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The big question in transportation circles is "How do we get people out of their drive-alone pattern?" Like other suburban job centers, the Silicon Valley commute mode split is 80% drive alone, 13% carpool, and 5% transit. No combination of current transportation options promises a substantial change in the single-occupancy vehicle (SOV) rate. However, a light-weight, automated electric shuttle that weaves together current transportation options may be "the difference that makes a difference." Preliminary estimates indicate that the SOV rate can be cut in half -- from an average of 80% to 40% or less.

Consider what PRT could offer folks like you:

• a station within 1/4 mile of your home - and a vehicle waiting for you
• non-stop service to your destination at 25-75 mph
• 24/7 automated operation all year long
• for the same cost, get 10 times the coverage of LRT (twice as many stations X twice as many one-way routes X 2.5 guideway miles/dollar)

The technology to do all this is available today, most of it in use in automated people movers at airports. At least four companies are vying to offer PRT solutions to those few cities willing to lead the way. The first public use of PRT will be at Heathrow Airport where PRT will connect long-term parking to terminal 5 in 2009. Any Bay Area city could create a list of opportunities for cost-effective PRT implementations.

Milpitas is especially blessed with options. Being at the bottleneck to Silicon Valley, Milpitas residents daily endure thousands of cars passing through the city causing congestion for local residents. Also, four north-south running transportation corridors (2 railroad lines and 2 freeways) slice up the City making east-west travel difficult. These problems, combined with the arrival of LRT and BART create more opportunities than available in other cities.

Potential PRT Implementations in Milpitas

Here are possible PRT projects for Milpitas. Taken in series, they offer a development plan that minimizes risk and yet addresses our most vexing transporation problems.

PRT Project	Price	Notes
Connect Yosemite Drive with E.Curtis Avenue over the railroad tracks http://www.electric-bikes.com/prt/prt-eir.html (This Midtown Plan calls this crossing a "keystone project".)	$3M	VTA has allocated $3M for conventional steel-and-concrete pedestrian/cyclist overcrossing. ( A study completed in 3Q03 shows 500-foot ramps are needed to clear the 26-foot minimum height limit above the tracks.)
Connect LRT to Great Mall entertainment area (1/4 mile walk plus two flights of stairs eliminated.) (Could serve as amusement ride with regional attraction.)	$5M	Supports both LRT and Great Mall patronage. Substantial private funding possible. Right of way on private land. Probably profitable as ride/attraction.
Link City Hall, Library and Midtown Area to LRT http://www.ci.milpitas.ca.gov/midtown/ (Hundreds of Midtown acres recently re-zoned to high density housing and mixed use.)	$30M	This first loop of a city-wide system includes two stations in the Midtown Area which would increase transit-oriented development options. Get it for free!
City-wide feeder to BART station (BART station co-located with LRT and bus stations) http://www.electric-bikes.com/prt/prt-sna.html	$100M	Locate stations at popular destinations: Great Mall/LRT, Midtown Area, Library/Medical Center, City Hall and Escuela schools area, parks, shopping centers, transit stops, sports fields, etc. Get it for free!
Connect LRT with the Fremont BART station (Extending the concept could lead to an affordable ring-the-Bay plan.)	$200M	For the price of one BART mile, we can make the 10-mile connection in less than 5 years.
Combine BART 'Light' with a PRT web http://www.electric-bikes.com/prt/bart-prt.html	$2000M	Extend BART to Milpitas/LRT and add a 91-mile, 117-station PRT network. (22-mile BART extension estimated at $4700M.)

Get a $30M PRT feeder to LRT for FREE!

Pay only $3M for a $30M electric shuttle by being first!

A fully functional PRT system connecting the new Library, Main Street, and the Midtown Area with the Great Mall LRT station costs less than $30M. Funding for most transportation projects requires 20% from the local agency. A demonstration project like this could require only 10% (or even less with creative bargaining). In addition to government and foundation money, the promise of a profitable transit system will attract private funding. Being second in the U.S. to build a PRT system may require a full 20% of the cost ($6M).

Save $3M by shrinking the library's parking structure by 30%.

