Dump Mark Olson Blog - Now Bogus on Two Continents®

Heya PRTistas, here's what's in the non-news today: the Minnesota anti-PRT propagandist is now trying to blame neighborhood problems in central England on PRT! He quotes the Daventry Express:

Daventry District Council Promoted PRT While Neglecting Neighborhoods

WHILE the rest of the town seems to be heading for prosperity, residents living on a Daventry estate feel they have been forgotten.

As Daventry District Council continues to reveal ambitious plans for the future, including state-of-the-art transport systems, new homes, shops and 21st century facilities, residents say The Grange has been left to fall apart.
...Mrs Smith said: "I’m angry – we should not have to live in this squalor.["]

Don't worry, Mrs. Smith you're going to have your pod in the sky by and by.

Source

Unless Mark "Slappy" Olson is planning to run for Mayor of Daventry, this is just another irrelevant front in Ken Avidor's propaganda war against a technology.

Kenny-Boy's linkage -- PRT is planned, therefore neighborhood policy is impacted -- shows a willful, pretend-ignorance of the complexities of community affairs.

As you probably already expect, PRT has zero to do with the issue. First:

Daventry's PRT planning is not stand-alone, but rather only one part in an overall growth-planning process. Daventry is anticipating an influx of 40,000 new residents by the year 2021. This requires plans for jobs, services and utilities, housing, transportation, etc. In other words, Daventry would be doing this planning whether PRT is on the table or not.

Second: Daventry is working under sustainability mandates for development, and needs to meet emissions goals. Transport and reducing aggregate emissions -- including car exhaust -- is part of that. In other words, Daventry would be planning some kind of new transit system whether PRT is on the table or not. 
Finally, let's return to the Mrs. Smith interviewed in the Express story:

"I've lived on The Grange for 30 years and at one time I was so proud to have a house here, but over the past 10 to 15 years, I've watched it go down hill.["]

Huh. "10 to 15 years." PRT planning in Daventry is 2-3 years old at most. 
If there has been a failure in policy regarding The Grange in Daventry, it has been a long time coming and, like in any town, will be addressed as part of a local process. In fact, it appears as though the town has taken some steps toward improving the district (1, 2). Whether it is sufficient, whether it's happening fast enough, what other steps can be taken, and its ranking among all issues are, again, a local political matter.

And irrelevant to the development of Personal Rapid Transit. Avidor could have just as easily blamed The Grange's 'neglect' on the new homes and shops also being planned!

Mr. Avidor of Minneapolis needs to spend less time worrying about planning in England, and more time trying to Dump Mark Olson (please!).

Read Part II

Also Oct. 11 -- Same paper, same reporter: Pods Prove a Huge Hit.
Oct. 12 -- Daventry Express isn't with him, so he's against them

Oct. 13 -- I make Nixidor's Enemies List

gPRT
Ken Avidor is bogus - dump Roadkill Bill