Intelligent Transport Systems
Matthew L. James
Science, Technology, Environment and Resources Group
1 December 1997
Futurama
Visitors to the 1939-40 New York World's Fair marvelled at model highways
of the 1960s in which automated vehicles sped along road guide-ways. General
Motors 'Futurama' presentation was the most popular Fair exhibit. It largely
came true in terms of an extensive American road freeway network, but
not with automatic highways and General Motors-built vehicles.
It has taken recent computer developments to reach the degree of control
and sophistication required to achieve the dream. Only now are demonstration
projects suggesting some of the 'driverless' highways that may eventuate
in the near future. Such projects group under the broad designation of
intelligent transport systems (ITS) and intelligent highway systems.
Intelligent Highway Systems (IHS)
A car industry-led development of intelligent highway systems is now
underway. Earlier use of adaptive cruise control systems to maintain speed,
along with use of the Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) system to determine
location, have provided some impetus to recent programs.
In August 1997, people travelling along the Interstate I-95 freeway between
San Diego and Los Angeles may have observed a platoon of closely spaced
vehicles speeding along together. This demonstration project used magnetic
guides embedded in the roadway of the high-occupancy vehicle lane to align
vehicles. The cars contained computerised equipment to detect the guides,
control the car and also maintain distance between other vehicles. It
achieved two seconds safe distance autonomous driving. Future systems
might use video-based detectors or GPS guiding.
Other proposals include:
- driver alertness sensors and emergency transmitters
- road visibility enhancement and reactive lighting
- road and weather condition information, network routing, navigation
and radio systems
- surrounding vehicle detectors and collision avoidance units
- road curvature advice and control as well as intersection accident
avoidance systems
- obstacle or pedestrian car impact protection devices
- vehicle identification and 'black box' trip recording, and
- 'drive by wire' cars with electronic control or invisible 'towbars'
for truck fleets.
Road Pricing & Safety
One aspect of new highway automation is the ability to identify vehicles
and monitor their behaviour. This allows use of electronic devices to
control speed and vehicle separation and also to levy charges for road
use. Road user lobbies argue against double taxing stemming from fuel
levies and privacy invasion, but some systems will start soon.
The 'City Link' tollway project in Melbourne will encourage users to
purchase vehicle transponders to fit on-board and allow detection by automatic
toll collection units. The system may also monitor vehicle speeds, particularly
in the tunnels, to fine and bill speeders as well as seek out toll evaders.
Vehicle licence plate recognition systems exist to allow automatic road
use pricing.
The necessity for fail-safe systems is evident when considering the potential
for accidents for vehicles travelling at speed. This applies equally to
congested roads as well as to cars on deserted interior highways. Automated
vehicles must have the ability to detect unforseen obstacles and road
conditions at all times. They must handle difficult situations in the
event of vehicle or computer failure. Such abilities remain unproven.
Equally, drivers need education and expectation experience in order to
properly handle IHS. They need to know when to take back control or respond
to abnormal road conditions. Such events include the more obvious cases
of obstacles or incidents on the roadway. However, they also include more
subtle effects such as obeying signals and signs. Some IHS concepts include
cars with television and Internet access. Surely these would divert attention
away from road safety and add to driver complacency?
ITS concepts
While Intelligent Highway Systems (IHS) may address matters of congestion,
road safety and costs, when considering the wider transport and freight
logistics sectors, then links with electronic commerce concepts often
prevail. Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) embrace many fields including
overall fleet management, vehicle management, traveller information, electronic
payment and vehicle control.
Consider the road pricing system which may monitor vehicle usage and
charge for network access. It involves users, service providers, clearing
operators, payment issuers and collection agents. As such, the system
would require agreement between different parts of business and government
sectors to ensure seamless and safe operation. As road networks become
congested, perhaps there is no alternative to some form of external control,
at the expense of personal freedom of movement.
Public transport ITS may include two-way voice communications for drivers
and passengers, vehicle fleets management, passenger service features,
fare collection and traffic priority aspects. Automatic fare collection
already operates in local and overseas mass transit. Demand responsive
bus systems, tele-working and high speed rail may offer incremental change.
The use of electric vehicles may also facilitate new programs.
Some work has been done by the European standards committee, the Intelligent
Transportation Society of America, Japanese bodies and by Australia's
ITS standards group. These each consist of many organisations and programs.
There is thus a risk that incompatible driver information and route guidance
systems may develop in different countries.
Sceptical Futures
Nonetheless, these ideas have been long in development. The automotive
and electronic industries remain sceptical as to whether the public infrastructure
for IHS will materialise. Transport agencies are sceptical on whether
IHS technologies will deliver solutions to real problems.
The planners' dream remains one of personal trip vehicle selection, destination
specification, and safe, automatic routing at reasonable cost. An external
control would choose the best route in terms of speed and congestion.
This suggests a possible eventual merger between the 'private' and 'public'
transport systems of today. The system would optimise transport infra-structure
usage and pricing.
More futuristic views imagine energy efficient neighbourhoods linked
by moving cabins of Personal Rapid Transit systems(1). Long-distance travel
might occur through evacuated, underground tunnels linking distant cities.
While some may scoff, the vision of Futurama has somewhat come to pass.
Some cars already have GPS guidance navigation units. For now, we can
hope that the trains and buses will run on time.
- James, M. L., 'Towards Sustainable Cities: Urban Transport and Land
Use Planning', Research Paper No. 20 1995-96, Parliamentary Research
Service, Department of the Parliamentary Library, Parliament of Australia,
Canberra, November 30, 1995.
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