U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION VEHICLE ASSIT AND AUTOMATION SYSTEMS; REQUEST FOR INFORMATION AGENCIES: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Federal Transit Admin. (FTA) ACTION: Notice; Request For Information. SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) is seeking information for its Vehicle Assist and Automation (VAA) System project. The VAA project may be proposed as a major initiative under the USDOT’s Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) program to improve transportation safety, and enhance mobility and productivity for both transit and commercial vehicle operations. The VAA project has been set up to create a comprehensive research and development plan to develop, deploy and commercialize vehicle assist and automation technologies and systems. This initiative is one of many exploratory projects that have been jointly set up by the USDOT’s ITS Program to foster and incubate future research programs. The long-term goal of this initiative is to explore the application of VAA systems to improve mobility and productivity of vehicle operations in varying environments, such as maintenance/port/warehouse facilities and alternative right-of-way situations (e.g., dedicated lanes, narrow lanes and shoulders). Currently, the VAA project is focused upon four applications of VAA systems in the transit industry: precision docking, vehicle guidance, platooning (or electronic coupling of vehicles) and automated vehicle operations. The application of these four systems has been detailed by way of eight operating scenarios presented in Appendix A. Additional information regarding these operating scenarios (and any other scenarios that you wish to propose) and the use of these systems within commercial vehicle operations is requested. For more information on the VAA project, please refer to the Vehicle Assist and Automation System for Transit Operations research documents available at www.its.dot.gov. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this RFI is to seek broad stakeholder input and interest on the application of VAA system within the transit and commercial vehicle industry, identify potential impacts and benefits of using the VAA systems, and gather information on tried, existing, and potential VAA system operations strategies. The information will assist the USDOT in identifying some of the barriers to deploying VAA systems, and will support the development of a VAA program. The USDOT may select various innovative and pioneering VAA operations strategies for further study. Moreover, entities (public agencies, private sector companies, and other organizations) associated with the selected VAA operations strategies may be asked to provide continued stakeholder input in the development of the VAA program. DATES: Responses to this announcement should be submitted on or before August 3, 2005. See the "Supplementary Information" section for electronic access and filing addresses. NOTE: This is neither a Request For Proposals nor an Invitation For Bids. POINTS OF CONTACT: Mr.Venkat Pindiprolu, (202) 366-8061 and Mr. Brian Cronin (202) 366-4881. They are located at the United States Department of Transportation, FTA, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590. Office hours are from 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Electronic Access and Filing Addresses Electronically submitted responses are encouraged. You may submit responses to:
[email protected]. While electronic responses are preferred, responses may also be mailed directly to the Federal Transit Administration, Advanced Public Transportation Systems (APTS) Division, ATTN: Mr. Venkat Pindiprolu, Room 9402, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590. Your responses are greatly appreciated, but the USDOT will not be able to acknowledge responses. Vehicle Assist and Automation Systems Issues Responses to the following questions are requested to help the USDOT gather and relate information on VAA operations strategies to facilitate identification of lessons learned, issues, and needs of VAA operations. 1. Please provide a brief description of the VAA system or strategies that you have tried, are planning or have implemented to improve vehicle operations in your agency or company. Please address the following in your description: i. Please briefly describe the agency or company and the specific problems that you were trying to solve. ii. Please describe the process adopted for identifying the solutions, including the use of any modeling or analysis tools to assist in the decision making process. iii. Please describe the VAA systems that were tried, planned, or were implemented. iv. Please identify what agencies were (or are/will be) involved in the development, implementation, and operation of the system once the VAA systems are installed. v. Describe what were (or are/will be) the key challenges or issues, if any. Include how you resolved (or will resolve) these issues. Also, indicate how did (or will) the VAA systems facilitate the agency/company moving toward or reaching its performance goals. In particular: How did you measure (or are/will you be measuring) the performance of the VAA systems strategy? If the VAA systems have been implemented, how long has it been operating? What benefits do (or can) you expect or attribute to the VAA systems? vi. Please provide comments on what you learned and what you would do differently next time. 2. Please provide comments regarding: i. Critical issues that need to be addressed by a proposed VAA initiative. ii. New areas of research, development or analysis required to support a proposed VAA initiative. iii. Thoughts and ideas that would be helpful in promoting more widespread implementation of VAA systems. 