Remember when these seemed like our transit future? (Photo: Popular Science)

Rewind the clock 40 years, and you and I would see a special enthusiasm flaring up throughout the transportation world for what was known as "personal rapid transit," known more commonly by many as PRT. The idea, which has never truly died and continues to be used in varying forms throughout the world, promised riders a chance to embark on trips in small podcars that would hold just a few people. They could elect their own departure times and quickly move throughout a giant rail system. The idea captured the imagination of transportation experts throughout the 1960s and 1970s, and as the following article says, they fostered a belief that PRT might be the silver bullet that could pull people from their cars, rid us of all the nightmarish gridlock that is likely to worsen in coming years.

In November 1971, Popular Science presented a long, in-depth look at what then seemed a promising technology on the verge of exploding throughout the world and dramatically changing how we saw transportation.

The moment was especially significant due to a new push for personal rapid transit from within Washington D.C. The Department of Transportation had awarded $6 million in contracts for building PRT systems at Dulles Airport for fliers coming to our nation's capital. "The government is backing PRT," the cover story explains, "because it promises to be an attractive substitute for the private auto in traffic-choked cities." The article guides us through what a PRT trip would be like and provides ample photos and illustrations to imagine how such a future transportation system would appear. We hear about the "roomy" cars, "smoother and quieter" than a luxury vehicle. The article refers to the "super-robot trainmaster" at the heart of PRT operations, which adds a hilariously science-fiction touch to the different transit models presented. The rapid speed itself? About 25 miles per hour, Popular Science told its readers.

Although PRT never took off in quite the way planners in the 1970s dreamed, the idea was and is a fascinating one and remains worth examining today in 2011. Interestingly, one of the few modern PRT systems in operation is not even far from D.C. — it's in Morgantown, West Virginia. Read the 1971 Popular Science piece here:

Read more pieces of Metro history here.