied paperwork bozos along with the grants to take care of their required paperwork, it might be more appealing. I guess I also don't want to deal with all their other silly rules either. If I want to hire all black engineers (and I know a bunch of dam good practical ones), to the exclusion of Hispanics, Women, Polaks, etc. the government won't let me. I start reading the grant application forms and rules and never finish - because I toss it all in the garbage first in disgust. Basically, I'm selfish. I prefer to think and create. I have plenty of other non-hassle projects I can be involved in to feed my brain endorphins or whatever. I am definitely not the right kind of personality to carry this project to fruition in the real world!"

That statement was removed the Skytran website, but can be viewed HERE.

Skytran claims it is less expensive to build than LRT because Skytran can be built with... get this.... robots:

The light weight per foot of the track design also allows the use of a semi-automated track forming manufacturing robot (much simpler than the Robosaurus machine) that enables a two shift crew to deploy one mile of two way track per day. This can be compared with proposed monorail trains (weighing 100,000 pounds) which require guideways costing well over $40 million per mile and many years to build.

That statement was also removed the Skytran website, but can be viewed HERE.

Skytran is perhaps the most ridiculous of the PRT schemes, which is why I call it the "Smoking Gun of PRT Absurdity".

J.Edward Anderson in Branson

He's still at it... this time in Branson, Missouri.

Anderson's new company, PRT International has a domain name, but no website:

http://prtinternational.com

Registrant:

PRT International, LLC

5164 Rainier Pass NE

Fridley, MN 55421

US

Domain Name: PRTINTERNATIONAL.COM

The PDF document on the News Leader's website lists the address of PRT International as Minneapolis... in fact, it is Anderson's home in Fridley, MN.

Was Aldous Huxley a PRTista?

Really bad marketing blooper from a Vectus PRT brochure (PDF):

PRTista Phil Krinkie, "Pit Bull" (Against LRT)

From a February 2, 2000 City Pages article:

To streetcar fans like Gov. Jesse Ventura and MNDoT commissioner Elwyn Tinklenberg, Krinkie has come to resemble a political pit bull with his teeth in his prey's pants leg--an indefatigable yapper who is still fighting a battle many believe he lost long ago.

... Krinkie was furious...

This, Krinkie figured, was the smoking gun. In late September he along with Rep. Tom Workman (R-Chanhassen) and Rep. Carol Molnau (R-Chaska), held a press conference denouncing what he called a cover-up. Though opponents, namely gubernatorial spokesman John Wodele, have referred to the trio as "a small group of disgruntled legislators," the three are not exactly back-benchers: Krinkie chairs the House's State Government Finance committee, Workman the Transportation committee, and Molnau the Transportation Finance committee; in other words, together they control the three panels most likely to consider light-rail funding.

Since then Krinkie has taken to framing the issue in the language of Watergate: "I'm saying [to MNDoT], 'What did you know and when did you know it?'"

.... Krinkie was relentless...

At MNDoT, the mere mention of Krinkie's name is enough to invoke exasperated sighs. "He's received a lot of information," contends engineer Winter, who says staffers have provided plenty of paperwork and spent hours talking to Krinkie. "He's looking for this piece of information that clearly indicates that the department misled the Legislature," Winter maintains, "and it doesn't exist."

Winter adds that Krinkie's crusade has been frustrating for MNDoT staff. "We want to move ahead and it seems like we spend a lot of time rehashing these issues that have been settled, at least in our mind." Krinkie, meanwhile, suggests that he's not about to relent: "The next lawsuit," he announces, "may be with regard to the fact that the department has willfully withheld public data."

That was then.. and now?

Krinkie in an opinion piece in the Saint Paul Legal Ledger (HERE) about Molnau's choice to pick the highest bidder on the replacement for the collapsed 35W bridge, Krinkie sneaks in a jab at the HIawatha LRT:

Let's revisit just how this term "best value" slipped into the state government lexicon? It began with another large transportation project in the Twin Cities --- the Hiawatha light rail line. In order to fast track the construction of the states first light rail line, MnDOT wanted to use the "design-build" process. Under the design-build method, one contractor is selected to do both the engineering design and the actual construction of the project. Under extreme pressure in 2001 to speed the construction of the Hiawatha LRT project, MnDOT was exempted from following the standard procedure of awarding bids to the lowest qualified bidder.

