It’s something out of science fiction.
Heathrow Airport, just outside London, has introduced driver-less pods to transport passengers between the car parks and terminals.
Each pod can hold up to four passengers and is guided along tracks via laser sensors. They can reach speeds up to 25 mph and run on batteries that recharge themselves. Travel time between the car park and terminal has dropped nearly 60% over the previous bus system as the average wait for a pod is 34 seconds. There is no timetable as each pod is requested as needed.
In the U.S., Raleigh/Durham airport is looking into the feasibility of the same system for their airport.
(Frank II)