This article is the 2nd of a 3-part series into Connected and Autonomous Vehicles and smart cities.
Road Infrastructure
Existing road infrastructure has evolved over the past century to accommodate a steadily increasing number of vehicles. From the transport planner’s point of view, these roads have been designed to be fully human driver-centric. Take the dimensions of the road itself, with far move width provided than is required by even the largest vehicles. The maximum speed limit is also a human driver-centric concept. According to The Automobile Association, when the first motorways were being designed, planners envisioned roads that comfortably allowed for an unlimited maximum speed1. What they didn’t plan for was the massive growth in traffic numbers that ensued. All this is done to provide for human-error and allow vehicles to avoid colliding during lapses in concentration. As we shall see, ‘lapses in concentration’ will become a central theme in this article, as an increasing amount of current road planning theory is shown to make allowances for this very human of characteristics.
In the post-autonomous world, roads can be made narrower, crash barriers eliminated, and maximum speeds increased. The fallibility of the human driver to become distracted and cause injury to others will become a thing of the past.
Communication
In the pre-autonomous era, drivers are equipped with what are essential binary signalling devices; lights, a horn and the subjective eye-contact and hand signals. The maximum amount of information that can be communicated through these means is limited to a simple “I am here,” “I am slowing or turning,” or “You may go.” It is not possible for example, to carry out the complex coordination required during busy periods using these means alone. Conversely, in an age of ubiquitous mobile communication it is not practical or even realistic to have each driver in mobile communication with other drivers in their immediate vicinity. This results in many accidents occurring due to drivers being ‘surprised’ by the unexpected actions of others. In the U.S. alone during 2013, 46% of all fatal vehicle crashes where the result of these preventable ‘surprises’. This is comprised of 21% from distracted drivers; 14% due to a failure to keep in the proper lane and 11% due to a failure to yield to right-of-way2.
In the post-autonomous world, no CAV will exist in complete isolation. Even the most basic system will as a minimum have all CAVs in the immediate vicinity in direct communication with each other. As the systems and infrastructure develop, we can expect every CAV on the network to be aware of what every other CAV is doing, all the time. In this scenario, crashes become impossible and human driving error is eliminated. This is power of robotics, realised as a homogenous road network system with every part optimised for the best possible outcome, utilising the full power of the smart city integrated with CAVs. Traffic control devices will become obsolete as CAV movement and position becomes an exact and centrally controllable variable.
Human Reaction Time
Currently the best human drivers have reaction times around an order of magnitude slower than CAVs currently in testing. Humans require considerable travel distance before even applying the brakes. A CAV by comparison can react within nanoseconds of an event, thereby making use of the smallest possible breaking distance for any given vehicle.
Roads have been tailored to this human deficiency, with wide lanes and crash-protection features. There is also no risk of causing a distraction to the CAV, something that the road environment is carefully designed to avoid in humans. This is in stark contrast to how a group of CAVs would operate. Collisions resulting from a momentary lapse in concentration or by not reacting fast enough would become a thing of the past. CAVs working as part of a network would be aware of what all other CAVs are doing and can therefore anticipate any sudden changes.
Technology
In a report3 entitled ‘The City We Need 2.0’, produced by the World Urban Campaign, the authors point to the importance of integrating any new technology in urban environments with the ‘buy-in’ of citizens. Many of the current plans for integrating CAVs into communities across the world are focused on the big strategic elements, with consultation between ‘stakeholders’, academic institutions and corporations. What is needed is a more holistic approach, where citizens’ concerns are included in the selection and application of technology. With something as fundamental as transportation, there is a risk of tiered citizen engagement, with the educated and wealthy most likely to benefit. When one considers that the likely course of CAVs is to completely replace other personal transportation options in the near future, any form of exclusion, especially of marginalised social and economic groups is unacceptable.
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) established the United Smart Cities (USC) program, as a means to address the diverse and individual needs of each aspiring smart city. The USC program recognises that there is little benefit in creating a global framework for smart city development, owning to the societal, political, economic and environmental challenges unique to each city administration and its citizens. An interesting initiative of USC is the Join Smart City programme, essentially a platform for citizen engagement at all levels of smart city development and governance. This sort of open-source smart city development is rapidly gaining popularity. It may be that this sort of approach becomes crucial for the success and longevity of any smart city development. In Part 3 we explore the economics of CAVs, from the hugely wasteful use of land as parking space, to the high cost in terms of personal injury and death from human causes of accidents.
To find out more about how we are helping local governments build cities fit for the future, or to chat about how we can help you, please contact us at info@yurbs.org.
Sources:
1 www.theaa.com, History of motorways, The Automobile Association [online]. 16 April 2014.
2 Preparing a Nation for Autonomous Vehicles, Eno Center for Transportation [online]. Pg. 4. Oct 2013.
3 The City We Need 2.0, World Urban Campaign [online]. 16 March 2016.
Adam is co-founder and a senior consultant at YoUrban. He has a background in robotics and AI and has provided digital transformation and robotics advice to organisations and governments around the world. He is passionate about using technology to build a better, sustainable and more inclusive future.
YoUrban is a new type of consultancy that researches, develops and provides advice on digital strategies, services and technologies to increase the quality of life, sustainability and resilience of citizens, communities and cities. We are specialists in the areas of big data, robotics, AI, telecommunications, digital transformation and smart cities.