CONTENTS
1) BACK BACKGR GROU OUND ND AND AND INTRODUCTION OVERVIEW 2) What Is An Autom Automated ated H!h"a# H!h"a# S#stem$ The S#stem Con%e&t and Te%hno'o!es The (otenta' Benets *) The +ede,a' +ede,a' (,o!,ams (,o!,ams Asso%ated Asso%ated Wth Wth Automate Automated d H!h"a# S#stem S#stem Automated Highway System System Research Research Program Program - National Automated (1994~1997) ntelligent !ehicle nitiati"e Program
.) NATIONA/ NATIONA/ AUTO0ATED AUTO0ATED HIGHWA HIGHWA SSTE0 RESEARCH (ROGRA0 /I0ITATIONS O+ (UB/IC3(RIVATE (ARTNERSHI(
4) The D%u' D%u't# t# o o Consens Consensus us Bu'd Bu'dn! n! 5) The Conso Conso,tu ,tum6s m6s Con' Con'%t %tn! n! Dua' Dua' Ro'e Ro'e 7) The Conso,tum6s Conso,tum6s St,u%tu,a' St,u%tu,a' and and O&e,atona O&e,atona'' /mtatons /mtatons 8) Comments 9) SOCIA/ AND INSTITUTIONA INSTITUTIONA/ / CHA//ENGES CHA//ENGES +OR AUTO0ATED HIGHWA HI GHWA SSTE0S 1:) Un%'ea, So%a' So%a' and En;,onmenta' En;,onmenta' Im&a%ts Im&a%ts 11) The D'emma o T,anston T,anston +,om Con;entona' H!h"a# to Automated Automated H!h"a# 12) Insttutona' Insttutona' Issues Issues a- #inance$ %ho %ill Pay &or AHS' rganiational rganiational ssues <- *egal ssues ssues %- Pu+lic Acce,tan Acce,tance ce d- -oncluding Remar.s 1*) /IABI/IT ISSUES ASSOCIATED ASSOCIATED WITH AUTO0ATED AUTO0ATED HIGHWA HIGHWA SSTE0S SST E0S 1.) Gene,a' Con%e,ns Con%e,ns a
eho'de,s 15) Comment Commentss 17) CONC/ CONC/ SION RE+ERE NCES
2
CHA(TER 1 BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION
The idea of automated driving dates back more than 50 years, when General Motors (GM) resented a vision of !driverless" vehicles moved under automated control at the the #$%$ &orld' &orld'ss airs airs in ew *ork+ n the late late #$5 #$50s, 0s, resear research ch by indust industria riall organi organi-at -ation ionss concetuali-e concetuali-ed d automated automated vehicles vehicles controlled controlled by mechanical mechanical systems and radio controls+ controls+ .fter .fter the first first aearanc aearancee of comute comuters rs in the #$/0s, #$/0s, resear researcher cherss began began to consid consider er otential uses of comuters to rovide lateral and longitudinal control and traffic management+ management+ The fully fully automated automated highway concet was initially initially eamined by GM with sonsorshi from 1++ 3eartment of Transortation (34T) during the late #$0s+ n this eriod, the focus was laced on automated vehicles oerating on a highway, because the comuters were not owerful enough to consider a fully automated highway+ .dvances in comuting technologies, microelectronics, and sensors in the #$60s rovoked commercial interest in technologies that might enhance driver caability and ercetion, and both ublic and rivate sector researchers eamined artially automated roducts and % services+ .mong others, the 1niversity of 7alifornia 8artners for .dvanced Transit and 9ighways (8.T9) rogram has carried out significant research and develoment efforts in highway automation since the #$60s+ .s various advanced transortation technologies emerged that could assist driving, on one hand, and enhance traffic efficiency, on the other, interest in fully automated driving : or integrated auto; highway technologies : grew once again+ &ith the assage of the #$$# ntermodal urface Transortation the 1++ 3eartment of Transortation launched the ational .utomated 9ighway 9ighway ystem ystem 7onsortium 7onsortium (.97)+ This consortium consortium was comrised of nine ma?or catego categorie riess of organi organi-ati -ations ons,, includ including ing academia academia,, federa federal, l, state, state, region regional, al, and local local gove governm rnment ent,, and rer reres esent entat ativ ives es from from the the vehi vehicl cle, e, high highway way,, elec electr troni onics cs,, and and communications industries+ The consortium attemted to eand the rogram's eertise and resources, and believed that the collaborative aroach among stakeholders would be critical in building the common interest that would be re@uired for the early develoment and deloyment of fully automated highway systems+ 9owever, following the assage of T<.;2# in #$$, 1++ 3eartment of Transortation withdrew financial suort from the ational .utomated 9ighway ystem =esearch 8rogram (.9=8), the systematic, long;term research on .utomated 9ighway ystem (.9)+ This decision was the result of both a shortfall in research funds and the shift of 1++ 34T's riorities to romoting adotion of near;term, nea r;term, safety;oriented technologies+
n site of the decision that the .9=8 could not be continued, a review conducted by
%
the Transortation =esearch Aoard (T=A) concluded that the creation of the consortium was an innovative aroach to meet the nation's long;term highway caacity and safety needs, and that highway technology would be crucial to meeting these needs+ Many studies on the technologies erformed by ational .utomated 9ighway ystem 7onsortium (.97) are now artially continued in a coule of federal rograms such as the ntelligent Behicle nitiative (B) with more focus on a nearer;term hori-on+ The ntelligent Behicle nitiative emhasi-es in;vehicle technologies that could be a otential means for increasing safety and reducing urban congestion over time, with the goal of achieving achieving more sustainable sustainable transorta transortation+ tion+ n addition, addition, these vehicle control and safety technologies are regarded as otential stes to deloy and imlement a fully automated highway system in the future+ 9oweve 9owever, r, signi signific ficant ant barrie barriers rs to the introd introducti uction on and commerc commercial iali-a i-atio tion n of these these innovative technologies remain+ The loss of federal funding for systematic long;term research on automated highway systems is a roblem, since significant investment in rese resear arch ch is neede needed d to over overcom comee tech techni nical cal chall challen enges ges and desi design gn imle imleme ment ntat atio ion n strategies++ .lthough the current short;term research is making great advances in vehicle control system technologies, comaratively little attention is being given to the larger systems issues such as imlementation athways, ublic accetance, financing, and so on+ The ational .utomated 9ighway ystem =esearch 8rogram (.9=8) had attemted to overco overcome me barrie barriers rs in introd introducin ucing g automat automated ed highway highway sys system tem and technol technologi ogies+ es+ 9owever, 9owever, the rogram rogram was not successful successful in reaching reaching a meaningful meaningful consensus among stakeholders on what future future highway technology will be or how new technologies should be introduced+ &ith no clear icture of the future technologies, the social and economic econom ic conse@uences of highway automation remained murky, and made it even more difficult to reach agreement on what to do net+ This lack of consensus on the key issues eroded suor su ortt for the full full imlemen imlementat tation ion of an .9 in the near term term &ith &ith this this histor history y as background, in this aer review ast and current efforts toward develoing auto mated driving technologies+ eamine in articular the imlementation issues and the roblems that that ati ation onal al .utoma utomate ted d 9igh 9ighway way yst ystem em =ese =esear arch ch 8rog 8rogra ram m (.9 (.9= =8) 8) has has eerienced+ n the following section, will describe the characteristics of .9 and the .9;related federal vehicle and highway technology rograms+ will then discuss about the roblems of ational .utomated 9ighway ystem =esearch 8rogram (.9=8) with the aim of ointing out non;technical barriers to deloy the system and imlementation dilemma facing facing this technological technological innovation innovation oriented oriented rogram+ The last art of the aer will address secific non;technical barriers with an emhasis on liability issues raised by automated highway roosals and constituent technologies+
