Inside Duke Medicine

Tram scrams Oct. 15

After nearly 30 years of service, the Personal Rapid Transit system between Duke North and Duke South will cease permanently on Oct. 15. It’s the first step in a series of projects that will grow and improve Duke Medicine.

Alternative transportation for patients, visitors and hospital employees has been planned.Meanwhile, the PRT link between North and Parking Garage II will continue. The covered walkway between Duke North and South will remain open and will always be open even after the tram’s discontinuation.

Even so, the retirement of the quarter-mile stretch of the PRT will be a big change for the entire Duke University Medical Center community. But it is necessary so work on multiple expansion projects can begin.

“The PRT was a state-of-the-art transportation solution when it began operation in 1979,” said William Fulkerson Jr., M.D., Duke Medicine senior vice president for clinical affairs. “Now, its retirement is making way for a state-of-the-art, 21st century medical facility.”

When construction is complete in approximately five years, that part of the Medical Center will have something it has never had – climate-controlled, interior walkways between buildings and a glass-fronted atrium that will offer shelter to patients, visitors, employees and faculty.

Alternatives
Even after the PRT system is retired, people will still have to get to North and South, as well as points in between, such as the Medical Center Library and Searle conference center. Health System leaders engaged a broad range of employees and caregivers in developing a post-PRT transport plan.

There will be several alternatives:

• Walking – Many do this already, and there are added benefits. Regular walking is excellent exercise – improving lung capacity, strengthening the heart and reducing stress. According to LIVE FOR LIFE, a 160-pound person burns 57 calories during 15 minutes of moderate walking, on average.
• Electric Vehicles – A building-to- building (North/South and vice versa) electric vehicle service for those who have trouble walking long distances. New six-seat, pollutionfree Global Electric Motorcars will travel between the Blue Zone entrance off Research Drive Extension at Duke South and the CARL Building walkway at Duke North.
• H-5 shuttle bus – This service, already in place, takes just minutes, with shuttles leaving every 15 minutes. The shuttle serves Duke South at the bus stop on Trent Drive near the pedestrian overpass and Duke North at the circle (inbound) and at the Erwin Road bus stop (outbound).
• Ambulances will shuttle patients who must travel by stretcher. A new lift van will shuttle patients in wheelchairs.

In October, see the print issue of Inside Duke Medicine for more details about transportation alternatives and a map of shuttle pick-up and drop-off locations.

A larger plan
Construction in preparation for the expansion projects has already started. Crews are building a tunnel roughly parallel to the railroad tracks between Erwin Road and the PRT line to relocate the utilities.

This tunnel must be completed first. By this fall, that tunnel project will cross the PRT area.

“Safety during construction is of utmost importance,” said Kevin Sowers, R.N., M.S.N., interim CEO and COO of DUH, who is leading the expansion effort. “Retiring the PRT now keeps everyone safe and allows for the construction to continue.”

A little history
Duke Medicine made news in the 1970s when it was announced that a futuristic “horizontal elevator” would ferry employees, patients, visitors and cargo between the Duke Hospital and its planned North Division.

An Associated Press report on the inaugural ride on Dec. 8, 1979, told readers worldwide how Otis Elevator Co. had designed an innovative, pilotless shuttle that travels “on a cushion of air.”

In the decades since, a dedicated crew of technicians has kept the Duke PRT going, even though Otis has long since left the PRT business.

“This is the only system of its type in the world, and it has required a team of highly-skilled mechanics to maintain its 99 percent dependability rating,” said Robert Guerry, director of facilities. An Engineering and Operations staff of 11 has kept the PRT going, day and night, since 1979.

Get ready for Oct. 15
The PRT will not go away without Duke Medicine recognizing what role it – and its crew of dedicated technicians – has played. Watch for additional coverage in the October issue of Inside Duke Medicine.

Additional PRT announcements and details about transportation alternatives will be sent to employees via e-mail as the Oct. 15 PRT shut down approaches.

PRT rapid transit facts

• Service between Duke North and Duke South will end permanently on Oct. 15.
• Service between Duke North and Parking Garage II will continue.
• The walkway between North and South will stay open.
• Expect service outages on the North-South PRT as Oct. 15 approaches.

Transport alternatives

• Walking – Many do this already. The walkway won’t close.
• Electric Vehicles – A building-to-building (North/South) electric vehicle service for those who have trouble walking long distances.
• H-5 shuttle bus – This service, already in place, takes just minutes, with shuttles leaving every 15 minutes.
• Ambulances will shuttle patients who must travel by stretcher. A new lift van will shuttle patients in wheelchairs.

Maps and more

• Maps and more details will be published in the Oct. issue of Inside Duke Medicine.