01.jpgFor those who are not familiar with Masdar City, it is a planned city currently being built by the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company that relies on solar energy and other renewable energy sources with sustainable, zero-carbon, zero-waste technology. The plan is that the city host the headquarters of the InternationalRenewable Energy Agency (IRENA).
Some of you might remember when we reported on the Personal Rapid Transit system at Masdar City. We showed a picture of these cars on railings like cable cars, but it doesn’t look like the current construction at Masdar City is at the high point yet. They are trying the pods out on the ground, and we have a video after the jump showing it.
These pods move around at about 15 miles per hour, and are made by 2GetThere. They work with magnets as well as a fiber optic system for two-stop transfer systems at the University that are 800 meters apart.
I think that Masdar City’s system of mass transit should be a model of what will hopefully become a model for the entire world transport. I see the ideal mass transit system united under driverless pods such as these, and the days of planes, trains, and automobiles are only used in special situations.
Right now, the people who tried out these pods in the video call them “scary”. It does look like a thrill-ride in Disneyland.
