The Role of Universities in Advancing Advanced Transit Alain L. Kornhauser Chairman, Advanced Transit Association (ATRA) Professor, Operations Research & Financial Engineering Director, Program in Transportation Founder, ALK Technologies, Inc. and Vice Chairman, New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology Presented at US-Sweden Livability Workshop Washington, DC November 30, 2011

40 years ago… Universities played a significant role in advancing Advanced Transit (implementation of automation into mass transportation) –Automated Rail Berkeley & MIT

40 years ago… Universities played a significant role in advancing Advanced Transit (implementation of automation into mass transportation) –Focus on Airport CMU & Texas

40 years ago… Universities played a significant role in advancing Advanced Transit (implementation of automation into mass transportation) –PRT focus at U of Minn., U of Wash & Princeton

40 years ago… Univ. effort was motivated by R&D funding from UMTA, which also funded: –Transpo 72 (Major exposition at Dulles)

40 years ago… Univ. effort was motivated by R&D funding from UMTA, which also funded: –DPMs,

40 years ago… Univ. effort was motivated by R&D funding from UMTA, which also funded:

40 years ago… Univ. effort was motivated by R&D funding from UMTA, which also funded: –Morgantown

Along the way… Nothing much…

But Today… Masdar & Heathrow are operational

But Today… Advances are being made with autonomous vehicles

But Today… Advances are being made with autonomous vehicles

But Today… Unfortunately… Little Federal Funding.. Connected Vehicles Applications Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) Communications for Safety Intelligent Transportation Systems for Transit University Transportation Centers Program

Appendix B: Potential Transit Research Topics Safety Safety culture and training Safety incident reporting Engineering and testing of vehicles, equipment, and infrastructure Applications of safety management systems to public transportation State of Good Repair Asset management Performance metrics Transit infrastructure data collection and analysis Transit maintenance - best and new practices Engineering of vehicles and equipment Impacts of system reliability on ridership Capital maintenance funding balance and relationship to service levels Economic Competitiveness Workforce development and training/human resources Transit and job creation Transit system operations and service planning - best and new practices Transit system management, administration, and finance Transit and economic development/value capture Service availability levels and impacts on public benefits and ridership levels Operations and funding issues Livable Communities Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Bike/pedestrian research — first mile, last mile Rural/tribal/parks/paratransit research Affordable housing and transit Transit access, social equity, and mobility Transit and High Speed Rail (HSR) interconnectivity Environmental Sustainability Land use planning Climate change mitigation and adaptation Metropolitan planning Alternative energy and transit. University Transportation Centers Program Grants Solicitation (Nothing about Advanced Transit! Livable Communities???)

Universities Could Help… Very effectively and substantively… Little thought to date about how Advanced Transit could help mitigate some of the World Bank “Automobile Futures” Developing strategies that not only dis-incentivise the automobile but also produce not only a viable alternative, but even a substantially better alternative Better alternative, not only by itself, but how it enhances existing modes “last mile” problem of Conventional and High Speed Rail Training the next generation of planners

Universities Could Help… Very effectively and substantively… Fundamental issues: Automation and its necessity for extremely high Since 1976: >1.35M Highway deaths US Since 1776: ~1.25 M US Military Death, All Wars!! Maybe we shouldn't be driving!

Universities Could Help… Very effectively and substantively… Fundamental issues: Automation and its necessity for extremely high image processing for object detection Visualization, animation, simulation, virtual reality Low-weight designs Demand modeling Implementation strategies (NIMBY studies) Environmental Assessments Financing/implementation strategies

Universities Could Help… Very effectively and substantively… Extend University Transportation Centers Program Internationally –Begin with Sweden