>
CHA(TER 2 OVERVIEW
OVERVIEW What s an Automated H!h"a# S#stem$
The .utomated 9ighway ystem (.9) concet defines a new relationshi between vehicles vehicles and the highway infrastructu infrastructure+ re+ .9 .9 refers to a set of designated lanes lanes on a limited access roadway where secially e@uied vehicles are oerated under comletely 6 automatic control+ .9 uses vehicle and highway control technologies that shift driving functions from the driverCoerator to the vehicle (igure #)+ Throttle, steering, and braking are automatically automatically controlled controlled to rovide rovide safer and more convenient travel+ travel+ .9 also uses communicati communication, on, sensor and obstacle;dete obstacle;detection ction technologies technologies to recogni-e recogni-e and react to eternal eternal infrastruc infrastructure ture conditions+ conditions+ The vehicles vehicles and highway highway cooerate cooerate to coordinate coordinate vehicl vehiclee mov moveme ement, nt, avoid avoid obs obstac tacles les and imrove imrove traff traffic ic flow, flow, imrov imroving ing safety safety and reducing congestion+ n sum, the .9 concet combines on;board vehicle intelligence with a range of intelligent technologies installed onto eisting highway infrastructure and communication technologies that connect vehicles to highway h ighway infrastructure+
?+!u,e 1) Da!,am The %on%e&t o AHS te%hno'o!es
or connection, 7ommunication TechnologiesD =adio 7ommunication, G8, etc+
or vehicle control, ntelligent Behicle TechnologiesD ntelligent cruise control, 3river tatus tatus Monitoring, Monitoring, 7ollision 7ollision otification, 4n;board 3iagno 3iagnosti stics, cs, 9uman; 9uman;B Behicle hicle ntera nteracti ctions ons,, 7ommuni 7ommunicat cation ion e@uiments, etc+
AHS
or highway highway control control,, nfrastructure TechnologiesD Traffic monitoring, Behicle an d obstacles sensing, urvei urveill llanc ancee tech technol nologi ogies es (e+g+ =adar, =ada r, 77TB), Bideo imaging, Eane tracking and ositioning, etc+
The S#stem Con%e&t and Te%hno'o!es
7oncets of .utomated 9ighway ystem (.9) can be classified into two grous, artially automated systems and fully automated systems, deending on the etent of the automation+ 8artially automated systems include notification and warning systems, temorary emergency controls and continuous artial controls, which take limited control of the vehicle in emergency situations+ They automate certain routine arts of driving but $ rely on manual control for most driving functions+ ully automated driving would let drivers be totally disengaged from all driving tasks+ The ational .utomated 9ighway ystem 7onsortium (.97) defined several alternative .9 concets, from cooerative to fully automated, deending on the degree to which vehicles and infrastructure work together+ Table # shows these alternative concets and four functions that they can address : vehicle ositioning, lane changing, dealing with obstructions in the road, and managing congestion+ &hile current vehicles use new technologies mostly for safety or driver convenience, e+g+, air bags, antilock brakes, adative cruise control, ower steering, the vehicles on an .9 system would re@uire much more new technology that communicates with the roadway+ .s Table # suggests, in the simlest forms of .9 these would focus on the detection of other vehicles and obstacles+ Technologies that already do this to some etent are beginning to be added to luury vehicles or are sometimes an otion that can be selected by the consumerF e+g+, collision warning systems+ 4ther technologies that would be recursors to the communications technologies in an .9 system are also being introducedF these include navigation assistance systems, traveler information systems, and vehicle locator systems+ Their accetance in the market is taken as an indicator of eventual consumer accetance of the broader .9 concet+
Ta<'e ?1) A'te,nat;e Con%e&ts o, Automated H!h"a# S#stems S#stem Con%e&t
/o%a' (oston Kee&n!
/ane Chan!n!
O
+'o" Cont,o'
Autonomous ully automated vehicles emloying sensors and comuters oerate along with manually driven vehicles without re@uiring infrastructure assistance and communication+
Behicle automatically senses vehicle ahead and roadway roblems
Eooks for and moves into an oening
Behicle brakes for detected obstacles, changes lanes if ossible
Coo&e,at;e Behicles e@uied with onboard sensors and comuters would share information with other vehicles to coordinate maneuvers and enable fully automated travel+
Behicle ensors, communications from other vehicle for land changes or latoons
7ooerative negotiation among vehicles
Behicle senses, communicates warning and coordinates maneuvers
In,ast,u%tu,e su&&o,ted ully automated vehicles oerate on dedicated lanes, using global information and two;way communication with smart infrastructure to suort vehicle decision;making+##
ame as cooerative, but within guidelines from the infrastructure
ame as cooerative
nfrastructure or vehicle senses, communicates to vehiclesF vehicles coordinate
nfrastructure monitors traffic, formulates resonses, send arameters to local grous of vehicles
In,ast,u%tu,e mana!ed The automated roadside system rovides inter;vehicle coordination during entry, eit, merging, and emergencies+#2
Behicles sensors, communications from other vehicles and infrastructure as needed
Behicle re@uests lane changeF infrastructure resonds with commands for surrounding vehicles
nfrastructure senses sends commands to vehicles based on infrastructure or vehicle detection, or vehicle actions
nfrastructure monitors individual vehicles, commands vehicles as needed, including entry and eit
In,ast,u%tu,e %ont,o''ed ame as above, but infrastructure takes the entire control in all driving situations+
nfrastructure sense vehicle ositions and sends commands to control throttle, braking and steering
nfrastructure determines need for lane change from origin; destination data, controls all necessary vehicles
nfrastructure senses, sends commands to vehicles based on infrastructure or vehicle detection, or vehicle actions
nfrastructure monitors individual vehicles, erforms otimi-ing strategy through control of individual vehicles
(otenta' Benets
=esearchers have attemted to estimate benefits that might accrue from the imlementation of automated highway systems+ Table 2 summari-es otential benefits+ Many of the benefits shown in the table are fairly seculativeF the systems they would deend uon are not yet in eistence and there is no clear evidence that the system can roduce the following benefits in reality+
Ta<'e ?2) The (otenta' Benets o AHS E'ement Road"a# Ca&a%t#
Saet#
Weathe,
0o<'t# Ene,!# %onsum&ton and a, @ua't#
/and use Comme,%a' and t,anst e%en%# and e%onom% T,a;e' tme sa;n!s and e%onom% !ans
Benets More vehicles can be accommodated on the highway+ The number of vehicles er hour er lane can be significantly increased as traffic seeds are standardi-ed and increased and headway distances are decreased+ t is eected that two to three times more vehicles could be accommodated through elimination of inefficiencies caused by inattentiveness, merging, weaving, and lane changing+ 3riving safety will be significantly greater than at resent+ The human error factor will be removed+ ome estimates state that overall 50 ercent imrovement can be reali-ed with .9 alication+ &eather and environmental conditions will imact little on high erformance driving+ og, ha-e, blowing dirt, low sun angle, rain, snow, darkness, and other conditions affecting driver visibility and thus, safety and traffic flow will no longer imede rogress+ .ll drivers using .9 can be safe, efficient drivers+ .9 offers enhanced mobility for eole with disabilities, the elderly, and less eerienced drivers+ uel consumtion and emissions can be reduced+ n the short term, these reductions will be accomlished because started;and;sto driving will be minimi-ed and because on; board sensors will be monitored to ensure that the vehicle is oerating at to erformance+ n the long term, the .9 can suort future vehicle roulsionCfuel designs+
