Nothing he writes can be trusted

Ah. Ken Avidor the Minnesota anti-PRT propagandist. Are we ready to laugh?

In the recent post where he came up with his new Talking Point -- "the so-called PRT system that breaks down half the time" (See his sweeping generalization, 4/5) -- Avidor reported the following about the Morgantown PRT:

Recently a snowstorm shut down the PRT and buses has [sic] to shuttle the students around. Source

(congrats, by the way, on spelling "buses" correctly -- don't ever say I never said anything nice)

This is in line with his longstanding Talking Point that PRT can't operate in snow.

I've long since given up believing even the smallest thing he writes, so of course I checked the reference. What I found in the WVU Daily Athenaeum was this:

A car slid into a utility pole causing a large power outage on the Evansdale campus and in Westover, said Bob Roberts, WVU chief of Public Safety and Transportation.

The accident occurred around 8:30 a.m. and knocked power out for about an hour and a half, he said.

Generators kept many of the buildings in power, Lofstead said.

''I am sure some professors let classes out because they were in the dark,'' she said.

The power outage also shut down the PRT, Roberts said. That meant buses had to run the usual PRT routes, he said. Source

The PRT shut down in the snow, but not because of the snow.

Hey Avidor -- that's some really "accurate" "reporting" you've done there, you've really outdone yourself! What a great TC Daily Planet Transportation Editor you are, they must be so proud!

Sort of related: Rain shuts down New York trains (8/8)

gPRT
Ken Avidor is the lowest selling type of Girl Scout Cookie

The rest of this week

From the Desk of
The Minnesota anti-PRT Propagandist

To-do list for February 7-9, 2007

• Find out what the Center for Transportation and the Environment is.
• Find Kingsport and Sevier County, TN on Google Maps. Find out what sort of weird stuff goes on there.
• Submit standard anti-PRT propaganda op-ed to the Mountain Press (remember to run spellcheck and grammar-check this time).
  
• Send talking points to Doug Bishop.
  
• Google ("City Administrator" "Doug Bishop" highway contractor payoffs).
• Find picture of Doug Bishop for the Pod Squad.
• Investigate possible link: J. Edward Anderson and Rep. Mark Olson have same shoe size?
  
• Ignore fact that Jefferson LeBlanc of Santa Cruz is anti-PRT and pro-road expansion.
• Ignore report that the Vectus chassis has been operating in the snow.
  
• Send talking points to Future of Things webzine. Google staff members. If they won't play ball, give Dr. Lucille Fresco-Cohen the Zoe Naylor treatment.
• Think up other things that rhyme with "Gow."
  
• Read "PRT Is a Joke is a Joke."

---

gPRT
Ken Avidor is a little bit country

His middle initial must be "W"

A hallmark of the Minnesota anti-PRT propagandist's disinformation campaign is his frequent reliance on guesswork instead of facts.

The regular reader is of course familiar with his biggest solid-gold comedy hits, such as:

• "PRT will lose traction in the rain," in which he ignores that wheel traction is irrelevant in LIM (magnetically-propelled) PRTs (#419 forward). Other times he has claimed that LIMs are used to hover (Oops, *** did it again, 6/22), or that LIM is a system name like Taxi 2000, ULTra or Vectus (Out on a LIM, 3/1).
• "People don't like to ride with strangers," a Wikipedia thread in which he is unable to make his point without misquoting or mischaracterizing his claimed 'evidence.'

It's always entertaining, however, to go back and mock some of his lesser-known, "B-side" offerings. One such stinker is "PRT guideway can't curve." Let me hum a few bars:

I want to know how they bend their guideways. The PRT guideways are steel box frames... kind of resistant to bending. When you look at the PRT graphics the guideways are all curvey [sic] and bendy. The prototype guideway I saw was as straight as a ramrod.

Trolley rails and LRT rails are made to be bent into shape. Source (#432)

He just pulls it out of his butt! At the time I responded,

The actual real-world way is to bend the pieces first, and then assemble them into guideway sections. There's an explanation of this technique on pp. 7-8 here:
http://www.skyloop.org/cals/rebuttal/001-SLC-T2C-Rebuttal-to-CALS-DFR2.pdf Source (#626)

And here's a recent picture to further prove him clueless:

A section of guideway under construction in the Vectus shop in Sweden. Next to it you can see pieces of rail that have already been bent, prior to assembly. (Vectus photo)

Another time, Ovendoor even layered-on more idiocy by speculating that guideway can't have banked curves:

Another consideration may have been the need to bank the guideway on curves. Ever notice that the PRT graphics and animations dont [sic] show a banked PRT guideway on a curve? Source

Another Rectal Reference* source!

