Horizontal pasenger transportation, “Hectometric” people movers…

Sep 25, 2012 by VietorShutler680

Horizontal Transportation

Current trends in urban planning coupled with the need to make ever more challenging development sites easily accessible often create a demand for short range passenger transportation. Applications vary from simple reversible shuttle type systems, operating over only a few hundred metres, to complex networks connecting a series of buildings or amenities requiring multiple active vehicles operating over a loop guideway. Automatic People Movers (APMs) will in many cases provide the right solution to the accessibility needs of a site but background experience and knowledge coupled with specific design skills are vital to ensure appropriate designs and cost effective long term solutions are adopted.

System capacities may vary from a few hundred to thousands of persons per direction per hour. We have applied our own expertise to the field of APMs and developed a linear motor based concept design which we have nicknamed “Synchrorail”. Some concept visualisations of the system are shown here.

“Hectometric” people movers (APMs operating over a few hundred metres) were identified by us as early as the 1970s as an integral part of the overall need to move more people within and around new developments, or into and out of mass transit interchanges – continuously, efficiently and cost effectively.

Performance of systems in all operating aspects and review of their suitability to potential applications commenced at that time. This has enabled us to build up a comprehensive library of system suppliers, their products and associated performance parameters.

To this database has been added bespoke computer simulation software plus CAD based visualisation techniques to design and plan systems on a generic basis.

Typical areas for horizontal transportation applications include:

Retail Complexes
Linear Developments
Transport Interchanges
Mass Transit Feeders
Remote Parking
Park and Ride
Airport Terminal or Satellite Links
Leisure Industry Developments
Theme Parks
Town Centre Circulation
Exhibition Centres

Learn more about Horizontal Transportation or Horizontal Transportation