Initializing PRT at the Adriatic coast

One of the most significant properties of Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) is that a dense, arbitrarily shaped network can offer a nonstop transit between all origins and destinations within the covered area. In contrast with line-oriented services of conventional transit, this network approach has the benefits that stations can be placed closer to the user and that traffic flows can be distributed on the various links such that capacity requirements are less stringent. However, in many cases extended networks will not be built in one step but start as single lines or smaller networks. Consequently, PRT services must start without the aforementioned network benefits. This fact puts some serious constraints on the choice of initial PRT lines, in particular in absents of public financing: the potential costumer should accept high ticket prices for a high service quality; the PRT service should possibly be exclusive; the travel demand should be below capacity limits but constant throughout the day. Rimini, Italy may offer ideal conditions for an initial PRT network. Currently, the attractiveness of Rimini as tourist attraction and conference site is jeopardized by an unsustainable level of car traffic: its centre is located between the main generators to the west (two highway-exits, the federal road and a conference hall) and the main destinations to the east (2000 hotels, concentrated on a small corridor along the Adriatic coast). The basic idea of this case-study is to drastically reduce public parking-space in a zone along the beach and to guarantee access through PRT. A bidirectional PRT line would begin at a Park&Ride at the highway exit south-west of Rimini, pass by the conference center and the railway station and finally distribute clients to the numerous hotels along the beach. The travel demand is composed of a large share of the following components: 1. Tourists who arrive by car, leaving their car at the P&R and taking the PRT to reach their hotel. The ticket price would include parking costs (current parking costs near the beach are at 2.5€ per hour) 2. Within-day visitors from Italy, same as 1) but would get off the PRT at their favorite beach. 3. Tourists from abroad and Italy who arrive at the train station and travel to their hotel (current taxi is approximately 7€). 4. Conference attendees who arrive and commute between hotel and conference site during the conference. Statistics reveal that conference attendees have a medium to high income level, 16% have lead positions in companies. Detailed statistics are available about the 1,532,991 tourist who booked a hotel in Rimini during 2007. The number of within-day travelers must be estimated through statistics about revenues from parking meters along the PRT-covered area. Detailed studies are also available on the 1,168,062 persons who attended 7,094 conferences during 2007. The favorable results of demand estimates, cost-benefit analysis and micro-simulations will be presented in the full paper. Other Adriatic cities in similar conditions have already expressed their interest in PRT solutions.