Major campuses in Virginia will soon face
transportation problems from the expected
twenty - five percent increase in the student
population in the year 2001. The sudden
increase in the number of students will be
caused by the 'baby bommers' children - the
'bommlets' who will be seeking higher
education opportunities at colleges and
universities. The large university of Virginia
Tech and the adjoining town of Blacksburg
must work in cooperation with planners,
developers and government agencies for the
projected increases in off-campus housing
and transportation demands.
This project is a study into the transportation
issues and land use changes
associated with developing a Personal Rapid
Transit system (PRT) and the projected off-campus
student housing increases that will
effect Blacksburg and Virginia Tech after the
year 2000.
PRT is a transportation system that moves
people in separately operating vehicles that
travel on a guideway. Vehicles "float" on an
air cushion as horizontal side - wheels move
the electrically run vehicle along the
guideway. Each vehicle is computer
operated from a control station and is user
demand - responsive for passenger
destination requests. Transportation service
is available all the time by user demand that makes travel more convenient than other modes of commuter transit.
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