AATS 2005, Bologna, 78 November 2005

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Transportation Research Group, University of
Southampton
NETMOBIL David Jeffery, Mike McDonald, Tom
Voge ) Transportation Research Group, School of
Civil Engineering and the Environment, University
of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, United
Kingdom t 44 (0)23 8059 2192f 44 (0)23 8059
3152 e d.j.jeffery_at_soton.ac.uk www.trg.soton.ac.
uk
AATS 2005, Bologna, 7-8 November 2005
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NETMOBILNew Transport System Concepts for
Enhanced and Sustainable Personal Urban Mobility

• an EU, DG Research, sponsored cluster project
• supporting RD and demonstration in innovative
  personal urban transportation systems
• started in 2003
• concluded in July 2005

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Partners

• Project consortium
• TRG (UK) INRIA (F) TTR (UK)
• CIRT (I) IABG (D) TNO (NL)
• Supporting partners
• Bishop Austrans (AU)
• CERTU (F) ERTICO (B)
• Griffith University (AU) ITS UK (UK)

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Introduction - Sustainable Urban Mobility
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Mission Statement

• To explore and promote the potential of
  developments in automatic vehicle technologies
  for future sustainable personal urban
  transportation systems,
• and provide advice and guidance on the options
  for decision makers

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Netmobil cluster projects

• Stardust Edict
  CyberCars/
• 
  CyberMove
• Advanced Driver
  Personal Rapid
  Full Automation
• Assistance Transit

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Findings

• 3 basic approaches
• Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS)
• Cars
• Buses
• Personal Rapid Transit (PRT)
• Cybernetic Transport Systems (CTS)

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Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS)

• Can provide
• cleaner
• safer
• more efficient
• operation of vehicles
• But ultimate control remains with a driver.

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Advanced Bus Systems

• Run automatically
• on guideways
• and
• can dock precisely
• But need a driver on city streets

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Personal Rapid Transit (PRT)

• A system of
• fully automatic
• clean
• driverless vehicles
• Running on guideways to segregate them
• from other traffic and pedestrians.

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Cybernetic Transport Systems (CTS)

• A system of
• fully automatic
• clean
• driverless vehicles
• can run on guideways
• and also
• on street mixed with
• pedestrians and possibly
• other traffic at low speed.

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The issue for NETMOBIL

• to show how the different approaches can be
  exploited to best effect by communities seeking
  sustainable transport solutions for the future.

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Policy Drivers

• The transport problem case
• existing problems of increasing traffic
  congestion, pollution, lack of flexibility,
  integration and accessibility in the transport
  network
• The sustainable city case
• driven by environmental and lifestyle goals and
  local development plans which derive from the
  vision of a sustainable City of Tomorrow
• The "mobility services" case
• market and customer driven - users put together
  their individual mobility solution combining
  collective public transport and personal traffic
  modes
• The innovation policy case
• driven by the goal of creating new opportunities
  through launching an innovation process.

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Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS)

• ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control),
• Lane Keeping Assist
• ISA (Intelligent Speed Adaptation)
• StopGo.
• Provide opportunities for improved efficiency and
  safety of operations of vehicles, including
  buses, in urban areas.
• Can be exploited, for example, in an Advanced Car
  Share application that will
• discourage private car ownership and use in
  cities
• promote shared use of cleaner, safer vehicles.

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Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) and
CyberneticTransport Systems (CTS) Systems

• can be used to
• provide short flexible links between major
  services
• are preferred to solve a particular public
  transport problem e.g.
• to extend services from an existing train or
  metro station to serve a new business park or
  regeneration area.
• systems also complement innovation processes.

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Case studies

• ULTra in Cardiff
• Cybernetic Cars in Antibes
• The ParkShuttle at Rivium
• Phileas
• Praxitèle

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The ULTra application in Cardiff

• the sustainable city case

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The ULTra application in Cardiff

• Location new regeneration development area on
  former dockland adjacent to city centre.
• Objective to provide sustainable, flexible
  access to the regeneration site from the city
  centre.
• System tested Phased implementation of an ULTra
  network. EDICT assessed the Stage 1 network of
  7.7kms of guideway and 12 stations.

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Cybernetic Cars in Antibes

• The sustainable city case

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Cybernetic Cars in Antibes

• Location to connect a PR site on the harbour
  with the city centre.
• Objective to cater for a huge number of summer
  visitors (1m visit the Picasso Museum alone each
  year) and reduce the number of cars trying to
  enter and park in the city.
• System tested an automated system of driverless
  electric buses on a 1km long bi-directional
  guideway along the harbour front, shared with
  cyclists and pedestrians.

