Can a network of levitating pods change how urban India travels?

Will SkyTran's network of pods change the way urban India travels? Tech in Asia finds out

SkyTran, a personalised rapid transit system (PRT), recently got the go-ahead from Google chairman Eric Schmidt. He invested an undisclosed amount in the NASA-partnered start-up through his fund, Innovation Endeavors.

SkyTran implements a network of computer controlled, levitating vehicles that operate above a magnetic strip in order to transport passengers through surface traffic. It hopes to change the face of public transport across the world. The first public experiment is being built in Tel Aviv, Israel and SkyTran plans to expand to ten countries including the United States, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
 

SkyTran in India
In the following video, SkyTran CEO Jerry Sanders describes the possibility of the entrance of the PTR into India.

 

Ankur Bhatnagar, Vice President of SkyTran India, said he expects the personal rapid transit system to be operational in parts of the country within the next two years. He believes India will be SkyTran’s biggest market. SkyTran is currently in negotiations with the Indian government and plans to introduce the service in parts of Jaipur, Bihar, Jharkhand and Kerala.

This is not the first time that India has been interested in establishing a personalised transit system.

In 2011, ULTra Fairwood got a contract to develop India’s first pod transport system in Amritsar.
 

ULTra planned to carry up to 100,000 passengers daily and hoped to be the largest PRT network in history. Fares would be comparable to local taxi and auto rickshaw prices (Rs 40-50 a seat) and would run between airports, train stations, and Amritsar’s heavily-trafficked Golden Temple. A single pod would have the ability to carry four passengers, each with luggage in tow. Travel times would be cut by 30 minutes and the zero emission vehicles would use a third of the energy that a car would.
 

However, the plan was scrapped for multiple reasons. 

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This is an excerpt from Tech in Asia. You can read the full article here.