Eand can be used more efficiently+ =oads will not need to take u as much room, since .9 facilities should allow for more effective use of the right of way+ More efficient commercial oerations and transit oerations+ 7ommercial trucking can reali-e better tri reliability to suort !?ust;in;time" delivery+ .nd, transit oerations can be automated, etending the fleibility and convenience of the transit otion to increase ridershi and service+ Travel time savingsD .9 can restore free;flow travel conditions from congested seeds in urban highway travel, thereby reducing the travel times+ n addition, for long;distance intercity travel, it ermitted higher cruising seed than today's driving+ Therefore, time that .9 frees u could be used for other uroses+
.s the table indicates, it is anticiated that automated highway and related advanced vehicle control and safety technologies would significantly reduce traffic congestion and enhance safety in highway driving+ This in turn would otentially cut travel time, and therefore, driving would be more redictable and reliable+ The Mobility 2000 reort, sonsored by the Teas Transortation nstitute, ro?ected that collision revention systems could reduce accidents by 0 ercent, or $0 ercent on fully automated highways+ =esearch focused on collision revention systems has estimated ossible savings in a relatively short eriod of time+ or eamle, collision avoidance systems have been estimated to have the otential to reduce annual loss of life on 1++ roads by 50 ercent #5 by 2020+ n addition, reliminary ational 9ighway Traffic afety .dministration estimates show that rear;end, lane;change, and roadway;dearture crash;avoidance systems have the otential to reduce crashes by one;sith, or about #+2 million crashes a #/ year+
The +ede,a' (,o!,ams Asso%ated Wth Automated H!h"a# S#stem National Automated Highway System Research Program (1994~1997)
n 4ctober #$$>, 1++ 3eartment of Transortation (34T) entered an agreement with industry to develo the .9 concet and inaugurated the ational .utomated 9ighway ystem 7onsortium (.97)+ &ith a broad range of views on .9, the consortium consisted of ublic and rivate stakeholders including General Motors, Aechtel, 7altrans, the 7arnegie Mellon 1niversity =obotic nstitute, 3elco to #$$+ Through a consensus rocess, the rogram tried to secify, develo, and demonstrate a rototye .9 and rovide for evolutionary deloyment that can suort regional and local transortation needs+ The rogram sought oortunities for early introduction of vehicles and highway automation technologies to achieve initial benefits for all surface transortation users+ The first demonstration of .9 was held in #$$ , using the ;#5 <ress Eane in an 3iego 7ounty, 7.+ The roadway was a +/;mile section of 9igh 4ccuancy Behicle (94B) lanes, searated from the main north; and southbound lanes of ;#5 by concrete barriers with the addition of communication e@uiments+ .lthough what was shown was not necessarily the secific features of the future automated highway system, the demonstration showed ractical alications of the latest technologies to the driving task and give eole its first glimse of .utomated 9ighway ystem (.9)+
2/
.lthough the demonstration showed that rogress had been made, the 1++ 34T withdrew financial suort from ational .utomated 9ighway ystem 7onsortium and shifted its riorities to short;term, safety oriented technology develoment+ ederal suort for .9; related research moved to the federal ntelligent Behicle nitiative (B) rogram (discussed below+)+ 34T concluded that the long;term vision of .9 could not be given riority due to the deficit in federal research fundsF 34T also ?udged that a full; scale .9 alication was not yet realistic due to a variety of non;technical and oerational roblems+ n short, these institutional and oerational roblems were the barrier to further #6 suort for the consortium+ ntelligent !ehicle nitiati"e (!) Program
The ntelligent Behicle nitiative (B) is a government;industry artnershi to accelerate the develoment and commerciali-ation of safety; and mobility;enhancing driver assistance systems+ The rogram merges all vehicle;focused T activities, with two ma?or goalsD #) to reduce the number of highway crashes and edestrian casualties and the resulting in?uries and fatalitiesF and 2) to imrove the effectiveness of intelligent systems to assure safe vehicle oeration in residential and edestrian activity centers+ n articular, the rogram aims to develo and deloy intelligent vehicle systems that comletely consider the driver's caabilities and limitations, rather than focusing on develoing highway infrastructure technology+ 4ngoing work on crash avoidance, obstacle sensing, intelligent seed control, in;vehicle information systems, automated highway systems, and motor carrier safety rovides a strong foundation for conducting intelligent vehicle research+ uch systems are designed to warn drivers, recommend control actions, or introduce temorary or artial automated control of the vehicle in dangerous situations+ 8reliminary ational 9ighway Traffic afety .dministration (9T.) estimates show that rear;end, lane;change, and roadway; dearture crash;avoidance systems have the anticiated benefits, collectively, to reduce crashes by one;sith, or about #+2 million crashes a year+ 9owever, 1++ 34T acknowledges that the develoment of a safe and affordable intelligent vehicle will be a long and difficult task in which B must triumh over numerous technical hurdles and non;technical barriers+ . rimary technical hurdle is to develo technologies that comlement and accomlish the human visual and higher cognitive abilities by which collision avoidance occurs+ 4ne of the critical non;technical issues is the need for the ongoing suort of the automotive industry+ The active role of automakers and their suliers is needed for achieving the rogram's strategic goal and outcomes in the future+ The ntelligent Behicle nitiative's work is closely associated with the ational ntelligent Transortation nfrastructure and
2
* (ROGRA0
CHA(TER RESEARCH
NATIONA/ AUTO0ATED HIGHWA SSTE0 RESEARCH (ROGRA0
/I0ITATIONS O+ (UB/IC3(RIVATE (ARTNERSHI(
The ational .utomated 9ighway ystem =esearch 8rogram (.9=8) enhanced the transortation community's understanding and recognition of the numerous technical and ractical issues associated with fully automated vehicles and highways+ The #$$ an 3iego demonstration was an oortunity to test the caabilities of different automation technologies in a controlled yet comle setting of vehicle and roadways+ n addition, the consortium eamined several automated highway system concets, and its system assessments flagged imortant issues that will warrant early consideration as automation caabilities are develoed+ 3esite these achievements, the Transortation =esearch Aoard committee evaluating the rogram in #$$6 argued that the ational .utomated 9ighway ystem 7onsortium was not effective in achieving its goals+ The T=A committee ointed out several ma?or roblems of the rogram+ They can be summari-ed as the lack of consensus in ublic; rivate artnershi and the consortium's conflicting dual resonsibilities as both an evaluator and as a romoter of .9+ The following sections discuss these issues+ The D%u't# o Consensus Bu'dn!
