Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) is a system that has been used at the University of West Virginia in Morgantown for over 30 years (it was invented by a professor there), and now a super-duper version of it is being planned for Abu Dhabi. It runs on an elevated grid, on wheels rather than on a monorail, and each podcar operates independently, taking passengers directly to their destination, bypassing other stops.
Under one scenario, a passenger enters the system, swipes a card and a voice says "Good morning, So-and-So! Where would you like to go today?" And then tells you when your podcar will be ready, and at which platform.
The podcar artwork shown here depicts a PRT system proposed for Stockholm, Sweden.
Image by Visulogic
From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Marilyn Terrell.