Editing People mover (section)

=== Other developments ===
[[File:Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center Station Platform.JPG|thumb|Platform of [[Zhujiang New Town Automated People Mover System|Zhujiang New Town APM]] in [[Guangzhou]], [[Guangdong]], China]]
[[File:People_Mover.jpg|thumb|[[Marconi Express]] in [[Bologna]], Italy]]

The term 'people mover' was used by [[Walt Disney]], when he and his [[Walt Disney Imagineering|Imagineers]] were working on the new 1967 [[Tomorrowland (Disney Parks)|Tomorrowland]] at [[Disneyland Park (Anaheim)|Disneyland]]. The name was used as a working title for a new attraction, the [[PeopleMover]]. According to Imagineer [[Bob Gurr]], "the name got stuck," and it was no longer a working title.<ref>{{cite video
  | people = Gurr, Robert
  | title = Ford's Magic Skyway and the PeopleMover
  | medium = Documentary
  | publisher = Extinct Attractions Club
  | location = United States
  | date = 2005 }}
</ref>

Starting in the late 1960s and into the 1970s, people movers were the topic of intense development around the world. Worried about the growing congestion and pollution in downtown areas due to the spread of cars, many countries started studying mass transit systems that would lower capital costs to the point where any city could afford to deploy them. Most of these systems used elevated guideways, which were much less expensive to deploy than tunnels. However, elevating the track causes problems with noise, so traditional steel-wheel-on-rail solutions were rare as they squealed when rounding bends in the rails. Rubber tired solutions were common, but some systems used [[hovercraft]] techniques or various [[magnetic levitation]] systems.

Two major government funded APM projects are notable. In Germany, [[Demag|Mannesmann Demag]] and [[Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm]] developed a system known as [[Cabinentaxi]] during the 1970s. Cabinentaxi featured small cars with from four to eight seats that were called to pick up passengers on-demand and drove directly to their destination. The stations were "offline", allowing the cabs to stop by moving off the main lines while other cars continued to their destinations. The system was designed so the cars could be adapted to run on top or bottom of the track (but not easily converted from one to the other), allowing dual-track movements from a single elevated guideway only slightly wider than the cars. A test track was completed in 1975 and ran until development was completed in 1979, but no deployments followed and the companies abandoned the system shortly thereafter.

In the U.S., a 1966 federal bill provided funding that led to the development of APM systems under the Downtown People Mover Program. Four systems were developed, [[Rohr, Inc.|Rohr]]'s [[ROMAG]], [[Ling-Temco-Vought|LTV]]'s [[Vought Airtrans|AirTrans]], [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]'s APT and [[Otis Elevator]]'s hovercraft design. A major presentation of the systems was organized as TRANSPO'72 at [[Dulles International Airport]], where the various systems were presented to delegations from numerous cities in the US. Prototype systems and test tracks were built during the 1970s. 

One notable example was [[Pittsburgh]]'s Skybus, which was proposed by the [[Port Authority of Allegheny County]] to replace its streetcar system, which, having large stretches of private right of way, was not suited for bus conversion. A short demonstration line was set up in South Park and large tracts of land were secured for its facilities. However, opposition arose to the notion that it would replace the streetcar system. This, combined with the immaturity of the technology and other factors, led the Port Authority to abandon the project and pursue alternatives. By the start of the 1980s most politicians had lost interest in the concept and the project was repeatedly de-funded in the early 1980s. Only two APMs were developed as a part of the People Mover Program in the U.S., the [[Metromover]] in [[Miami]], and the [[Detroit People Mover]]. The [[Jacksonville Skyway]] was built in the late 1980s.