Incidentally, Elwyn Tinklenberg's campaign has informed me that he will make Congresswoman Michele Bachmann's support for PRT an issue in the next election.

Phil Krinkie who like Bachmann has also promoted PRT has even allowed fellow PRTista Rep. Mark Olson to use his name on a recent fundraiser:

Rep. Mark Olson Stealth Fundraiser

Rep. Mark Olson's campaign web site has no mention of this fundraiser, but it showed up today as a scan from a local newspaper on the Grizzly Groundswell blog:



It claims that the following will be in attendance:

Senator Betsy Wergin

State Rep. Sondra Erickson

Rep. Bruce Anderson

Rep. Steve Drazkowski

Phil Krinkie, President of the Taxpayers League

Sue Jeffers "Republican Party Activist"

It is interesting to compare this list of Olson-supporting politicians to the list of elected officials in a similar fundraising advertisement back in 2006... are Rep. Michele Bachmann, Senator Norm Coleman and Lt. Governor Carol Molnau no longer supporting the Bible-hurling, PRT-promoting jailbird from Big Lake?

Another PRT Company Frog/2getthere is "failliet" (bankrupt)

... and another one bites the dust:

Frog/2getthere, the company that has devised the unmanned peoplemover, is bankrupt.

Frog/2getthere also devised the guidance system for the U.K.'s ULTra and their own so-called PRT system. Frog/2getthere had another project, a driverless bus called "Parkshuttle" that went way beyond FUBAR:.

The saga of the Rotterdam ‘parkshuttle’ continues. After nearly eight years of setbacks (including the December 2005 crash), the driverless robot buses — that are supposed to bring commuters from a metro station to an office park on a two-kilometer special road — takes another blow as the company that made the buses has filed for bankruptcy.

The project has been plagued with problems from the start. The buses started driving in 1999, when already there were many technical problems. Testing was halted for nine months until a limited number of passengers were allowed to use it again. When the official test period ended in June 2000, work started on expansion of the route, which eventually lasted until December 2005, when finally the first buses started going again. Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende made the first official trip, which received a lot of media attention, when five days later two buses crashed into eachother. Before the investigation into the crash could be completed, one of the buses burnt out in a garage.

Since that incident it has been rather quiet around the project. Originally the shuttle was supposed to start again in January of this year, but this has been delayed when one of the six vehicles went missing! It is now uncertain if the unmanned ‘peoplemover’ will ever go again, as the designer of the buses, Frog/2getthere, has just filed for bankruptcy.

In the meantime, the city of Rotterdam and transport company Connexxion have invested 6.2 million Euro in the ‘parkshuttle’, not including the costs of testing in the first few years starting in 1999.

Since the bankruptcy was announced a week ago, the city of Rotterdam and Connexxion are talking about the possibilities of continuing the shuttle. “The project is too important to cancel now,” said spokesperson Aart Jan van Kapel.

A decision will be made within two weeks. Connexxion and the city are dependent on Frog/2getthere, as it is the only company in the world that has made this type of system.

A preview of what to expect when ULTra debuts in 2008?

Frog/2getthere provided platforms including the guidance technology to ATS in 2001. The current ULTra's guidance system has probably not changed very much from the original FROG design.

ULTra is essentially Frog/2getthere with its dorky wheels covered up to give it a futuristic look:

Rep. Mark Olson's PRT Helping to Greeenwash Airport Expansion

From the website of the No Third Runway Action Group:

"...The option, as far as we know right now, would cause the demolition of some 700 homes. This number of properties does not include the land take required for roads or other ancillary buildings that may be required for the runway. It does not take into account the realignment of the M4 airport spur."

PRT... once again helping to pave the way for more paving:

Another PRT Puff Piece

The publicity barage continues. This puff piece in CNN Money.com reads like it's transcribed from the same press release as the others.

I thought this was interesting:

So why aren't cities already filled with PRT tracks and pods? "The real problem was political, not technical," recalls John Edward Anderson, a former professor at Boston University who has worked on PRT for almost 40 years. Chicago, Minneapolis, and Seattle killed PRT projects, fearing opposition from transit drivers and the embarrassment of failing with an untested system.

