Yes, the first PRT system has been operating since 1976 at West Virginia University (video) with a perfect safety record — and a podway is PRT (Personal Rapid Transit). Germany's Wuppertal is a suspended train that has been operating since 1901.
The project's engineering partner is Capgemini. Capgemini is the largest and one of the most respected product engineering companies in the world. For decades, they have delivered similar systems including automated transit, high-speed rail, autonomous vehicles, and elevators.
A podway was installed in 2021 near Boston for testing. That pilot proved the podway's engineering, manufacturability, low cost, and fast installation. Every podway project starts with a onsite pilot followed by a phased rollout. Over a dozen governments are moving forward with podway projects and the first ones will start operations in 2025. The reason why no large automated networks have been built to date is because of the 4 C's and 4 F's — and podway projects overcome these barriers. A comparison of PRT, podways, cars, buses, and trains is available.
Every podway project is unique — similar to every other major civil infrastructure project including every skyscraper, transit system, bridge and dam. Podway projects have lower risk than most transportation projects because: 1. privately funded, 2. manufactured, 3. use existing easements, 4. exclusive and grade separated, 5. automated controls, 6. positive environmental impact and 7. fast implementation. The book titled "How Big Things Get Done. The surprising factors that determine the fate of every project." has analyzed over 250 large projects — and podway projects are similar to the most sucessful (and least risky) projects.
Governments significantly underestimate their current risk exposure from flooding, crashes, congestion, carbon emissions, climate heating, pollution, sea level rise, heat waves, migration, civil unrest, disruption from construction, and increasing project costs. As podway projects solve major challenges without any government financial burden or land use, moving forward with a podway project has less risk than any other available option.
There is an important distinction between perception of risk and actual risk. Confusing these two can lead to disasterous results. For example, when California was first considering the construction of high speed rail (HSR) between Los Angeles and San Franciso, government officials visited Japan to ride their HSR system that had been operational for over 50 years. They perceived the project risk for CA HSR to be low because "We rode Japan's HSR and it been operating for 50 years! (If Japan has done it, then we can.)" Now, CA HSR is considered an embarrasing boondoggle. It is more than 10 years behind schedule and $100 billion over the original estimate. Good risk assessment and mitigation is so much more than "Can I ride it?".