The Houston City Council approved a $13 million contract with Walt Disney Productions and Turner Construction Co. July 18 to replace the tunnel train transportation system in use at the Houston International Airport with a WEDway People Mover system developed by Disney's engineering firm, WED Enterprises of Glendale, Calif., according to Disney Productions in Burbank, Calif.
The Houston installation, expected to be completed by mid-1981, marks the first time a Disney-developed system has been offered for use outside Walt Disney World, Orlando, Fla., and Disneyland, Anaheim, Calif.
The Disney/Turner joint venture was chosen by Houston from among five bidders, which included Westinghouse, Boeing, Universal Mobility Inc., and P.R.T. Systems.
The PeopleMover system, in use at Walt Disney World the past four years, operates by electromagnetic propulsion using linear induction motors. Six three-car trains will be installed at the Houston Airport to run a 7,500 foot route between the airport's three terminals, hotel and parking areas.
Carl Walker, president of Disney Productions, said the firm expects to pursue other opportunities in cities throughout the country. Since 1959, when the first daily operating monorail in the Western Hemisphere was introduced at Disneyland, the company has been developing additional transportation systems.
The PeopleMover is the only one of 10 people-moving systems evaluated by the Urban Mass Transportation Administration to achieve a total operating and maintenance cost of nine cents per passenger mile, according to Walker. UMTA has certified the system for use in federally subsidized urban transit programs.
Advantages of the system include silent, non-polluting operation, energy efficiency, an outstanding safety record and a 99.8 percent reliability performance based on its use at Disney World, according to Walker.
