Transport Direct market research programme: Findings and implications from phase 1

Department of Transport repor

How Can Autonomous and Connected Vehicles, Electromobility, BRT, Hyperloop, Shared Use Mobility and Mobility-As-A-Service Shape Transport Futures for the Context of Smart Cities?

A smarter transport system that caters for social, economic and environmental sustainability is arguably one of the most critical prerequisites for creating pathways to more livable urban futures. This paper aims to provide a state-of-the-art analysis of a selection of mobility initiatives that may dictate the future of urban transportation and make cities smarter. These are mechanisms either recently introduced with encouraging uptake so far and much greater potential to contribute in a shift to a better transport paradigm or still in an embryonic stage of their development and yet to be embraced as powerful mechanisms that could change travel behaviour norms. Autonomous and connected vehicles are set to revolutionise the urban landscape by allowing machines to take over driving that for over a century has been exclusively a human activity, while electrical vehicles are already helping decarbonising the transport sector. Bus rapid transit has been steadily reinventing and rebranding conventional bus services revitalising the use of the humblest form of public transport, while hyperloop is an entirely new, disruptive, and somewhat provocative, travel mode proposition based on the use of sealed tube systems through which pods could travel free of air resistance with speeds exceeding 1000 km/h. Shared use mobility mechanisms like car-sharing, ride-sharing, ride-sourcing and public bicycles can help establishing a culture for using mobility resources on an as-needed basis, while mobility-as-a-service will take this sharing culture a step further, offering tailored mobility and trip planning packages that could entirely replace the need for privately owned modes of transport

User reaction to car-share and lift-share within a transport 'marketplace'

User-centred design methods were used to understand the key motivators, potential constraints and design requirements associated with an innovative shared-vehicle scheme, offered as an integral component of a wider ‘transport marketplace’. A set of situated user trials were used to assess attitudinal and behavioural responses to a prototype service implemented in northern France. Potential motivators included the perceived benefits of reduced cost, environmental benefit, social contact and the provision of location-based information. The key barriers to adoption included: personal security during vehicle sharing, liability and flexibility in meeting individual transport needs. Contrary to initial indications by participants, ease of use was also a key acceptance criterion. The resulting design recommendations stress the need for maximising service flexibility, addressing perceived barriers and providing clarity regarding operational procedures and protocols

Automates: the future of autonomous cars

El futur dels cotxes autònoms sembla brillant, tot i així, personatges com el mateix Elon Musk, entre d'altres, ens porten prometent que serien part de les nostres vides des de fa gairebé deu anys. Tot i això aquí seguim, amb els nostres vehicles que sí, que són genials, però de moment encara no es condueixen sols. Aquestes falses promeses i el concepte de que una màquina condueixi el cotxe per nosaltres encara genera rebuig a la majoria de la població, quan de fet més d'un 90% dels accidents de trànsit avui dia són a causa de l'error humà, i aquestes màquines seran moltes coses, però precisament humanes de moment no són. En aquest projecte s’indaga sobre l’estat actual d’aquests vehicles, que de fet certs serveis de cotxes autònoms ja ronden els carrers d’algunes de les ciutats més grans del món, com ara San Francisco. La clau és descobrir si els vehicles autònoms tenen el potencial real de convertir-se en el servei del futur. Per això, es recorre a les metodologies de Disseny de Futurs, analitzant les tendències del sector i així presentant una sèrie d'Escenaris Futurs. Aquestes metodologies ens permetran entreveure cap on ens porten els desenvolupaments actuals, per així descobrir els passos que hauríem de seguir i els que no per a una correcta i eficient implementació d'aquestes tecnologies en un futur més aviat proper que llunyà.El futuro de los coches autónomos parece brillante, aún así, personajes como el mismísimo Elon Musk, entre otros, nos llevan prometiendo que iban a ser parte de nuestras vidas desde hace ya casi diez años. Sin embargo aquí seguimos, con nuestros vehículos que sí, que son geniales, pero de momento aún no se conducen solos. Estas falsas promesas y el concepto de que una máquina conduzca el coche por nosotros aún genera rechazo en la mayoría de la población, cuando lo cierto es que más de un 90% de los accidentes de tráfico hoy en día son a causa del error humano, y estas máquinas serán muchas cosas pero precisamente humanas no son. En este proyecto se indaga sobre el estado actual de estos vehículos, que de hecho ciertos servicios de coches autónomos ya rondan las calles de algunas de las ciudades más grandes del mundo, como por ejemplo San Francisco. La clave es descubrir si los vehículos autónomos tienen el potencial real de convertirse en el servicio del futuro. Para ello, se recurre a las metodologías de Diseño de Futuros, analizando las tendencias del sector y así presentando una serie de Escenarios Futuros. Estas metodologías nos permitirán vislumbrar hacia dónde nos llevan los desarrollos actuales, para así descubrir los pasos que deberíamos seguir y los que no para una correcta y eficiente implementación de estas tecnologías en un futuro más próximo que lejano.The future of autonomous cars seems bright, even though, famous people like Elon Musk himself, among others, have been making promises around the fact that those cars would be part of our lives for almost ten years, but here we are, with our vehicles that are great, but for now they still don't drive for themselves. These false promises and the concept of a machine driving a car for us still generates rejection in the majority of the population, when the fact is that more than 90% of traffic accidents nowadays are due to human error, and these machines will be sort of things but not humans at all. This project investigates the current state of these vehicles, that in fact these autonomous car services already transit the streets of some of the largest cities in the world, cities like San Francisco. The key is to find out if autonomous vehicles have the real potential to become the service of the future. Therefore, Futures Design methodologies are used, analysing the trends of the sector and thus presenting a series of Future Scenarios. These methodologies will allow us to understand where current developments are leading us, so then we can understand the steps that we should follow as a society and those that we should not for a correct and efficient implementation of these technologies in the near future