The consortium included nearly #00 associate members who reresented nine categories of stakeholdersD the vehicle industry, government agencies, the highway design industry, vehicle electronics, environmental interests, trucking oerators, transit oerators, transortation users and the insurance industry+ This grou had widely varying ersectives+ The consortium generally sought a fully automated highway concet, but there were conflicting views as to the stes and strategy of deloyment+The consortium in general suggested the imortance of oerating full automation on dedicated lanes to maimi-e its benefits+ 9owever, among the associate members, many state and local officials were sketical and concerned about the olitical difficulties of investing in dedicated lanes devoted to fully automated vehicles+
26
The Conso,tum6s Con'%tn! Dua' Ro'e
The ational .utomated 9ighway ystem 7onsortium has dual resonsibilities, both to evaluate and to romote fully automated highway systems+ 1++ 34T was to be a member of the consortium as well as oversee it and fund it+ The Transortation =esearch Aoard committee ointed out that NAHS!s a"ility to #ully and critically e$aluate automated 2 systems was susce%ti"le to criticism in light o# its %romotional role& 34T's dual roles as research funder and concet romoter also created conflicts+ 26
or eamle, the 34T; funded studies' conclusion on lia"ility' en$ironmental im%act' and trans%ortation in#rastructure issues associated with AHS seems es%ecially too o%timistic and highly conectural' "ased on worsho% discussions without serious re$iew& lose e*amination o# the worsho%s s%onsored "y the consortium #ails to re$eal how such 2$ conclusions were reached + n general, the consortium lacked the ob?ectivity that is essential to sound research and evaluations, and reflecting its romotional role, tended to roduce reorts favorable to the consortium's goals+ The Conso,tum6s St,u%tu,a' and O&e,atona' /mtatons The n'e<'t# o the &a,tne,sh&
Given the consortium's role as a romoter, its inclusive, consensus building structure limited rogram fleibility and comlicated management+ The fied membershi, re; allocated budgets, and consensus decision;making rocess slowed its resonsiveness, and it made it difficult for the artnershi to resond to changing government funding levels and riorities+ Ay the same token, given the consortium's resonsibility for evaluation, having members with an interest in favorable outcomes suorting deloyment of new technologies and concets affected the ob?ectivity of the work, and hindered the %0 effectiveness of oen discussion on many issues during the collaborative rocess+ The o;e,'# o&tmst% msson
The consortium initially envisioned that it could demonstrate fully;automated highway technologies and scenarios in three years and to select a referred system within seven years+ 9owever, selection of the system is closely related to active outreach to transortation users and roviders to reach a meaningful agreement+ Given that the consortium failed to resolve the social and institutional issues entangled with automated highway system, and that its dual, yet conflicting role undermined the effectiveness of the artnershi, this mission was ecessively otimistic and difficult to achieve+ +a'u,e to add,ess the non3te%hno'o!%a' ssues
The consortium focused on the technical asects of automated driving (e+g+ obstacle detection, latooning, and lane;keeing)+ Given the overly otimisitic mission, this focus was erhas unavoidable+ &hile some stakeholders emhasi-ed the need to address the %2 many non;technical concerns (e+g+ liability, socioeconomic imacts), these concerns were not given enough attention, leaving them as ma?or barriers to further action+
2$
Comments
The review of eerience with the ational .utomated 9ighway ystem =esearch 8rogram illustrates how rograms can fail if they do not ay attention to the full range of issues and if they mi romotion with evaluation+ n the case of the automated highway rogram, romoters focused on develoing the technologies and disregarded or downlayed issues that would later become the stumbling blocks for the whole rogram+ The artnershi formed for the .9=8 did not work well because it mied romotion and evaluation+ . searation of these two ob?ectives would certainly be in order in any future rogram+ 9owever, collaborative arrangements integrating the interests and resources of the ublic and rivate sectors should continue+ This collaborative aroach will be essential to the long;term .9 research and develoment, as it facilitates shared commitment and risk+ t also rovides stakeholders with access to understanding technologies and ideas as well as financial resources, and therefore, it can create links between organi-ations and industries that can have a long;lasting imact on newly develoed transortation technologies+ More fleible artnershis and cooerative arrangements should be designed for evaluation, develoment, and romotional functions+ 7omaring to the ational .utomated 9ighway ystem 7onsortium, the 8artnershi for ew Generation Behicles (8GB) can give us the meaningful lesson with regard to the structure and the oeration of a artnershi+ .lthough the structure of 8GB is also very inclusive, the membershi is not really fied, and rather fleible and stakeholders are free to enter and eit the artnershi rogram deending on their interests and the toics discussed in the rogram+ 4n to of this, eternal reviews and evaluation of research efforts are essential for future artnershi rograms, because they can guarantee more ob?ective evaluation on the effectiveness of rograms+ 4b?ective evaluations are critical in assuring that roosals will be successful and not ?ust based on wishful thinking+ &hile short;term ayoffs are imortant and imrovements in highway caacity, safety, and efficiency are key ob?ectives, research also needs to institutional issues and human behavior issues so that these can be integrated into technology design and develoment+ t is difficult to achieve transortation imrovement by only focusing on technology without considering social and human behavioral issues+
%0
CHA(TER 5 SOCIA/ AND INSTITUTIONA/ CHA//ENGES +OR AHS
SOCIA/ AND INSTITUTIONA/ CHA//ENGES +OR AUTO0ATED HIGHWA SSTE0S
The introduction of new technologies often creates social tensions+ or instance, although talking on the hone while walking+ or driving is commonlace nowadays, there are concerns about its safety, and debates continue over whether it is rude to use a cell hone in ublic laces such as restaurants or on a bus+ imilarly, mature technologies eerienced social challenges when they were introduced+ The first automobiles were seen as rich eole's toys, and former 8resident &oodrow &ilson, then head of 8rinceton 7ollege, warned students about showing off their vehicles before the townsfolk, who he resumed would never have cars+ The rograms to achieve the transortation imrovement through new technologies likewise face social and institutional challenges+ or automated highway systems the challenges include concerns about land use and environmental imacts, effects on eole's mobility if they are unable to afford or use the new technologies, effects on local government;owned transortation systems, and imacts on financing systems+ These imacts will be discussed here+
Un%'ea, So%a' and En;,onmenta' Im&a%ts 4ne of the critical roblems for the automated highway system develoment is that the %% imact of .9 on society and environment is unclear yet+ tudies necessarily must be seculative since the system has not yet been imlemented aart from the an 3iego demonstration ro?ect+ The following toics are ones that have generated considerable disagreement+ Con!eston at Ent,# and Et
There is concern that if .9 are imlemented the greater numbers of vehicles on an automated highway could create bottlenecks at its entry and eit oints as more traffic reenters non;automated streets+ This might offset most of the benefits of the traffic flow imrovement on the automated highways+ The 1++ 34T acknowledged that it was a serious concern to design an interchange that can integrate with surrounding non;.9 roads to ease the roblem+ Un%'ea, Im&a%t on /and Use and En;,onment
There are concerns that commuters might live farther from the work lace, because an automated highway system romises to increase the accessibility of more distant %5 locations through higher freeway seeds+ Therefore, it ossibly encourages urban srawl and greater deendence on the automobile+ The concern about land use attern and urban develoment raises also the serious @uestion on the .9's ositive role regarding air @uality, noise, etc+ f more vehicles were accommodated at faster seeds on a fully automated highway, vehicle emissions might increase and degrade air @uality, as .9 might encourage more Behicle Mile Traveled (BMT)+ This conflicting result
%#
may rovoke the fundamental @uestion of whether or not automated highway system is much more efficient, comaring to traditional highway or other transortation modes such as light rail and high;seed rail+ Saet#
