Imagine a world where you don’t have to run through the intricate maze of an airport like a lunatic to catch your flight. A world in which the fate of your journey relies on the use of an Airport Personal Transport (APT) that can run three times your speed, built by Massachusetts entrepreneur William Alden and his daring team.
APT is what 88-year-old Harvard alumnus William Alden believes to be the future of travel. His Kickstarter campaign aims to build the semi-autonomous, electric-powered 2-passenger vehicle and prove that it is safe for use in an airport space.
You can reserve an APT as soon as you book a flight. When you’re getting close to the airport the APT system will inform you to park your car. An APT can take it from there.
There will be no need to break a sweat running to catch your plane or drag your 10-pound suitcase through an airport full of crowded people.
Just sit yourself down in an APT with your bags and let the robot take you to your gate. APT allows you to transport one other passenger along with you, which will surely be a relief to those who are afraid to try this robotic form of transport on their own.
It sounds a bit crazy, but no one thought man would be able to fly through the skies either. APT only runs up to 12 mph, and you can change its direction, speed, and point of arrival on the monitoring system. Although the idea of putting human life in the hands of a robot still makes some a bit queasy, APT could be the next necessary step towards helping humans trust the machine.
“Don’t ever tell [William Alden] it can’t be done, because then he’s going tto go and do it,” his wife Judy Alden once said to the late Walter Cronkite. Help her prove this statement true by supporting APT on Kickstarter.
Watch William Alden and his team talk about APT here.
