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 Consulting Rockville, Maryland www. REJConsult. com

Examples of Small Automated Road Vehicles ULTra: scheduled to begin service in 2009 at Heathrow airport, London www. REJConsult. com Cyber. Cab: proposed by 2 getthere which developed the first public automated road vehicle (Park. Shuttle) 2

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 www. REJConsult. com 3

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 www. REJConsult. com 4

Exclusive Roadway Elevated, At Grade, Under Existing Bridge www. REJConsult. com 5

ULTra System at Heathrow Airport www. REJConsult. com 6

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 www. REJConsult. com 7

In Example Applications, Stations are on Loop at End of Two-Way Line www. REJConsult. com 8

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 www. REJConsult. com 9

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 www. REJConsult. com 10

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Space Under Route 1 Bridge May be Usable for Automated Vehicle Lanes www. REJConsult. com 20

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 www. REJConsult. com 21

For more information about the applications shown here and others, please see: www. Auto. Road. Vehicles. com www. REJConsult. com 22