High-tech podcars to take to Dubai streets in a few years

• Image Credit: Supplied
• Podcars combine the comfort and privacy of a private car with the convenience of a rapid train.

Image 1 of 2

12

Dubai: Dubai is set to have a new mode of public transport — high-tech podcars — in the next couple of years, a senior official announced at a conference on Monday.

The Zabeel area has been identified for the launch of the Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system, which is currently operational only at London’s Heathrow Airport and in West Virginia in the US. In 2011 a similar system was also piloted at Masdar City, Abu Dhabi.

PRT is a personalised guided, single-car transit system that carries small groups of people, connecting with other larger network of transport modes. The system allows non-stop, point-to-point travel that combines the comfort and privacy of a private car and the convenience of a rapid train.

“The RTA will be identifying different modes of transport that will be required to be launched before Expo 2020. We are working on plans to introduce a Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system in the Zabeel area,” said Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of the RTA, during his keynote presentation at the Project Management Institute’s Global Congress in Dubai.