Automated Road Vehicles for Passenger Transportation Robert Johnson R. E. Johnson Consulting Rockville, Maryland June 2006

Automated Road Vehicles (ARVs) Steer themselves on a flat surface No mechanical constraint Self contained power source All sizes: 4 passenger to 50 passenger Also called: –Automated (or Automatic) Guided Vehicles –Road based people movers

The Automated Highway From Time Magazine, January 23, 1956 Advertisement by electric power industry “...speed and steering automatically controlled by electronic devices embedded in the road.”

Automated Road Vehicles vs. Automated Highways ARV speed is much lower to 25 mph (32-40 kph) ARV headway is typically much longer ARV vehicles are captive to system –No problem with damage while off system –Vehicle serves many passengers Small ARV systems are practical ARVs can promote higher density, not sprawl

Presentation Overview History and Status of ARVs Near term applications Proposed system design (Draft) Development plan

ParkShuttle I Entered service in 1997 at Amsterdam airport Reserved lane, but cars & people could cross 15 mph (22 kph) Circulation within 10,000 car parking lot 6 seats, 4 standees

ParkShuttle I Rotterdam Application Connected rail station to business park Proved passengers accept driverless vehicles Issues: low capacity and false positives from sensors

ParkShuttle I - Rotterdam Application

ParkShuttle II 20 passengers 20 mph (32 kph)

ParkShuttle II - Rotterdam Application Six vehicles Dec 1, 05: Grand opening with Prime Minister Dec 6, 05: Collision between two empty vehicles Feb 7, 06: Fire in garage destroys one vehicle and damages another

Toyota IMTS (Intelligent Multi-mode Transport System) Driverless platoons in exclusive lane Began operation 2001 at Japanese theme park 19 mph (30 kph) maximum

Toyota IMTS EXPO 2005 Bus 17 seats, 33 standees 19 mph (30 kph) max Powered by CNG 3-bus platoons

Toyota IMTS at EXPO mile (1.6 km) route Attendant in lead bus Short headway within platoon Millions of passengers

Yamaha Floriade Vehicle For 2002 flower show 25 vehicles 7 mph (11 kph) max Based on golf cart

Upper Floriade Station System had two stations, at top and bottom of hill Level boarding from raised platforms

CyberC3 EU-China Project Plan to carry tourists around Shanghai park in late 2006 Follows magnets buried in the road Technology similar to EU CyberCar project

ULTra Personal Rapid Transit Vehicle 4 passengers 25 mph (40 kph) maximum

ULTra Personal Rapid Transit 18 vehicles ordered for London’s Heathrow airport Service to start in 2008

Advanced Transport Systems, Ltd. Producer of the ULTra PRT vehicle Spun off from the University of Bristol Approximately $ 20 million funding from EU and UK Built 0.6 mile (1 km) test track Recently sold 25% of its equity to BAA, the world’s largest airport operator, for £ 7.5 million

Characteristics of ARVs that Determine Initial Applications Low speed, mph (32-40 kph) max Low operations and maintenance cost Moderate capital cost Right-of-way requirements

Characteristics of Initial Applications for ARVs Short distance: 0.6 to 3 miles (1-5 km) Extend existing mode to trip generator Not in Central Business District Special cases where right or way is available Snow/ice not excessive Would like a People Mover but can’t justify cost

Can Create Value by Generating Proximity Example: Need 5000 parking spaces “close” to airport terminal Build parking structure next to terminal at $15K/space = $75M, or Surface lot one mile (1.6 km) away at $2K/space = $10M, plus Automated Road Vehicle system with maximum 1 minute wait time and 3 minutes travel time Important to have short wait time, since travel models generally weigh it 2-3 times as much as travel time

Relative Number of ARV Applications for Various Pairs of Endpoints

Suggested System Design Principles Exclusive roadway Shared vehicle Follow existing People Mover standards Conservative headway (“Brick Wall” stopping) Failure recovery is basic

Proposed Vehicle Characteristics Narrow, 4.5 feet (1.4m) wide –Important to minimize roadway width All seated –Stability with a narrow vehicle –Don’t need the high capacity obtainable with standees Acceleration and jerk limits suitable for standees –Can’t be sure all passengers are seated –Wheelchairs will be unsecured

Headway and Capacity 5 second minimum headway 6 passengers 4320 pass/hr/direction max (6*3600/5) Approximately 3000 pass/hr/dir practical max

Automated Microbus

Microbus Interior Showing Two Fold-Down Seats

Suzuki concept van showing possible design for doors and roof opening (but Microbus doors are on one side only)

Microbus Front, Top, and Side Views

Microbus Exclusive Roadway

Microbus Route Along Freeway

Arterial Passing Over Freeway

Microbus Route Along Freeway Passing Under Arterial

Microbus Route (in yellow) Along Freeway Passing Under Cross Street At Interchange

Microbus Tunnel Under Cross Street

Microbus End-of-Line Station

Microbus “T” Intersection

Control System Design Intelligent vehicles Central control is executive only However, might have remote manual driving if on-board control system fails Decentralized control gives a robust system: if vehicle fails, just take it out of service Easy to expand system Vehicle has complete knowledge of system layout

Lateral Control by Means of Magnets in Road

Vehicle following Radar or laser Same type of sensors are used in auto industry for Adaptive Cruise Control

Merging Without Central Control Vehicle always knows whether it’s in high or low priority lane

Unplanned Events Trespassers in roadway Foreign objects: tree branches, trash, etc. What if small animal in roadway?

Failure Recovery Roadway is two-way everywhere If vehicle fails: –Bring vehicle in other lane alongside and transfer passengers (even wheelchair users) –Back another vehicle down lane in front of failed vehicle –Tow failed vehicle away Should be able to clear line in 20 minutes or less

Automated Microbus (Draft) Development Plan Major Subsystems Skills needed Stages of development

Major Subsystems Infrastructure: Roadway, stations, and maintenance facility Vehicle chassis including actuators for brakes, steering, and doors, as well as heat and A/C Body including seats Control system –Sensors –On-board computer –Communications including closed circuit TV –Central control

Skills Needed Infrastructure costing (Civil Engineering) Automotive engineering –Chassis upgrades –Body Robotics High reliability systems Application design, analysis and simulation Patronage estimation and Cost/Benefit analysis

Stages of Development Paper Studies One complete vehicle with joystick control rather than automatic control Three vehicles with automatic control and at-grade test track First system serving the public

Paper Studies $50K - 200K Design and cost vehicle and control system Use pedestrian facility unit costs for infrastructure Lay out several small applications, perhaps to serve proposed Rail or Bus Rapid Transit lines Estimate travel and wait times of applications Perform Benefit/Cost analysis for each application

Complete Vehicle with Joystick Control $300K - 1M Has actuators for brakes, steering, and doors, but no sensors, on-board computer, or communications Accurate energy requirements and weight Ride quality and human factors; could show to focus groups Could arrange tests on existing pedestrian bridges to ensure no problems (such as oscillations)

Three Automated Vehicles and At-grade Test Track $2M - 5M Only one vehicle need be complete One station One “T” intersection Could be done inexpensively by leasing existing unused parking lot

First System Serving the Public stations miles (1-3 km) of two-way roadway vehicles Probably special application such as airport, rather than as part of metropolitan transit system

My Plans Finish software to: –Lay out applications quickly –Compute station-to-station travel times Establish costs for exclusive roadway, including at grade, elevated, and short tunnels under cross streets Case studies: applications to access Rail or Bus Rapid Transit systems

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