ome argue that it is uncertain how .utomated 9ighway ystems imact on overall highway safety, because the failure of a vehicle's braking or steering system could severely disrut the highway traffic flow and cause a chain reaction accident+ n addition, there are remaining @uestionsD &hat level of safety is attainable and sustainable within a realistic cost 9ow much safety e@uiment can be re@uired and still achieve ublic % accetance 9ow efficient can the system be if safety re@uirements are set at etremely %6 high levels+ The trade;offs between the technology level, cost, and the safety level have not been addressed yet+ E@ut#
ince tremendous amounts of ublic funds could be sent to deloy an automated highway system, social e@uity issues must be addressed+ . key @uestion is whether it would be fair and olitically feasible to dedicate travel lanes to automated vehicles, and send ublic funds, if many low;income motorists cannot afford automated vehicles+ tudies have not addressed secific issues of whether and how state and federal government might rovide incentives to commerciali-e automated vehicles, how the system should be financed (e+g+ toll systemC other sources), and how e@uity concerns could be reduced+ There also may be different e@uity issues involved with different vehicle users (e+g+ rivate, commercial, transit vehicles)+
The D'emma o T,anston +,om Con;entona' H!h"a# to Automated H!h"a#
There has been a debate between those who favor an evolutionary deloyment of automated high systems and those who romote full;scale conversion of regional highways to the system+ ome researchers involved in the ational .utomated 9ighway ystem =esearch 8rogram believed that a regional conversion strategy would be a more effective way to imlement a fully automated system+ They argued that the evolutionary aroach would be neither easy nor efficient since many drivers will not invest in such basic technologies as adative cruise control and lane;keeing technologies+ They recommended that at least one lane of a regional highway should be converted to an .9;e@uied corridor so that initial users can fully benefit from the system+ n addition, to demonstrate the benefits, government vehicles and transit vehicles would be converted first to automated vehicles+ 4thers argued for gradual imlementation, believing that there would be inade@uate ?ustification to convert or build highway lanes with full automation with ublic funds if only a few vehicles, mostly owned by the affluent, would be able to use the system in its initial years+ This side also argued that even the vehicle owners who can ay for automation technologies may not be willing to e@ui their cars with this technology, if only one or a few corridors have highway lanes e@uied for .9 use+ Thus, they suggest that, as an evolutionary aroach, focus should be laced on market enetration of near;term advanced vehicle control and safety technologies+
%2 >#
.fter the 1++ 34T's decision was made to withdraw from the ational .utomated 9ighway ystem =esearch 8rogram, .9 research has mostly followed the evolutionary model+ Today, many efforts are being made to develo and commerciali-e the basic .9; related technologies such as adative cruise control and collision;warning features+ The technologies are eected to measure and redict the technical feasibility and the commercial attractiveness of the future automated highway system and finally to use those technologies as a foundation for the transition toward the fully automated vehicleCinfrastructure control system+ 9owever, this aroach does not really address institutional and social roblems that still re@uire resolution+ These roblems may in fact interfere with wide adotion of articular technologies as well as systems+ urthermore, there has been little effort to evaluate the eventual desirability of full;scale automation, and views on the issue have remained etremely divided+ =ecently, there has been some discussion of the need for a more systematic aroach+ The >2 1++ General .ccounting 4ffice's reort concluded that 34T's surface research lacks a >% sufficient focus on long;term concerns+ . recent article by teven hladover oints out that .9 could be imlemented before some of the more advanced individual technologies are available, and suggests roceeding with substantial effort in develoing the system >> design and integrating the technologies+ .nother recent article suggests a rogressive deloyment strategy integrated with research and develoment+ These articles may rekindle the discussion on detail strategies of full;scale deloyment of the .9 system+
or .9 to obtain ublic accetance, it must be designed and imlemented with many >5 comle human factors and oerational reliability considerations+ The decision on which vehicle controls are automated and how these systems interface with the driver will affect seriously system safety and the level of ublic accetance+ n addition, the etent to which motorists would accet reduced manual control of their vehicles of be willing to travel in automated vehicles at close following distances, on narrower lanes, >/ and at higher seeds is not clear yet+ ull automation of the nation's road cannot be attained in a day, until a careful review as to human resonse and system safety, and market analysis on otential users can be successfully addressed+ 1ser fears, inertia, and distrust on new technology are tyically too strong to be eliminated without gradual and systematic imlementation strategies+ Insttutona' Issues
The vision of deloyment of local and regional automated highways re@uires the ublic sector to consider the issue of institutionali-ation of automated highway systems+ uccessful institutionali-ation would reduce otential olitical and economic conflicts and would secify the roles and resonsibilities of each ublic and rivate actor+ Hey institutional issues include finance, regulation, and organi-ation+
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+nan%e Who W'' (a# o, AHS$ 1++ 34T's #$$/ reort identified several issues concerning the finance of automated highways, but these issues have not been discussed actively since the 1++ 34T withdrew its financial suort for the long;term research on .9+ *et, it is worth summari-ing the significant issues in the followingD •
•
The main ways to cover automated highway system costs and the structuring of the costs 9ow much should the federal government rovide suort to states and locales for oeration and maintenance
•
The entity to finance and build the .9 infrastructure (ublic, rivate)
•
The way of ricing the system
•
9ow to induce sufficient rivate investment
•
•
The riority to be given to investment in conventional highways vs+ automated highways The rights and rivileges that the oerating entity can have+
. rincial dilemma is that, given limited financial resources and a backlog of needed investments in conventional traditional transortation ro?ects, .9 deloyment is likely >$ to be limited for the net decade or more, unless alternative funding sources are found+ n many urban areas, maintenance alone absorbs the ma?ority of available funds, and transortation agencies are left with little funding to use on new ro?ects of any sort+ This suggests that either new funding sources would need to be found or else the benefits of .9 would have to be so convincing that transortation officials would ut .9 ro?ects ahead of other desired transortation investments+ rganiational ssues
Many oerational issues can arise in considering the role of state and local government in building and oerating highways+ The .9 will include technically comle comonents such as advanced electronic sensors, on;line comuters and software, and communication systems+ nstallation and maintenance of these systems may resent a significant challenge to the oerators+ ince .9 will introduce an increased level of comleity for highway oerations, the following issues should be addressedD •
•
•
The ability of state and local transortation agencies to build, oerate and maintain the sohisticated networks of automated highwayF changes that might be needed in ersonnel hiring ractices, ay scales, etc+ The caability of state and local ?urisdictions to work together effectively in lanning and oerating .9
The regional institutional integration to suort the efficient oeration of .9
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The training of technical staff to deal with the system
•
The structure of ownershi of facility (ublic or rivate)
•
=esonsibility for standard;setting for new e@uiment and oerations+
Pri"acy 5#
