I love cable pulled vehicles

They make sense, they may even make sense for the Oakland Airport connector. I never disparaged cable. Remember, cable keeps the propulsion stationary, less weight to move around.

My complaint is that the cable should be in the ground, or above the asphalt; and we should make it part of the general transit artery. Any other problems requiring speed, priority, integration or sales of lane space are all handled by technology.

It is the same complaint I had with the Ultra PodCars, if we build protected lanes, then define the software/hardware architecture that lets other Autobots share these lanes. Autobots would likely be very precise in grabbing the cable for a free ride.

Let me summarize:
If we think the Airport corridor needs an overhead lane, then evaluate that separately from the issue of the propulsion. But we cannot take overhead space from the corridor and restrict it to underutilized vehicles; thus distorting the corridor. The test is open access traffic pricing, regardless of what they build and what technology restrictions they impose.

In the case of Heathrow, if we like lightweight autobots, then we like light weight cargo bots, light weight hybrids or electrics, light weight self driving rental cars. A case can be made that airports have greater utility with light weights. Airports are gated communities, but if light weights make sense, then make the causeways into general arterial corridors; otherwise think twice.

What is the minimum technology we need for any car to get a free cable ride?

Well the cable needs intelligent hitches, which I now invent. The hitch rides along the cable, just under the asphalt layer. Via wireless communications attracts a customer, just above it. Using control by wire the car aligns its speed, and the hitch grabs a hook near the rear differential, and away they go.

Airports are an interesting case:

Planes are volume restricted, more than weight restricted. So, what if we go with volume restricted vehicles on causeways? Then we have the possibility of boarding the passengers and baggage miles away, both riding in multi-car diesel electric trams to the actual plane boarding. If airlines could agree on the quantum volume of cargo or passenger, then the causeways could be designed about that standard. We would minimize cargo handling at the runways, we maximize the use of technology in sorting and tracking. But, in a sense, airlines have already agreed, they have those trains of baggage carriers. Build a light weight causeway standard around some small multiple of that carrier size, make it autonomous drive only.