Proposed Parking Structure: 250 parking spaces X $40,000 each = $10M construction costs
This LRT feeder could reduce parking demand at the Library by 30% for a savings of $3M.

Potential savings of a $30M PRT feeder linking the Library and the Great Mall LRT station:

• $3M - reduce the need for 250-car parking structure at new library
• $xM - reduce the amount of parking required in the Midtown Area
• $xM - property tax revenue from extra density in the Midtown Area due to fewer cars
• $1M - increase in tourism dollars due to PRT "attraction" ($200K/year for 5 years)

Total cost to Milpitas = $3M; Total of expected savings: $4+M

[If a minimal system is built with small stations and few cabs, the overall cost would be significantly lower.]

Get a $100M PRT feeder to BART for FREE!

Potential savings of a $100M PRT feeder linking Sunnyhills and the Montague BART station:

• $10M - eliminate the need for 250-car parking structure at new library
• $40M - eliminate the need for expanding the Calaveras crossing of the railroad tracks
• $40M - eliminate the need for the Montague/Great Mall urban interchange
• $30M - reduce the amount of VTA bus service in the area (for 5 years) (3% of $200M/yr)
• $xM - reduce the amount of VTA Outreach service in the area (for 5 years)
• $xM - reduce the amount of parking required in the Midtown Area
• $xM - property tax revenue from extra density in the Midtown Area due to fewer cars
• $xM - rental for telecommunications line space within guideways
• $1M - reduction in street maintenance of 10% ($200K/year for 5 years) (137 miles of street)
• $1M - increase in tourism dollars due to PRT "attraction" ($200K/year for 5 years)
• $3M - eliminate the cost of a bike/ped crossing of the railroad tracks at Yosemite/Curtis

Total cost to Milpitas = $10M; Total of expected savings: $125+M

[If a minimal system with small stations and few cabs is built, the overall cost would only be $60M.]

Additional benefits that are difficult to quantify and/or assign a monetary value include:

• more economic security due to less dependence on foreign oil imports;
• better public health due to cleaner air and fewer pedestrian injuries;
• more effective use of public transportation dollars (Dr. Lowson says that fuel costs per passenger are lower for autos than for trains or buses when you take the costs of wasted capacity into account.)
• calmer, quieter neighborhoods due to less freeway noise;
• less oil consumption and time wasted by freeway/roadway congestion;
• better individual health and time efficiency by avoiding nerve-wracking tailgating and congestion while gaining time to knap, cell-phone, even laptop compute. (The Texas Transportation Institute uses $12.00 per hour as the cost of time wasted in traffic.)
• more efficient use of highly valuable weekday noon-time travel; (For a $60K/year worker, lunchtime is valued at $60/hr.)*

* This lunch-time figure follows from the transportation literature:
- Value of time while at work is gross hourly salary.
- Value of time while commuting to work is 1/2 to 1/3 of hourly salary.
- Lunchtime is a special, short chunk of free time, so is considered highly valuable, double hourly salary.
- Time appears to pass 3 times more slowly than real-time time when waiting under conditions of uncertainty, such as waiting for a bus without a tracking display. This is one of the reasons why people complain about transit transfers.

Thus, for a $60K/year worker who works 2000 hours/yr, gross hourly salary is $30/hr. Commuting time is valued at $15 to $10/hr Lunchtime is valued at $60/hr. This is one of the reasons why no shuttle bus systems from workplaces to retail locations have worked well. The perceived penalty versus driving is too high. With a population and congestion that doubles during the day, PRT offers Milpitas a prime opportunity to capture noon-time savings.

Next Steps

• Display the Full Scale Model (FSM) in a public place for Milpitas residents to see.
• Send a Council member to Minneapolis (Taxi 2000) for fact-finding.
• Update our railroad crossing plan with the VTA to include the possibility of PRT.
• Conduct public presentations.
• Help the Sunnyhills Neighborhood Association demonstrate public support -- sign a resolution.
• Write a $50,000 Environmental Impact Report (EIR) -- sign a $5 pledge.

"Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, do it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now." - Goethe

PRT Background & In-depth Information	Status of PRT Projects
How and Why PRT works	Support PRT in the SF Bay Area

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