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
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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
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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
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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
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Exclusive RoadwayElevated, At Grade, Under Existing Bridge
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ULTra System at Heathrow Airport
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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
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In Example Applications, Stations are on Loop at End of Two-Way Line
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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
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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
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Space Under Route 1 Bridge May be Usablefor Automated Vehicle Lanes
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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
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For more information about the applicationsshown here and others, please see:
www.AutoRoadVehicles.com