Ultra Global is delighted to announce that it has signed a contract with its partners China Engineering Consultants Inc (CECI) to carry out a feasibility study into the deployment of Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) within Taiwan. The agreement, the first to explore Ultra’s transport technology in Taiwan highlights the continued interest being shown in PRT across the South East Asian region. Ultra’s Head of Operations Mark Griffiths is today attending a workshop in New Taipei City to officially launch the project.
The study is a high level planning and design project which aims to increase awareness and understanding of PRT with a range of decision makers, stakeholders and members of the public and make them aware of the social and economic opportunities associated with it. Also included within the scope of the study is a specific exploration into the implementation of PRT in New Taipei City, an area which has been identified by Ultra and CECI as a location where PRT can be a lever in unlocking latent economic potential. The project which is expected to last until August 2014 will also draw on the expertise of consultants Sinclair Knight-Merz (SKM) whose own input and expertise will add considerable value to the project.
The contract is another positive step for the Bristol based developers of the technology Ultra Global who have gone from strength to strength since opening their first system in May 2011. The Heathrow pod, the world’s first commercially operational PRT system has now carried close to a million passengers and has amassed over 1,000,000 safe driverless passenger miles. The efficient operational performance at Heathrow along with the popularity of the system has resulted in tremendous interest across the world and the Taiwanese study is one of a number of studies Ultra is currently involved in.
Ultra’s Managing Director Fraser Brown was delighted to have signed the contract, saying “Our work over the past few years has identified the huge potential in PRT to provide high value, low cost, integrated transport solutions, and we look forward to working with CECI to identify how Ultra PRT can deliver a unique and bespoke response to transport requirements across Taiwan. This development is the result of a number of discussions and visits by both Ultra and CECI to Taiwan and the UK respectively and was initiated some 18 months ago.”
Contact: Richard Isles
T: +44 (0) 208 757 2054
E: [email protected]
About Ultra Global:
Ultra Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) is a new and innovative on-demand system for developed or urban environments. It is designed to meet the need for congestion free, multi-origin, multi-destination public transport. Using small driverless electric vehicles that run on guideways, the lightweight and flexible nature of the system enables it to be retrofitted into a broad range of environments and provide transportation that is environmentally friendly and operationally efficient. Ultra PRT has been designed with reliability and safety built-in as standard to ensure the comfort and security of passengers.
Founded by Bristol University (UK) Professor Martin Lowson in 1995, the company’s first system opened in May 2011 at London Heathrow Airports Terminal 5 and currently transports passengers to and from the Terminal’s designated Business Car Park. In addition to removing 70,000 bus journeys on Heathrow’s congested roads each year, the system has also saved 200 tonnes of Co2 per annum and has previously been voted by customers as the single highest scoring passenger service on the entire airport campus.
About CECI
CECI was established in 1969 primarily for the purpose of uplifting Taiwan’s technology and assisting in the economic development of Taiwan and other developing countries. Over the years CECI has undertaken some of the region’s biggest civil, architectural, structural and electrical/mechanical engineering projects, and with the emergence of the electronic information age, has actively expanded its scope of services into new areas of work, including Geographical Information Systems (GIS), Global Positioning Systems (GPS), Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), e-commerce and biotechnology.