Silent vehicles
ULTra at Heathrow; the PRT at LHR conference.
ULTra vehicles are virtually silent during operation: Because the vehicles require considerably lower power than other forms of transport, there is a significant reduction in noise pollution.
"Standing outside next to the track, I was very impressed by the lack of noise from the vehicle. Obviously the ambient noise is relatively high, but the vehicle seemed to be silent as it moved past me. This reinforced the view that this is a modern, high-tech system, quite different from buses, taxis, tracked-transit systems."
Views of a professional consultant after the PRT@LHR conference held in April 2009.
Measurements taken during a series of vehicle drive-by tests found that at a distance of 10 meters, a vehicle running at 6m/s (~14mph) produced noise levels of around 35dBA - less than the background noise expected in a library. At a higher speed of 10m/s (~23mph), the levels were still only around 45dBA, comparing very favourably with a car which produces about 65dBA at the same distance during drive by.