8rivacy is a sensitive issue for the ublic+ . study by 1++ 34T sees the issue otimistically, arguing that rivacy is not a serious barrier to the imlementation of automated highway systems+ *et the study still notes the continuing debates about rivacy standards, and also recogni-es ublic sensitivity to the use of ersonal information, and concerns about roer handling of ersonal information+ or eamle, because .9 emloy automated surveillance technologies to communicate with other vehicles and the highway infrastructure, as other intelligent transortation system technologies do, it raises a concern over rivacy+ 3esite the otimism of 34T, the issue is not easy to deal with and there are no distinct criteria for designing a rivacy standard+ 34T's study suggests that most eole have 52 ambivalent attitudes on the issue+ They want their rivacy rotected on the one hand, but they might also be interested in the benefits roduced by an automated highway system's use of rivate information+ This is similar to the situation with credit cards, where many eole worry about rivacy of information, but nevertheless obtain and use credit cards+ =esearchers also have suggested that rivacy means a variety of different 5% things, including solitude, autonomy, anonymity, and individualityF it is thus hardly surrising that eole can't achieve a clear consensus on the solution as well as the severity of the roblem+ 7urrently, few studies are being carried out to address the issue+ . recent survey on 77TB reveals that %u"lic agencies ha$e not im%lemented any structured or #ormal %rograms to e*%lain the sa#eguards against %ri$acy $iolations and they do not have any rocedures to evaluate whether their informal ublic outreach has been effective+ 1++ 34T argues that when "ene#its o# AHS are clearly %ercei$ed as outweighing any ad$erse on %ri$acy' the technology is less liely to "e constrained + evertheless not much effort has been made to !showcase" the merit of technology vis;I;vis the invasion of ersonal rivacy+ ntellectual Pro,erty ssues
Most research efforts to develo technology alied for .9 are being conducted through artnershis between ublic and rivate sector organi-ations+ The rivate sector worries that because the retention of intellectual roerty rights by 1++ 34T or state agency may be too broad, it is not easy for it to recou costs used at the redeveloment 5/ stage+ 4n the other hand, the ublic sector attemts to give the ublic the full access of 5 technology by ac@uiring the right to use such intellectual roerty for ublic uroses+ They also are concerned about creating a monooly for certain technologies+ The differing concerns of the artners not only causes roblems in the field of intellectual roerty rights but also inhibits the collaborative aroach in their research and develoment effort+ 4ften, reaching agreement on rorietary rights is difficult and time;consuming+
%5
. firm does not usually want to reveal and ?eoardi-e its original hardware or software roducts in order to develo other .9;related technologies such as in;vehicle navigation and route guidance systems with ublic suort+ n addition, many inclusive artnershis embrace market cometitors, so a firm does not want to give a direct cometitor access to rorietary information+ 7onse@uently, the allocation of rights in intellectual roerty has been a significant hurdle in develoing ublic;rivate artnershis+ f the right is commercially eloitable and develoed with government funds, it is much more difficult to reach a meaningful consensus+
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CHA(TER 7 /IABI/IT ISSUES
/IABI/IT ISSUES
8resently, the rimary burden of the cost of vehicle accidents rests with the drivers and 56 the owners of the vehicles, because most of highway collisions are due to driver error+ 9owever, the increased automation resulting from the adotion of certain automated highway technologies could shift liability to the develoers and oerators of automated systems+ Thus a ma?or issue concerns the resolution of who is to be resonsible for accidents on automated highway systemsD the non;driving driver, the auto;highway authority, or the auto manufacturer+ 5$
1++ 34T concluded otimistically, based on the .97's review in #$$/, that liability issues would not resent any barriers to the develoment and imlementation of .9 and it would not imact negatively on entry of rivate sector firms into the /0 develoment of technology+ Transortation =esearch Aoard reort in #$$, however, ointed out that the evaluation of .97 could be distorted because of its conflicting role as an evaluator of the rogram as well as a romoter+ 7oncerns still, therefore, remain with regard to level of driver control of the vehicle, and the transfer of control between the driver and the system+ urthermore, rosective manufacturers and oerators of .9 initially eressed concern that deloyment of .9 would result in increased eosure to tort law claims+ The following eamines general issues that should be addressed to overcome liability concerns related to .utomated 9ighway ystem+
Gene,a' Con%e,ns on /a<'t# /ncertainty o& New technologies and 0-hillinge&&ects2 takeholders are sometimes unwilling to bear the legal liability associated with adoting new and unroven technologies, unless the returns are etremely high+ n develoing new highway infrastructure technology, many comanies in construction and auto industry are concerned about health, safety, or environmental ha-ards issuesF in some cases the concerns may be great enough to deter them from adoting new materials and technologies+ n the case of new .9 technologies, some have seculated that this issue would roduce a !chilling;effect" on the entry of the rivate sector into the develoment of technology+ /2 .lthough the #$$ 1++ 34T reort argues that there is no evidence that fear of liability has deterred industry involvement, concerns still eist that even if research and develoment roceeds, the issue may arise again when deloyment is under consideration+ The history of air bag deloyments may be instructive+ .dvertisements have deicted air bag deloyment as a soft cushion eerience, while in reality it is a very violent event+ =ental car comanies have been sued for malfunction of e@uiment because of in?uries due to air bag deloyment, even when the air bags functioned as designed+ 4ne roblem is that the airbags does not meet the eectations set u by advertising, and most drivers
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%
do not have any more secific knowledge+
7oncerns about liability also may lead to highly conservative regulation and ractice+ or eamle, concerns about liability have led many transortation deartments and traffic engineers to re?ect traffic calming devices such as seed hums and roadway narrowing+ f a state highway deartment were to oerate an .9 in such a way as to minimi-e its liability risks, what would the effects be 7onservative oerating rules might result in lowered roadway caacity , higher costs, and less congestion relief+ 7oncerns about liability blocking the develoment of a new industry led to 7ongressional limitations on liability for nuclear ower and air transortation+ Eimits on liability rovide rotection for the industry and may offer a degree of reassurance to otential articiants, but also limit consumer recovery in case of actual harm+ &hether such liability rotections are ?ustified is a @uestion worthy of consideration, should this toic come u for .9+
Standa,ds De;e'o&ment tandards are essentially a statement of acceted ractice and as such, can offer some rotection to those who follow them+ That is, comliance with standards is evidence of reasonable behavior+ Thus develoment of standards could offer a manufacturer or oerator some degree of rotection from liability+ ℓdrafted standards thus can hel suort imlementation of .9 by reducing risk+ t 4n the other hand, detailed standards or too early set u of standards can block technology innovation+ Thus standards develoment could be a double;edged sword+
3ort Re&orm Eiability law is a branch of tort law, and in the 1, most tort law is formed and enforced at the state, not federal, level, with each state having a different set of laws and traditions+ Much tort law is also common law, that is, ?udge;made law that has evolved ov er the years, /> although legislation also shaes tort law+ Tort law thus imacts the develoment and alication of technologies for automated highways both by establishing the contours of liability and by establishing damages that are allowed+ Tort reform might reduce the risks for .9 by changing liability rules, limiting the recovery of damages, andCor reducing the costliness of the claims rocesses+ 9owever, a huge sector of the economy has vested interests in the eisting system of comensating eole for in?uries on the highway system, as it has evolved over many years+ 9ence tort reform is a big issue that will not necessarily be easily resolved for .9+
(u<'% edu%aton on AHS
%6
Eiability can be reduced when customer eectations are consistent with what a articular roduct can actually do+
=(,os
and Cons6 on /a<'t# Issues <# Sta>eho'de,s
. rimary cause of liability roblems is that all layers in the .9 field want benefits of using of the system but want others to take the risk and rovide the necessary rotection+ The following will review concerns on liability issues raised by each stakeholder in order to understand secific oints of liability and the osition of each stakeholder on .utomated 9ighway ystem+ -.