In this new photo of the Vectus installation, the guideway is not only curved--it's banked too!

(Vectus photo)

Of course, Klog Openpore has never confessed to these or any other inaccuracies--still claiming to be right about everything he says. Some "transportation expert."

It's his way of staying the course. Hey Kenworth, there's someone here who wants to give you a shout-out:

"Keep stayin' the course, Mr. Skeptic!"

Related:

• PRT is technology, not ideology (Tuesday)
• New Propagandist Talking Point gains inertia: More name-calling and bombast

* ©2006 Mr_Blog



gPRT
Ken Avidor is a scam

Unnamed hero reveals stealth PRT

(Avociadored Press) The responsibility for the surprise storm that struck Buffalo and surrounding areas has been identified.

The cause of the protracted storm, which dumped up to two feet of heavy snow and interrupted power to thousands of Buffalonians, has been traced to the heretofore undisclosed existence of a so-called Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system.

So says a courageous truthseeking Minnesota transportation expert, who describes PRT as a scam being perpetrated by notorious anti-transit right-wing stalking horses such as the European Union, Swedish Railway Administration, Sneaky Equestrian Association of America, and the Union of Concerned Agriculture Commodities Traders.

PRT is a futuristic mass transit system that is essentially an elevated network of horizontal elevator cars. PRT would be less effective than conventional technologies, because it would be less expensive per mile, would have a larger service area, and would allow passengers to travel on demand instead of according to schedules. PRT would also be less energy efficient because the computer-controlled cars would only move when needed, and would be nonstop from origin to destination. Real transportation experts prefer elevated trains, such as light rail, because the rail is wider and blocks more sun than narrower PRT rail (called "guideway").

The expert, who gave his name, said that the recent storm enabled him to deduce the existence of a secret PRT system in Buffalo.

"Because PRT guideway are elevated, they collect water, ice and snow, which then fall on pedestrians, vehicles and streets below," the expert said. "There is no doubt that all that snow must have fallen from a PRT--where there's smoke there's fire."

He also warned, "Not only does the storm prove PRT exists in Buffalo, the storm's size and severity indicates the PRT network must be huge."

---

Look out below!

A non-existent PRT knocks snow off its guideway (File photo)

© 2006 Avociadored Press

Archived Funny: Reductio * absurdum (7/5)
Blogger embarrassed in PRT mix-up ("PRT Is a Joke" Is a Joke v.1)

gPRT
Ken Avidor is a snowball

Reductio * absurdum

Local Man Denounces Pedestrian Footbridges

A self-styled walking and biking advocate spoke out today against construction of Bike/Pedestrian Bridges anywhere in the Universe.

The man, a Minneapolis resident who said he didn't like it when media failed to publish his name, said he preferred crosswalks.

"These overpasses are pie in the sky, whereas crosswalks are proven," he said. "Overpass proponents try to make them sound like a good thing by calling them footbridges!!! But really they are just bashing crosswalks!!! Overpasses are nothing more than gadget-crossings, people want their feet firmly on the ground with everyone else--if only because it's symbolically egalitarian!!! If lifeforms want to cross the street safely, we should wave in a friendly manner and ask motorists to yield!!! They are, after all, our friends, neighbors and fellow-citizens!!!"

"Building overpasses would be a mistake," he continued. "Rain and snow will drip off them onto people below, and people walking across will be able to see into bedroom windows!!! It's nothing more than a stalking horse for the pro-drip, cheap-thrills industry!!!"

Asked if he was aware that people have curtains on their windows, he fumed that footbridges are safety nightmares. "Drunks will throw up on them, and young people will use them as places to drink, or have sex!!! And are we going to call out the hook-and-ladder every time someone gets stuck up there?"

He also raised an aesthetic and environmental concern. "Just ask people if they want the trees on their street cut down for overpasses!!!"

The man said he would soon be releasing a definitive 'overpass report,' including illustrations showing what a footbridge would look like with the head of Sen. Michele Bachmann (R-Stillwater) Photoshopped onto it.


gPRT
Like a bridge over troubled Ken Avidor