A shiny white pod that began road tests this month may well be the taxi of the future.
The pod, known as ULTra -- Urban Light Transport -- could make driver-free transport a reality and not just the stuff of futuristic fantasy.
"It will be the first in the world," said Richard Treychenne, director of business development at ULTra's makers, Advanced Transport Systems Limited.
The pod -- which seats up to four passengers -- is the brainchild of Bristol University's Martin Lowson, who is no stranger to making science fiction dreams come true.
His past projects include the Apollo Moon-landing program in the US.
The first stage of the ULTra project will have 30 pods circling the Cardiff Bay area in Wales by 2004 if all goes according to plan, Treychenne said.
Next, the pods would move to the centre of the Welsh capital.
At a maximum of 40km per hour, ULTra may not reach cosmic speeds but should still speed past cars and buses stuck in traffic.
The battery-powered pods will operate on a single 1.5m wide track -- less than half the width of a single lane of road -- and recharge at every stop to keep their energy levels topped up.
Resistant to vandalism, snow, rain and ice, the vehicles will be designed to stop automatically if they sense an object in their path.
ULTra pods could work as an automated personal taxi system. Passengers will "hail" the pod from a designated stop, where they select the required destination along a set route.
When the pod pulls up, the passengers swipe a smart card giving the travel details and ULTra carries them directly to their chosen stop.
Rubber wheels ensure a quiet journey and security cameras at every stop increase passenger safety.
Advanced Transport Systems estimate that building an ULTra network would cost about one-third to one-half of the amount needed for a light railway.
Connecting Cardiff's city centre to its waterside region is expected to cost ?45 million (US$65 million).
Old car parks and shops will be converted into express stations for hospitals and other focal points in the city.
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