NAHS (+he National Automated Highway System onsortium) and ,+S America
The different interest grous within .97 had not reached a consensus about what the liability issues are, until #$$ in its dismissal+ 9owever, they and T .merica identified // the general boundaries of liability concerns like the following D •
• • •
•
•
&ho is resonsible for accidents in general, if the drivers' role in .9 is significantly less than in conventional highway (3rivers, ystem managers, manufacturers) 9ow to roortion liability among the various articiants in an automated system 9ow to transition from ersonal liability to systemic liability Greater liability issue would be incurred with mied;flow rather than dedicated lanes, but it is easier to deloy mied flow first and then dedicated lanes later+ 9ow to solve conflicting issues between deloyment se@uence and liability se@uence 9ow to get the driver to use the system the way he is envisioned to use it+ There is an issue of training the driver how to comrehend and use the system, and revent misuse of the system+ Auilding the safety and security into the system costs money+ 9ow to make systems attractive to the market both in features and in cost+
Te%hno'o!# 0anua%tu,e,s Manufactures regard otential liability costs as a serious bar to entering markets, and hence they worry that liability issues could hinder the develoment of .9+ They are interested in having federal standards established to alleviate their liability if ossible, whether by regulation or legislation+ They argue that in designing .9 system, it is critical to redict the amount of eosure to liability+ 9owever, as mentioned before, standards cannot offer comlete rotection and they may have detrimental effects as well as ositive ones+ Technology manufacturers also raised the issue of liability for vehicle maintenance+ oecific @uestions osed include the following
•
&hose resonsibility is it to maintain the vehicle
•
&hat resonsibility do manufacturers have to maintain these automated vehicles
%$ •
&ill the car manufacturers be ultimately liable for the roduct if there is a malfunction in the vehicle
They want some rotection in general, if they comly with standards and concern about user understanding and aroriate use of technology+
>0
CHA(TER 8 AUTO0ATED HIGHWA SSTE0S AN OVERVIEW
The Automated H!h"a# S#stem 33 An O;e,;e" •
The demand on our overburdened highway system is increasing every day+ Traffic is snarled, drivers are snarling+ &hat should be a routine 20;minute tri can take hours, as traffic congestion multilies the effects of individual variations in driving erformance Jas determined by hysical abilities, knowledge, eerience and, indeed, ersonality+J ( 1) &e lose control over our lans and schedulesF we rush because weKre lateF we cause accidents and create ill will through recklessness and bad temer+ This, in turn, makes the highway system even more sluggish, unredictable, and nonresonsive to driver needs+ . solution is waiting in the wings+ The .utomated 9ighway ystem (.9) rogram, steed u in resonse to the mandate of the ntermodal urface Transortation
>#
JThis high;erformance highway system, seen as the net ma?or evolutionary stage of surface transortation, is eected to be the focus of ma?or 1++ imlementation efforts early in the net century, much like the nterstate 9ighway ystem rogram was the focus of the last half of this century+J ( /) .lthough .9 reresents a long;term effort, erhas the most eciting asect of it is that the technology is ready now+ The technology to automate routine driving functions eists and will be demonstrated in #$$+
AHS BENE+ITS =esearch has roven that the benefits of .9 on the erformance of the eisting 1++ transortation system will, over time, be enormous and far; reaching+ 4ver the long term, traffic congestion will be reducedF safety will be enhanced to roduce a virtually collision;free environmentF driving will be redictable and reliable+ More secifically, the advantages of .9 imlementation include the following+ •
•
•
•
•
•
0ore $ehicles can "e accommodated on the highway + The number of vehicles er hour er lane can be significantly increased as traffic seeds are standardi-ed and increased and headway distances are decreased+ ri$ing sa#ety will "e signi#icantly greater than at %resent + The human error factor will be removed+ High2%er#ormance dri$ing can "e conducted without regard to weather and en$ironmental conditions + og, ha-e, blowing dirt, low sun angle, rain, snow, darkness, and other conditions affecting driver visibility (and thus, safety and traffic flow) will no longer imede rogress+ ( 1) All dri$ers using AHS can "e sa#e' e##icient dri$ers + .9 offers enhanced mobility for eole with disabilities, the elderly, and less eerienced drivers+ ( 1) 3uel consum%tion and emissions can "e reduced + n the short term, these reductions will be accomlished because start;and;sto driving will be minimi-ed and because on;board sensors will be monitored to ensure that the vehicle is oerating at to erformance+ ( 1) n the long term, the .9 can suort future vehicle roulsionCfuel designs+ ( /) and can "e used more e##iciently + =oads will not need to take u as much room, since .9 facilities should allow for more effective use of the right of way+ ( 1)
>2 •
•
0ore e##icient commercial o%erations + 7ommercial trucking can reali-e better tri reliability to suort J?ust;in;timeJ delivery+ 0ore e##icient transit o%erations + Transit oerations can be automated, etending the fleibility and convenience of the transit otion to increase ridershi and service+
5ur6 +asic ,er&ormance needs are increasingly +eyond the ,er&ormance ca,a+ilities o& the eisting system with its manual mode o& "ehicle o,eration8 33/#'e Saton Automated Cont,o'33Co,ne,stone o +utu,e H!h"a# S#stems
AHS TECHNO/OGIES &hat will the automated highway system actually be &ill it be very different from what we have now &ill our roads hover in mid;air as futuristic cars whi- along ot really;;or at least not yet+ .n .9 facility will robably be a normal lane or two on an eisting freeway+ nitially, .9 will robably be deloyed and oerated on high;riority routes in high;demand ma?or urban and intercity freeway corridors+ ( /) .nd an .9 car will look like a normal car+ Aut both facility and road will be outfitted with sohisticated control and communication devices that will essentially ut the vehicle in communication with the roadside+ The car will JknowJ what roadway conditions are like+ The road will JofferJ each vehicle otions, navigation, and advisories based on its conditions+ &hile on the .9 facility, the vehicle will be oerated under automated control;;similar to the autoilot control in aircraft+ ( /) The roducts, technologies, and concets underlying .9 do, for the most art, currently eist+ or eamle, roducts now on the market or under develoment include sensors that detect obstacles in vehicle blind sots, collision warning systems, and infrared vision enhancement systems+ .lso, intelligent cruise control systems (systems that accelerate and decelerate in resonse to the seed of the vehicle immediately ahead) are under develoment by automobile manufacturers+ ( 5) n addition, concets and roducts from the defense industry;;advanced comuting systems, sensors, advanced command and control, etc+;;are being alied+ JThe automated highway rogram is erfectly ositioned to harness these military technologies and convert them for civilian use+J ( 4) Thus, over the net few years, an integrated system that uses all these eisting or develoing technologies will be develoed, and that system will be tested in more realistic environments+
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The 1997 Demonst,aton 6+he goal o# this %rogram is to ha$e the #irst #ully automated roadway or an automated test trac in o%eration "y 1997&6 ;;ntermodal urface Transortation (b)