3. If you are interested in becoming involved with the VAA initiative, articulate your criteria and requirements for participation. Please indicate if you would be willing to be contacted for a follow-up interview. 4. Please provide your contact information so that the USDOT may contact you for additional information on your responses. Issued on: __________________________ _________________________ APPENDIX A VEHICLE ASSIST AND AUTOMATION SYSTEMS FOR TRANSIT OPERATIONS OPERATIONAL SCENARIOS Maintenance Operations A bus maintenance yard performs the daily functions of fueling and washing the buses, as well as performing routine maintenance and taking buses out of service for more extensive repairs. Depending upon the size and complexity of the operations, lining up buses in the order that they are to be used the following day can also be a complex and time-consuming task. All four components of VAA could be applied to this aspect of operations. § Precision Docking could be used to guide buses into refueling, washing, and maintenance bays and parking spaces § Vehicle Guidance could be used to “drive” buses through the yard in narrow lanes on precise paths § Platooning could be used to guide a linked chain of buses through the bays § Automated Vehicle Operation is technically possible, but may not be operationally appropriate, as some buses will still require human attention for non-routine maintenance. A fully-automated system would need to divert the buses requiring non-routine maintenance to a special holding area. Full automation could be used for short journeys between different areas of the maintenance facility. Currently, the operations of the maintenance yard require a number of workers (bus servicers, hostlers, or jockeys) to be available to move buses among the various fueling, cleaning and maintenance functions. If these operations were assisted or fully automated, the number of workers could be reduced and the employees could be utilized to work on more skilled tasks. Balanced against the labor savings would be the costs of the infrastructure and vehicle sensors, as well as the costs for maintenance of the automation equipment itself. The MTA estimates that 12 people at most process 200 buses per night, spending an average of 15-18 minutes per bus. Similar results were seen at WMATA where 12 people serviced approximately 220 buses in an overnight shift. Existing Vehicle Maintenance Facilities This scenario assumes that the bus fueling through exterior washing functions would be automated through a mechanical system. The refueling would be conducted via a robotic refueling system and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology would be used for data capture and parking management. New Vehicle Maintenance Facilities This scenario assumes that the staging after fare box drop through staging for next day would be automated through a non-mechanical system. The refueling would be conducted via a robotic refueling system and RFID technology would be used for data capture and parking management. Suburban Collector The suburban collector operating scenario is seen as operating in a medium- to low-density environment. These systems would likely include precision docking to better facilitate passenger boarding and alighting. It might offer point-to-point service with relatively few stops, such as an office park shuttle or an airport parking garage shuttle. In this case, due to the nature of the environment, and the likelihood that right-of-way acquisition would not be an issue, vehicle guidance is not analyzed. The collector systems may include platooning, but it isn’t required unless there is sufficient passenger load that headway between vehicles is an issue. A system operating at an amusement park in Japan includes platooning on days when the park has many visitors, but only single vehicles on days when attendance is light. VAA-equipped suburban collectors could be used for low-speed operations in gated communities such as retirement centers. The precision docking technology could be particularly helpful for boarding passengers with physical limitations. The appropriate size for the vehicle would depend upon ridership demand. This is also the case with the FlexBRT system proposed for Orange County, Florida. Operational models typically envision relatively fixed routes, or free travel within a small fixed perimeter. Urban Circulator The urban circulator operating scenario is seen as operating in a high density environment, such as downtown circulator systems currently operating in major cities throughout the U.S. Similar systems have been tested in both Europe and Japan not so much for their projected benefits, but as a low risk way to test a new technology. Currently, the only two systems operating with VAA technologies are one at an amusement park in Japan and a high-density business park in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The system in Japan operates on a private road, so it did not have to be certified for public roadway use. Also, it is not by most definitions a public transit system; it is considered in this study because it uses fully automated buses operating in platoons. The Rotterdam system is currently a