Intelligent Transport Solutions for Social Inclusion (ITSSI):Project Report

This report details the results and recommendations of the project “Intelligent Transport Solutions for Social Inclusion” (ITSSI). The project explored the opportunities of intelligent technologies, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and data for community transport services in Brighton and Hove, focussing on older, socially isolated users and social inclusion.    Data collection, analysis and sharing around the multiple aspects of community transport are of increasing importance for evidencing its benefits (economic, social, health, etc) to commissioners, providers and end users. Against the backdrop of the growing importance of data in most aspects of our societies, including local authorities and community transport, many end users of community transport do not have digital/online skills and/or access – making this an especially interesting and challenging area for digital transformation.  The project was explored through five work packages (WP): WP1 focussed on existing community transport services and resources, WP2 engaged with community transport data, WP3 reviewed and analysed intelligent transport for social inclusion from around the globe, WP4 explored case studies of social isolation and WP5 delivered the event ‘Intelligent technologies for community-based transport solutions’.  ITSSI was interdisciplinary in terms of the academic team, but also in terms of stakeholders, including the local authority, Clinical Commissioning Group, the third sector, as well as the digital and transport industries. The 2016-2017 project was commissioned by Brighton and Hove City Council as one of the projects funded by the regional board “South East Area Transport Solutions” (S.E.A.T.S.) that in turn is funded through the Department for Transport’s UK wide “Total Transport Pilot Fund”.  Results of the project are of interest for policy, industry, and research locally, nationally and internationally with the report outlining implications and further work for areas including policy, transport, mobility, smart and inclusive cities, health, data, digital and innovation

ChangiNOW: A mobile application for efficient taxi allocation at airports

We present an application that uses a predictive queueing model to efficiently allocate taxis. The system uses observed taxi and flight data at each of the four terminals of Singapore's Changi Airport to estimate the expected waiting time and queue length for taxis arriving at these terminals, and then sends taxis to terminals where demand is highest. We propose a service model that enables our system to be deployed on a smartphone platform to participating taxi drivers. We present the theoretical details which underpin our prediction engine and corroborate our theory with several targeted numerical simulations. Finally, we evaluate the performance of this system in large-scale experiments and show that our system achieves a significant improvement in both passenger and taxi waiting time.Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (Innovation Center Explorer Grant 015824-119)United States. Office of Naval Research (Grant N00014-09-11051

Mobile application for efficient taxi allocation at airports

Thesis: S.M. in Transportation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2013.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (pages 52-54).The important role that taxis play in bringing passengers from an airport terminal to their final destination is often overlooked in airport operations and design. Due to varying flight arrival patterns at different terminals, taxi drivers are often unsure which terminal they should queue at. In this thesis, we present ChangiNOW, a mobile app that uses a predictive queueing model to efficiently allocate taxis. The ChangiNOW system uses observed taxi and flight data at each of the four terminals of Singapores Changi Airport to estimate the expected waiting time and queue length for taxis arriving at these terminals, and then sends taxis to terminals where waiting time is shortest. The app communicates this information to taxi drivers in a visually intuitive and appealing way, motivating them to service those terminals with the highest taxi demand. We present the theoretical details that underpin our prediction engine and validate our theory with several targeted numerical simulations. Finally, we evaluate the performance of this system in large-scale experiments and show that our system achieves a significant improvement in both passenger and taxi waiting time.by Afian Anwar.S.M. in Transportatio