A system and method are provided for determining the position of a vehicle on a guideway. For operation, the vehicle carries a magnetic array having a wavelength “λ”. Further, the guideway includes a propulsion winding for carrying a propulsion current. Also, the guideway is provided with a position winding that has the same wavelength “λ” and includes two helical wires that are displaced from each other by “λ/4”. Importantly, a transmitter is located on the vehicle for emitting a position current that interacts with the position winding to generate a return signal from each helical wire. Also, the system includes a processor for receiving and evaluating the return signals to determine the position of the vehicle on the guideway. As a result, the determined position is used to maximize the interaction of the propulsion current with the magnetic array for propulsion of the vehicle.