Futuristic pod cars being considered for Domtar site

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The former Domtar site, now known as Zibi, is still a wasteland of shuttered industrial buildings on islands and shoreline along the Ottawa River. Within years, developers say, it will be transformed into a green and vibrant waterfront community where people will live, work and play. And that community could have a futuristic touch.

Jonathan Westeinde, a partner of developer Windmill, says the company is considering building a personal pod transportation system that would allow people to “zip around” the 37-acre site in individual, automated cars on an elevated monorail system.

Company officials have travelled to Sweden to look at examples of the personal pod transportation system there, he said.

Westeinde called personal pods an “emerging trend” in rapid transit.

The system could provide a link between the LRT in Ottawa and the bus system in Gatineau, he said, that would connect people to the community of Zibi, located on Albert and Chaudiere Islands and the shores of Gatineau on former Domtar lands.

The pods operate on demand, not on a schedule — more like a space-aged taxi service than a bus or train. Each pod would hold about six people, similar to a gondola, and travel from the Ontario and Quebec sides of the river to the community.

The Jetson-like transportation system could be a key to the development’s zero carbon plan.

Personal rapid transit, as it is known, is highly accessible, user-responsive, as well as environmentally friendly, according to a European Union study.

Westeinde said personal pods are among the “novel transportation strategies” being considered for the site. Developers are also looking at water taxis.

epayne@ottawacitizen.com