So, Anderson isn't saying he was a professor at the U of M anymore?

Anderson forgets a few more things. He fails to mention Raytheon going way over budget, that he was sued by his own company, that he picked three of worst politicians in Minnesota to lobby for Taxi 2000... maybe he's going senile?



Ken Avidor blogs all about Personal Rapid Transit

Rep. Mark Olson Sends Out Crazy Questionnaire

Go over to Democratic Underground to see a copy of one of the wacky questionaires Rep. Mark Olson is sent out to constituents.

Looks a lot like the wacky questionnaire Olson's pal Rep. Michele Bachmann sent out recently.

New Mayor of Kansas City Rejects PRT

The Charleston Daily Mail:

Mark Funkhouser used to ride West Virginia University's Personal Rapid Transit system, which he recalled "was broken down half the time."

Now he'll help develop a light rail system for Kansas City, Mo., population 450,000.

...He says the PRT "wasn't really mass transit...

Recently a snowstorm shut down the PRT and buses has to shuttle the students around.

Of course, ATRA is planning a seminar to celebrate the so-called PRT system that breaks down half the time.

More about the WVU PRT at the PRT is a Joke website.

Did Dutch Company Anonymously Edit Wikipedia Personal Rapid Transit Page?

Looks like somebody from the Frog Company has anonymously edited the Wikipedia PRT page.

A look-up of the DNS # 193.173.31.50 reveals this info:

Ron Hiensch
Frog Navigation Systens B.V.
Cartesiusweg 120
3534BD Utrecht
The Netherlands

Frog has a new PRT page on its website that gives us some specs on its version of Personal Rapid Transit. This caught my eye:

Maximum speed: 40 km/h [25m/ph]

... and that's supposed to be "rapid"?

More about the history of Frog and PRT here.

J. Edward Anderson Says "LRT Lobby" Killed "Personal Rapid Transit" (PRT)

The wacky professor has a paper posted on Professor Schneider's wacky gadgetbahn site called:

Questions and Answers following a presentation on High-Capacity Personal Rapid Transit to an audience of about 60 persons at a meeting sponsored by The Institute of Theological and Interdisciplinary Studies held at Macalester College, St. Paul, Minnesota, March 23, 2007.

J. Edward Anderson sounds way tired and way old. He makes a lot of unsupported claims and accusations. He whines and complains that the "LRT lobby":

It has become clear to me that the LRT lobby has Minnesota quite locked out of considering anything but LRT. How they do it I can only guess, but I am aware that they have many paid lobbyists working the Legislature using public money to lobby for private interests. On March 26, 1974 the Minnesota Senate passed an Act (S. F. No. 2703, Chapter No. 573) “directing the metropolitan transit commission to plan an automated small vehicle fixed guideway system, . . .” This unfortunately put the fox in charge of the chicken coop. The MTC, which no longer exists, had strongly lobbied against this Act and contracted with a firm also opposed to new systems. Notwithstanding strong objections they used the large guideway and large cost of the Morgantown people mover as representative of PRT, which resulted in costs and visual impact far too high, which resulted in abandoning interest in PRT. Since the vast majority of people have no interest in transit issues, light-rail proponents became dominant on the Metropolitan Council. They were able to continue to use this bogus data to misrepresent PRT, which enabled them to keep PRT out of the picture. Over two decades ago the circumstantial evidence was strong that two staff members were fired for trying to compare light rail with the PRT system we were developing at the University of Minnesota. No staff member aware of that will dare to venture a favorable opinion about PRT.

No Ed. It's not the "LRT lobby"... here's a clue:

Question: How do we deal with squirrels, birds, raccoons, etc.?

Answer: Small creatures could nest in the bottom corners of my covered guideway without bothering anything. But, the plan is to build a maintenance vehicle equipped with a light, a television camera, and a high-pressure hose. It will be operated from time to time late at night to inspect the guideway interior to remove debris.

Right, lots of cities are going to want a transportation system that rains soggy critters and their crap on pedestrians, buildings and vehicles.