Trivandrum: Infrastructure Kerala Ltd (INKEL) had brought up the idea of pod-cars around the same time when monorail was being pushed as a Mass Rapid Transit System for the city. As of now, monorails do not appear likely as the government is waiting for E Sreedharan's report on the feasibility of Trivandrum to have a metro rail system. And the future of pod-cars seems hazy as well.

“Pod-cars have nothing to do with monorail; both are separate projects,” says an INKEL official. “The studies are going on and the project is definitely alive. The project report would be submitted in about six months' time.”

Image Courtesy: podcars.com

Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) is not really a new concept as it was one of the most popular areas of study during the 60s and 70s. The actual implementation of a PRT however has happened in very few places. The first pod-cars were built and opened to the  public on an experimental basis in Morgan Town, West Virginia, USA in 1975; but the idea failed to catch on. Then, in 2010, a 1.2km PRT that was operated in Madsar City, UAE. The final operational PRT in the world is the 3.8km PRT at the Heathrow Airport.

PRT or pod-cars are small sized transport with a seating capacity of 4 – 6 people. The pod-cars would run on elevated tracks resting on one meter wide columns. The initial costs are high, but construction work takes comparatively less time than MRTS. So far PRT has been limited to short distances within one particular area, like an airport or an institute. The battery charged pod-cars are silent and environmental friendly. It functions along predestined routes and stops.