demonstration. An urban circulator system would likely operate on some type of dedicated facility either for exclusive use by the circulator system or transit vehicles in general. The use of precision docking would be advantageous to better facilitate boarding and alighting passengers. Vehicle guidance would likely be deployed as well since there would be a dedicated facility. Platooning would only be required if passenger demand is so great that passengers queuing at stations becomes a problem. Automated Vehicle Operations, while demonstrated in both Japan and Netherlands, was not analyzed since both require highly specialized vehicles and typical applications in the U.S. would use either existing vehicles or standard transit buses. So far, urban circulator systems that have been deployed are more typical of a free “people mover” operation, not public transport. However, urban circulators have been considered in Europe and Japan as part of a public transit system that uses specialized small vehicles (Cybercars in Europe, Crayon in Japan) for short typically fixed commuter routes, such as from a park-and-ride lot to the central city, or from a remote parking lot to a university or office park. These personal transit operations could be done without automated vehicles. The key issue would be whether these operations themselves, independent of the automated vehicle aspect, would be appropriate for the U.S. Mixed Flow Lanes In this scenario, transit buses operate in the same lanes as regular traffic, on limited access highways/interstates, arterials, or local streets. Mixed flow lane operations are typical of many transit systems in the U.S. In theory, all four VAA applications could be applied, while in reality, precision docking and vehicle guidance would be the most likely. While in reality, since there is no dedicated right-of-way, only precision docking will be analyzed. For platooning or fully automated guidance to be implemented in mixed flow lanes, all the other vehicles would have to be equipped, which is not likely in the next ten years. Designated Arterial Lane In this scenario, transit buses operate on a dedicated lane adjacent to regular traffic primarily on arterials and local streets. More U.S. cities are utilizing designated arterial lanes for transit operations in order to improve transit service. However, many localities are encountering barriers to creating a designated lane due to right-of-way constraints. A benefit of vehicle guidance is the ability to have a smaller lane width thus improving the odds of creating a designated lane in an already crowded environment. In theory, all four VAA applications could be applied, while in reality, precision docking and vehicle guidance would be the most likely. For this operating scenario both VAA applications will be analyzed. Platooning would only be warranted if passenger demand was high enough that queuing at stations and stops became a problem. For automated vehicle operations to be implemented in designated arterial lanes, all the other transit vehicles would have to be equipped, which is not likely to occur. Narrow Lane/Roadway Shoulder Operations There are several different options for this scenario, including: § Driving on the shoulder § Driving in the HOT/HOV lane § Building new narrow lanes Roadway shoulder operations is when a transit agency allows buses to use a roadway shoulder in order to bypass congested areas. Currently, a few transit agencies operate buses in a bus-only lane on the shoulder, although not at full highway speeds. In all instances transit agencies have teamed with the respective DOTs to ensure that the existing roadway shoulder is suitable for buses to operate on. In cases where the current roadway shoulders do not meet the operationally required design minimum, DOTs have made improvements to the roadway shoulder. Normally, buses would only use the roadway shoulder during operating peak periods when congestion is present. Anecdotal evidence has shown that driving buses in these conditions is stressful for drivers. Minnesota’s Metro Transit found considerable operating benefits in creating a bus-only shoulder lane without assistance technologies. Passengers perceived that their trip on the shoulder was 15 minutes faster than driving in mixed traffic, although in reality their trip was only 8 minutes faster. However, they had significant issues with passengers calling in to the transit center to complain that their bus wasn’t driving on the shoulder or wasn’t driving fast enough. There were also issues with “jealous motorists” in passenger cars blocking the bus lane or illegally driving in the bus lane. Minnesota’s Metro Transit found that although there are no legal restrictions to using roadway shoulders for transit use, only three U.S. transit agencies currently operate this type of service. Also, several jurisdictions in the U.S. are in the process of implementing bus use of shoulder programs. It appears that VAA applications are needed to effectively realize the congestion reduction and improved service benefits of narrow lane operations. There appears to be renewed interest at the Federal Congressional level in High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes, which may be funded in the new transportation authorization. If that occurs, vehicle guidance would be one way to safely allow buses to join a lane that might otherwise be too narrow for safe operations. Platooning with mixed traffic in a HOT/HOV lane would be also possible, but