The Case for Automated Highway Systems
IVsource.net
31 July 2000

In 1986, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) joined with the University of California Partners for Advanced Transit and Highways (PATH) to pursue research to identify the most promising alternatives for alleviating traffic congestion, which led directly to the development of Automated Highway Systems (AHS).  AHS offers the promise of much higher capacity highway lanes and has the potential to reduce traffic congestion and the need for expensive new highways, to improve highway safety, and to reduce the environmental impacts caused by stop-and-go driving.

Benefits of AHS

While AHS is not the whole solution to all of our transportation challenges, as one tool in a transportation problem-solving toolbox it certainly offers the potential to stimulate and revitalize our transportation system … which in turn will improve the economy and our standard of living.  At the highest level, AHS will improve surface transportation by increasing safety and efficiency throughout the surface transportation system.  We can begin to address some of our major environmental concerns by combining this increase in transportation operating efficiency with alternative propulsion systems, such as compressed natural gas, hybrid gas/electric systems, and fuel cells.  It will also be possible to use AHS technologies to link land-use policies to transportation systems (through demand pricing strategies); to provide accurate real-time transportation information; and to influence traveler behavior.

When AHS is implemented, the general driving public will see reduced congestion, as well as reduced and more predictable travel times.  If there are problems in the system, they will know about them ahead of time and will be able to plan accordingly.  If they are already en route, then the system will notify them of alternate routes.  Also, added convenience will be provided to the general driving public by AHS, enabling road travelers to perform work on a laptop computer, read a book or the newspaper, or perhaps eat a leisurely breakfast, which could make road travel analogous to traveling on a luxury train.  However, in contrast to the luxury train, AHS provides door-to-door service.  Commuting will become more comfortable and convenient.

Since congestion will be reduced and travel times will be more predictable, commercial vehicle owners and operators will be able to schedule trips more effectively.  Short-haul drivers will find increased mobility in urban areas.  Long-haul operations will then be able to move more goods per driver.  Transfers at intermodal points will become faster.  Operations will become leaner and more economical.

Transit operations will also benefit from AHS by becoming more efficient, attracting more riders and decreasing operational costs.  Increased safety will reduce accidents and liability costs.  Some areas may have dedicated busways or transit-only lanes, making transit services more attractive to commuters.  Much of the technology that is used for AHS can also be applied to bus precision-docking operations and to automate the maintenance of buses, trucks, or other vehicle fleets, thereby increasing the level of service and reducing the cost of operations.

Infrastructure owners and operators have already begun to take advantage of AHS technologies to reduce the exposure of highway maintenance personnel to high-speed traffic by automating snow removal tasks and work zone safety functions performed by shadow vehicles.  Automation of other tasks, such as crack sealing or paint striping, has not only reduced worker exposure but has also increased the productivity of these operations by one or two orders of magnitude.  In addition, emergency vehicles would have better access to accident sites and reduced response times due to AHS, thereby saving lives.

As AHS technologies increase mobility, they will make it possible for the physically challenged, who currently have limited access to the transportation system, to move about more freely.  Many elderly people will have greater opportunity to safely utilize the transportation system, especially in places where there are limited public transit facilities, such as many rural areas.

Automated Highway Systems : A Brief History

The concept of automating the control of road vehicles has a long history, dating back to the 1930s, and the first public visualization in the General Motors “Futurama” exhibit at the 1939 New York World’s Fair.  Technology development toward this end began at the RCA Laboratories in the early 1950s, and RCA continued its efforts in collaboration with General Motors in the late 1950s and early 1960s.  Subsequently, research was conducted by Ohio State University, as well as by researchers in Europe and Japan, during much of the 1960s and 1970s.  Many of the ideas behind highway automation were initially implemented in automated guideway transit systems during the 1970s, and since that time, driverless systems have safely carried millions of passengers in airports and urban areas around the world. USDOT support has been cyclical, including sponsorship of some of the Ohio State University research from about 1965 to 1980, as well as separate studies by TRW in 1969, Calspan in 1977 and General Motors in 1980-82.

The modern revival of interest in AHS began in 1986, when Caltrans joined with PATH to pursue research leading to the development of automated highway systems.  Using California state transportation funds, this partnership made significant progress in developing the technologies and strategies for deploying automated vehicles and the associated supporting infrastructure.  This work subsequently stimulated interest from the USDOT and resulted in inclusion of a provision for AHS testing and demonstration in the 1991 Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) legislation.  As a result, in 1994, nine public and private organizations, including Caltrans and PATH, joined with the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) to form the National Automated Highway System Consortium (NAHSC).  The NAHSC mission was to develop a prototype automated highway system for the United States and to demonstrate AHS technologies by 1997.  Demo 97 in San Diego, California, in August 1997 was a major public success and one of the best demonstrations of transportation technologies in U.S. history.  However, despite that success and completion of significant AHS research, the USDOT ended its participation in the NAHSC in early 1998.  Without a primary source of funding, the NAHSC ceased its activities in June 1998.

Formation of the NAHSC influenced the formation of parallel research programs in Japan and Europe.  The withdrawal of the USDOT from the NAHSC in 1998 substantially slowed progress toward AHS in the US, and indirectly, in the rest of the world.

Current Situation

Currently, all the major motor vehicle manufacturers and their suppliers are developing a variety of Advanced Vehicle Control and Safety Systems (AVCSS), almost all of which are autonomous, meaning that they do not depend on any specific cooperation between vehicles or between vehicles and the roadway infrastructure.  The first of these systems to come to market are the adaptive cruise control systems, which are likely to be followed by a variety of safety-enhancing collision warning systems.  Virtually all of the developers of these systems recognize that their performance could be significantly improved if it were possible to provide clear and simple means of cooperation with other vehicles and the roadway infrastructure.

The large majority of AVCSS development work is being conducted by private industry, using private financing.  A variety of public sector projects are addressing some of the same issues, but with significantly smaller resources (Advanced Safety Vehicle [ASV] in Japan, Intelligent Vehicle Initiative [IVI] in the United States, Prédit in France, Motiv in Germany, Foresight Vehicle in the UK, etc.).  There are a few activities addressing the potential for cooperative systems, most notably the Advanced Cruise-Assist Highway System Research Association (AHSRA) and Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) programs in Japan, the Caltrans/PATH Program in California and the Advanced Driver Assistance Systems in Europe (ADASE) program in Europe.  The US IVI program includes one small study on “Sensor-Friendly Vehicle and Roadway Systems”, as well.
 

... browse the IVsource.net site for more articles on Automated Highway Systems, or contact Greg Larson at Caltrans at greg_larson@dot.ca.gov.

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