Robot Airport Taxis for London Heathrow

Electric robot pods are to become part of the near-future transport architecture at London Heathrow Airport, providing a service to passengers needing to move around the hub. UK firm Advanced Transport Systems is the manufacturer of these robot pods, which make up the Ultra PRT (Personal Rapid Transit) system. They look incredible but they also, crucially, offer a taxi-type service with a low emissions profile. This service will initially be exclusively for passengers travelling into or out of Heathrow Airport on business class services.

Ultra PRT's legacy stretches back four years to 2005, when airport operating group BAA (which owns Heathrow, London Gatwick and Stansted and four other UK hubs) expressed a wish to have a scheme of this kind up and running at the UK's busiest airport. As of August 2009, concluding tests are being performed prior to the PRT system making its public debut towards the end of the year.

Heathrow Ultra PRT

The Heathrow Ultra PRT system will begin by ferrying business class travellers between their designated car park and the airport's latest terminal - Terminal 5. Here's some statistics relating to its capacity and performance:

• Each pod can carry a maximum of four passengers
• The pods can travel around London Heathrow at a maximum of 40 km
• The pods' network of exclusive roadway stretches 4.3 kilometres
• The pods will be run on a staggered system, with a new one available to board every minute at either end of the ride
• The initial car park-to-Terminal 5 journey will take approximately three minutes
• The Heathrow Ultra system runs in conjunction with a main computer system, which regulates pod flow.

Ultra Robot Pods

The Ultra robot pods are extremely energy efficient, since their journeys are based on public input. In other words, those using them can specify their destinations and, in this way, tailor their journeys, removing the need for unnecessary stops that would elongate the transit and, thus, create more emissions. ATS chairman Martin Lowson describes the technology as both "faster and more convenient than buses [used at airports]", adding that it consumes "...half the energy."

If the initial pod run turns out to be a success, ATS plan to extend the Ultra PRT system across Heathrow's entire panorama of operations, with no less than 50 passenger stops served by hundreds of pods.

Airport News will provide further coverage of this groundbreaking scheme's introduction and development as more facts emerge.

Robot Pod image copyright of Advanced Transport Systems Ltd. - www.atsltd.co.uk