PRTs the future of warehouse logistics.

Date: 15.11.2011

Technology that allows passengers to be delivered at the push of a button can be used to transport goods from warehouse to shop on demand

PRTs the future of warehouse logistics.

By Rebecca Byfield | November 15, 2011

The world’s busiest airport just got a little less congested with the launch of the long-awaited Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) System, which uses 21 self-driving, electric pod cars to connect
the Heathrow airport’s business car park with Terminal 5.

Ultra PRT, in collaboration with engineering firm Arup, designed the space-age technology. The first-of-its-kind project cost more than £30 million and took six years to complete.

Ultra Managing Director Fraser Brown describes the PRT system as being more than 99 percent
reliable. "The whole system is computer-controlled and only requires three people to monitor and maintain it," he says.

PRTs are being touted as a new age solution to both urban and logistics transport, with experts touting a number of industries and infrastructures that could benefit from pod technology.

But it was Arup Associate Director Austin Smith who envisaged pod technology revolutionising warehouse logistics and supply chains.

"The same technology that allows passengers to be delivered at the push of a button can be used to transport goods from warehouse to shop on demand," Smith says.

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