Pod-Cars – Good? Bad? or Ugly?

Now, after circulating the local press for about a month, it made to the New York Times – Ithaca is trying to be the first US site to have Pod-Cars. Pod-Cars, or Personal Rapid Transit, are little wagons that can carry 2-8 people to a destination of their choice, as long as it is on the route of monorails these cars are running on.  Kind of a personalized little light train that also uses clean energy.

The initiative has generated a lot of positive buzz.  Being a liberal and environmentally conscious hub, the impression i am getting from the media (and some of my Facebook contacts) is that people are eager to have little white trans running around Ithaca.  After all it is cleaner than the cars, it is safer, particularly for those nights when the students are going out and drink, and it is supposedly faster than a personal car.

Sounds great… but somehow i have doubts.  Imagining a network of elevated monorails running all around Ithaca, across its gorges and waterfalls, really blocks my excitement with the environmental and safety benefits.  I do wonder if Ithaca with its rush-minutes (a much shorter version of rush-hours) and maximum 60K people (including students) needs such a public transportation system that will tremendously change one of its main assets, the looks?  What do you think?