The trip begins with the user entering one of the PRT stations placed about every half-mile (or less) along the PRT guideways. If he doesn't have a ticket, he proceeds to the ticket machine and selects the destination from among any of the stops on the entire system. He then pays for and receives his ticket.

With the ticket in hand, the rider proceeds to one of the vehicle berths. At peak time there may be a short wait, typically less than two minutes, but during non-peak hours there is almost always a vehicle waiting at the station for the rider. The rider inserts his ticket into the reader on the stanchion in front of an empty vehicle to open the vehicle door. He then steps into the vehicle, takes his seat, and pushes the door button to close the door when ready to leave.

When a suitable gap appears in the mainline traffic, the PRT vehicle accelerates out of the station and merges into the mainline traffic. Since all PRT stops are on offline guideways, the vehicle bypasses all intervening stations. When the vehicle enters the destination station, it parks at one of the vehicle berths, where the rider presses the door button to open the door. He then exits the vehicle and walks out of the station to his destination.

Sharing a Ride

Sharing a ride is easy, convenient, and profitable with PRT. Tickets are issued per vehicle, not per rider. So two people sharing a PRT trip pay the same price as one person, and three people can cut their transit costs by two thirds!

Sharing can be encouraged by selling multi-stop tickets that allow the vehicle to stop at a station, let a rider out, then continue on to the remaining passenger's destination(s). So in the morning, you may 'carpool' to work with your spouse, children, or neighbor who is going in the same general direction. The person whose stop is nearest the boarding station gets off first, and the vehicle continues on to the further station. In the afternoon, co-workers or acquaintances who work near each other and live in the same general direction may share a vehicle home.

When sharing a PRT trip, you don't have to worry if your ride is late. You simply take the PRT yourself. There is no problem if someone must go home unexpectedly. Those that would have been stranded in an automobile carpool can now take a PRT vehicle themselves. There are no parking fees to split. The vehicle will be off to haul another person or to the storage area if not needed.

Easy Access for the Mobility Impaired

Personal rapid transit systems will be easily accessible by the mobility impaired. Each station will have an elevator to allow access to the vehicle berths. All vehicles have level-floor boarding from the station and EVERY vehicle is wheelchair accessible.