unlikely. Roadway shoulder operations has the same operating characteristics as narrow lane operations. The operational concept is that the bus operates on a lane that would be too narrow for a driver to operate safely at normal speed, typically a 10 foot wide lane for a 9 foot wide bus . This allows the agency to deploy a bus-only lane on the existing highway shoulder or an HOV/HOT lane without investing in building new lanes. If a new lane is required, a narrower lane would require less ROW. Narrow lane operations might use vehicle guidance/automation combined with side collision warning for merging into/out of bus lanes. The narrow lane systems tested so far have been vehicle guidance, not automation, except for one demonstration of a fully-automated snowplow in Japan. There is no technological reason why vehicle automation wouldn’t apply to this operational scenario, but it is perceived as a more futuristic (and hence risky) technology than vehicle guidance. Also, there is not much additional benefit to doing automated vehicle operation in addition to vehicle guidance for narrow lane operations, unless the bus service is so heavily used that buses need to run at very short headways in bus “platoons” to improve system capacity. (The snowplows were fully automated so that the crew could focus attention on operating the blower machinery, not so that headway could be reduced.) However, since the Metro Transit survey did show considerable interest in platooning, more research needs to be done as to which of the operational scenarios with platooning would improve transit operations. This operational scenario is most appropriate for buses that drive on limited-access highways in relatively straight lines, because if there are sharp curves the lane can’t be narrow and permit a 40 foot bus to safely navigate at highway speeds. Vehicle guidance appears to be the most appropriate application subsystem for this scenario at this time, although platooning and vehicle automation would be possible if demand was sufficient that reduced headways between buses (measured in feet, not in minutes) would help increase system capacity. At-Grade Transitway In this scenario transit buses operate on a dedicated transitway where only transit vehicles are operated. The transitway is physically separated from other traffic lanes but is not entirely grade separated. In most instances transit vehicles operating on the transitway will still have to interact with pedestrians, traffic signals, and other vehicles at intersections. All of the four VAA applications could be used for this scenario. Similar to the designated lane scenario, a benefit of vehicle guidance is the ability to have a smaller lane width thus improving the odds of creating an at-grade transitway in an already crowded environment. Platooning is also a definite possibility in instances where there is high passenger demand. For automated vehicle operations to be implemented, all the other transit vehicles would have to be equipped, which is more likely in this scenario than others. Another potential benefit of an at-grade transitway is that if it exclusive to transit, it is likely to be eligible for New Start; thus another funding mechanism to pay for the technology. There are existing deployed systems in Europe, Australia, and Japan that use at-grade transitways with VAA applications. In some cases, such as Australia and UK, the mechanical guideway technology required exclusive lanes. In other cases, the technology did not require exclusive lanes but exclusive lanes were deployed in order to provide more reliable bus service, or because of perceived safety issues. Fully Grade-Separated Exclusive Transitway In this operational scenario, transit buses operate in exclusive lanes separated by grade, concrete barriers, or other devices. This has similar benefits to narrow lane, but with significantly greater infrastructure costs. Most current operations of VAA applications use an at-grade transitway, not a fully grade-separated exclusive transitway. There might not be additional safety or mobility benefits to using fully grade-separated lanes versus an at-grade transitway, depending on the signalization issues, but with regards to VAA applications, there are no real differences in terms of technology required. A separated lane with no traffic signals would definitely be faster than a separated lane where buses must stop at signalized intersections. A fully-grade separated lane would remove all possibility of SOV motorists encroaching or conflicting with the VAA bus, but at significant infrastructure cost. All of the four VAA applications could be used for this scenario. Similar to the designated lane scenario, a benefit of vehicle guidance is the ability to have a smaller lane width, thus improving the odds of potentially creating a fully grade-separated exclusive transitway in an already crowded environment. Platooning is also a definite possibility in instances where there is high passenger demand. For automated vehicle operations to be implemented, all the other transit vehicles would have to be equipped, which is likely in this scenario. Another potential benefit of a fully grade-separated exclusive transitway is that it is likely to be eligible for New Start; thus there is another funding mechanism to pay for the technology. However, the drawbacks are great: costs would be in the range of $12 to 30 million per lane mile for aerial installations, and $60 to 105 million for underground installations.