Initial Applications for Automated Vehicles on Exclusive Roadways

Initial Applications for Automated Vehicles on Exclusive Roadways

Advanced Transit Association Annual Technical Meeting

January 11, 2009

Washington, DC

Robert Johnson

R. E. Johnson ConsultingRockville, Maryland

www.REJConsult.com

www.REJConsult.com 2

Examples ofSmall Automated Road Vehicles

CyberCab: proposed by 2getthere which developed the first public automated road vehicle (ParkShuttle)

ULTra: scheduled to begin service in 2009 at Heathrow airport, London


Alternative Interior Layouts and Service Concepts

Typical PRT– Two fixed seats– Two fold-down seats

– Could have pure PRT or some sharing

“Automated Microbus”– Four fixed seats– Two fold-down seats– More suitable for

shared operation


Benefits of Exclusive Roadway

• Narrow -- 6 ft (1.8 m) or less wide

• Only need 6.5 ft (2.0 m ) vertical clearance

• Light duty construction

• Much safer without human drivers in other vehicles

• Much simpler control system


Exclusive RoadwayElevated, At Grade, Under Existing Bridge


ULTra System at Heathrow Airport


Stations and Interchanges

• Similar to to ULTra system connecting Heathrow Terminal 5 to parking lot, because...

• Decision makers are very conservative

• Heathrow design suitable for a number of applications


In Example Applications, Stations are on Loop at End of Two-Way Line


Application Characteristics

• Small system -- 1 to 4 lane miles (2 to 6 lane km ) of “guideway”

• Extends some other mode

– Rail Transit: system provides rail station access

– Airport: provides landside circulation

• Auto congestion an issue, but...

• Low enough density in immediate area that space available for guideway

• Limited snow/ice, so can melt with guideway heating


Applications in Suburban Washington, DC

• Montgomery College Connector -- College is next to heavy rail line, but between stations

• DANAC Station Connector -- Provides access to station on planned BRT or light rail system

• College Park Engineering Connector -- Serves existing heavy rail and planned BRT or light rail











Space Under Route 1 Bridge May be Usablefor Automated Vehicle Lanes


Next Steps in Analyzing an Application

• Is guideway layout really feasible?

• Compute infrastructure cost

• Determine station-to-station (free flow) travel time and average wait time

• Find ridership by running existing 4-step model for area with automated system in place

• Determine fleet size, VMT, system costs, and benefit/cost ratio


For more information about the applicationsshown here and others, please see:

www.AutoRoadVehicles.com

Documents

Initial Applications for Automated Vehicles on Exclusive Roadways