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The ParkShuttle at Rivium

• The transport problem case

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The ParkShuttle at Rivium

• Location Rivium Business Park, Capelle aan den
  IJssel, Rotterdam.
• Objective To provide a PT link between a metro
  station and a local business park.
• System tested an automated system of driverless
  electric buses on a 2Km long bi-directional
  guideway.
• The new system replaces an earlier version with
  improved vehicles, more stops on an extended
  network, and with improved control and safety
  features.

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Phileas

• The innovation policy case

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Phileas

• Location between Eindhoven Central Station and
  Eindhoven Airport via Meerhoven residential area.
• Objective to provide a quick, high-frequency
  and comfortable urban public transport system for
  a medium sized city, and attract more passengers
  away from cars.
• System tested 12 semi-automatic buses that
  combine the advantages of tram and metro systems
  with the flexibility and low operational costs of
  a bus system.
• The buses can run automatically on dedicated bus
  lanes (guideways) or be manually driven on city
  streets.

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Praxitèle

• The mobility services case

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Praxitèle

• Location Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, a suburb of
  Paris.
• Objective to test an idea for the ideal
  transport concept identified by a discussion
  meeting held by CGFTE and its passengers, and
  based on self service rental cars fitted with
  clean engines.
• System tested Trial started in 1997 using
  Renault Clios fitted with electric motors and
  having a range of 70 kms.
• Vehicles are located at railway and bus
  stations, shopping and business centres.
• A car can be taken at any time from any of the
  stations, used freely as if it were a private
  car, and then returned to any of the stations.

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Results (1)

• The Case studies show that the NETMOBIL solutions
  generally
• Are liked by users
• Are clean, quiet, safe and convenient
• Can be cheaper to build and operate and
• Offer increased privacy, flexibility, and
  capacity
• compared with conventional alternatives eg LRT,
  Metro
• Can provide a superior level of service
• low waiting times
• travel is essentially private and
• is non-stop direct from origin station to
  destination
• integrate well with other forms of public
  transport

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Results (2)

• There are issues of concern
• technical reliability
• Including mixed responses from stakeholders with
  some resistance because technology is new and
  untried
• legal aspects
• visual intrusion of infrastructures
• transport and business cases

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European Potential (1)

• Overall, the NETMOBIL solutions provide valuable
  benefits and can be used to help meet a wide
  range of needs and policy objectives
• Shift demand
• from private to public transport
• Free space
• make more efficient use of road space and free
  space for other uses
• Make pricing and restraint policies more
  acceptable
• Improve accessibility
• particularly for elderly and disabled persons

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European Potential (2)

• Improve liveability of urban environments,
• Improve environmental quality
• Reduce intimidation by cars
• Support other policies such as pedestrianisation
  of public spaces
• Encourage public transport oriented developments
• Increase land use values
• Increase area competitiveness

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The Future (1)

• Automated vehicles can be used to provide
  sustainable personal urban transportation systems
  for the future
• Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS)
• provide cleaner, safer and more efficient
  vehicles (cars, buses and freight vehicles), but
  ultimate control remains with a driver for the
  foreseeable future
• Personal Rapid Transit (PRT)
• comprises fully automatic clean, driverless
  vehicles that run exclusively on guideways to
  segregate them from other traffic and
  pedestrians
• Cybernetic Transport Systems (CTS)
• are fully automatic, clean, driverless vehicles
  that can run on guideways, and on street mixed
  with pedestrians and possibly other traffic at
  low speed.

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Innovative service opportunities

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The Future (2)

• In the short term, action is needed to exploit
  the potential.
• Key to this is providing support for Champion
  cities
• who are willing to balance the risks of
  implementing and demonstrating the new
  technologies against the potential for long term
  sustainability
• In turn, this will require

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The Future (3)

• Dissemination
• to increase awareness of the opportunities and
  potential the systems provide and to clarify the
  innovative concepts and solutions
• Development of persuasive transport and business
  cases
• to support implementation and continuing
  operations
• Development of facilitating regulations and
  standards
• by the EC and national governments
• Clarification of barriers
• and particularly of legal and institution issues
  and how to overcome them,
• Conduct of complementary research
• needed to support technology development and user
  acceptance.