In an effort to alleviate some of its problems with traffic, the City of Plano is considering an aerial solution, reports CBS.
JPods, a personal rapid-transit concept suspended from an aerial track, was introduced at a Plano city council meeting last week.
Likened to a modern gondola system or a tram, each pod can carry between four and six people. After entering the destination, the pod takes you directly there.
The pods use a combination of electricity and solar power. A big advantage of the system is that the tracks required for the pods could be built within existing roadways, so there’s no extra land required.
Bill James, CEO and founder of JPods, said this way of traveling was faster, safer, and more affordable than any other current public transit systems, according to Community Impact.
“Next time you get in an elevator and push the button, you’re riding in a vertical JPod,” James said. “These are just a network of horizontal elevators. It’s just that simple.”
The Plano city council agreed to send in an application to the council of governments, which is due November 18.
If the city of Plano decides to go ahead with the project, it is estimated that it will take between seven and 10 years to complete construction.
The estimated cost for the JPods is between $10 million and $15 million per mile. By comparison, the cost of the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) Silver Line project, 26 miles between Plano and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, was $1.89 billion, which works out to about $72.7 million per mile.
“I think any way to relieve some of the congestion in the area and then just keep people a lot safer, it’s a great idea,” Frisco resident Heather Warren told CBS.
“I’m intrigued by the technology,” Gyna Bivens, Fort Worth City Council mayor pro tem and vice-chair of the Regional Transportation Council, said at a September RTC meeting. “I grew up watching ‘The Jetsons.'”