ULTra Aims To Prove Pods Are The Transportation of Tomorrow
Looking rather like a cross between Disneyland’s Autopia and something out of a cheesy sci-fi movie, the ULTra is nontheless a real piece of future urban transport that is already being incorporated into the new Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport in London.
ULTra is an innovative form of Personal Rapid Transit (PRT). ULTra (Urban Light Transport) emerged from a fundamental reappraisal of the transport needs of a city. It is designed to meet the expectations of passengers - convenient, inexpensive, reliable, safe and easy to use, while also satisfying public demands for value for money, ease of construction and environmental benefit.
Conventional forms of public transit require passengers to collect in groups until a large vehicle is scheduled to travel on predetermined routes. In contrast, ULTra offers personal transport with no waiting, and takes passengers non-stop to their chosen destination. This is a transport system which is as convenient as, or in congested environments more convenient than, the car, but with minimal environmental impact.
ATS began developing the ULTra personal rapid transit system in 1995 in association with the University of Bristol. The PRT system emerged from systematic engineering analysis as the optimum solution to urban transport problems, for both the user and non-user of the transport system.
This research was led by Martin Lowson, Founder and CEO of ATS. The Company has been granted exclusive access to the commercial exploitation of the core IPR developed during that work and has since added significantly to its own IPR portfolio.
The company has completed the initial phases of prototype development and has undertaken successful passenger trials. The prototype system has consent from the UK Regulatory Authority (HM Rail Inspectorate) to carry the public, which represents a significant milestone.
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