8eole have been talking seriously about an automated highway system of one tye or another since the #$50s+ Bisionaries and utoians have been rohesying its develoment even longer+ .nd now, after all that time and all those lans, itKs finally going to haen+ &e will see a road, rather than a driver, guiding a car+ .nd it will haen in this century+ n #$$, 9&.Ks .utomated 9ighway ystem rogram will;;as er its congressional mandate;;rovide roof of the technical feasibility of fully automated .9 concets, designs, technologies, and functions+ &hat is shown will not necessarily be the automated highway system of the future+ Aut it will be ractical, real;life alications of the latest technologies to the driving task+ The demonstration will also give the world its first glimse of what the automated highway system of the 2#st century might look like and how it could erform+ &hat will be demonstrated in #$$ The secifics have not been set yet, but weKll see a car moving along the road by itself not controlled by its driver+ This car will stay in its lane, merge and demerge, and maintain a safe distance from other cars+ t will accelerate and decelerate+ t will robably handle malfunctions, such as a flat tire+ The automated highway system is no longer a fantastic device for futurists, dreamers, and science fiction writers+ The technology eists, and weKll see it in action in ?ust three short years+
The AHS (,o!,am The .utomated 9ighway ystem rogram started u in #$$2 as art of the ederal 9ighway .dministrationKs (9&.) large;scale ntelligent Behicle; 9ighway ystems (B9) initiative+ B9 is a ma?or government;industry; academia collaboration aimed at alying advanced technology to the 1++ highway system in order to imrove mobility and transortation roductivity, enhance safety, maimi-e the use of eisting transortation facilities, conserve
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energy resources, and reduce adverse environmental effects+ ive comonents make u the B9 effortD .dvanced Traffic Management ystems, .dvanced Traveler nformation ystems, 7ommercial Behicle 4erations, .dvanced 8ublic Transortation ystems, and .dvanced Behicle 7ontrol ystems (.B7)+ The .9 rogram falls within the .B7 area and is, in fact, its logical long; term goal+ .B7 research and develoment is aimed at using advanced sensor and control technologies to hel;;or relace;;the driver in resonding to immediate roadway situations+ ( 5) The .9 rogram is also closely tied to the ational 9ighway Traffic afety .dministration (9T.), articularly its rogram to develo erformance guidelines for collision avoidance systems+ (.) The .9 develoment rogram is organi-ed into three hases+ The first of these is now under way, and the second is about to begin+ 3his o"erla, 5in the ,recursor systems analysis contracts6 will add "alue to the o"erall +ody o& research in that each discrete e&&ort will ,ro"ide a di&&erent ,ers,ecti"e and em,hasis in identi&ying and analying issues and ris.s8 33(,e%u,so, S#stems Ana'#ses o Automated H!h"a# S#stems •
•
Analysis Phase + This hase will rovide the analytical foundation for .9 definition+ 3uring this hase, numerous in;deth research studies are being conducted so that all issues related to .9 design, develoment, and deloyment are acknowledged and assessed+ These studies fall into three grousD recursor systems analyses, human factors research, and 9T.;sonsored collision;avoidance analyses, focusing on vehicle warning and control services+ Much of the analysis hase should be comleted by the end of calendar year #$$>+ Systems e#inition Phase + This multiyear hase has several oututs+ t will establish .9 erformance and design ob?ectivesF identify and evaluate alternative .9 concetsF conduct a full;scale demonstration in #$$ of .9 technical feasibility as re@uired by T<.F select a referred system aroachF demonstrate, test, and evaluate a rototye of the referred .9 aroachF and reare documentation for this configuration+ This work will be conducted by a consortium of ma?or stakeholders;;state and local transortation agencies, the vehicle and highway industries, and other key rivate sector reresentatives;;in artnershi with the 3eartment of Transortation (34T)+ 9&. eects that the system definition hase will last through 200# or 2002+ .t the conclusion of this hase, all secifications and documentation
>5
needed for roduct develoers and transortation agencies to deloy automated highway systems will be available+ •
%erational 8$aluation Phase + 3uring this hase, one or more imlementations of the referred .9 aroach will be evaluated at selected 1++ locations+ This hase will take lace in the early years of the net century+ ( .)
(,o!,am (,o!,ess (,e%u,so, s#stems ana'#ss %ont,a%ts
Aetween Luly and etember of #$$%, #5 Jrecursor systems analysisJ contracts totaling #>+# million were let by 9&. to an array of imressive ro?ect teams+ The urose of the one;year contracts is to investigate the issues and risks related to .9 design, develoment, and imlementation+ 7ollectively, the contracts aim at surfacing, researching, analy-ing, and debating a broad sectrum of .9;related issues+ The structure of these recursor systems analysis contracts is innovative+ =ather than assign a single toic to an individual contractor, the recursor systems analysis contracts comrise a matri of #/ activity areas investigated by multidiscilinary, multi;organi-ational teams+ Many teams are investigating one of more of these areasF two teams are addressing all #/ areas;;one team from a broad systems analysis ersective and the other from the ersective of the vehicle industry+ The ro?ect teams individually and collectively reresent a wide variety of ersectives, from state transortation deartments (including ew *ork, Massachusetts, and 7alifornia), academia (including the Massachuetts nstitute of Technology, 8rinceton, Tufts, and others), the aerosace and automotive industries (such as 9ughes .ircraft, 3aimler Aen-, and ord), and defense and high;tech research organi-ations (including Aattelle, 9oneywell, Martin Marietta, =ockwell, T=&, and Eawrence Eivermore ational Eaboratory)+ The secific .9 activity areas these contractors are investigating areD ( .) •
•
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.9 in urban and rural oerational environments+ 7ertification of roer vehicle functioning for automated oeration (automated check;in)+ 7ertification of roer vehicle and driver functioning for manual oeration (automated check;out)+
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Eateral and longitudinal control of an automated vehicle+
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Malfunction management+
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1ni@ue .9;related needs of commercial and transit vehicles+
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Eessons learned from deloyment of comarable systems+
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3eloyment of ossible .9 configurations within eisting freeway networks+
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mact of .9 on nearby non;.9 roadways+
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.9 entryCeit imlementation+
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4ngoing .9 oeration+
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.9 vehicle oeration, including vehicle retrofitting+
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mact of alternative roulsion systems on .9 deloyment and oeration+
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.9 safety issues+
•
nstitutional and societal asects of .9 deloyment+
•
.ssessment of .9 reliminary costCbenefit factors+
Use, A%%e&tan%e 6hange is ine$ita"le& ,n a %rogressi$e country change is constant&6 ;; Aen?amin 3israeli, #6/
The automated highway system will be a big change;;a change on the scale of the transition from the horse and buggy to the automobile, from the adding machine to the calculator, from the encil to the word rocessor+ Eike those changes, .9 reresents automation of a task reviously erformed in a tedious, inefficient, and time;consuming manner+ Eike those changes, too, .9 does not reclude revious methods, but offers an imrovement over them+ Aut like those changes;;like all changes;;.9 will insire resistance+ The .9 rogram recogni-es that the issue of driver accetance is a key one in ensuring the feasibility and usability of the automated highway+ ocus grous are being conducted to determine otential user attitudes+ 9uman
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factors studies will kee this issue to the forefront as .9 enters its system design hase+ o findings are yet available on driver attitudes toward the .9, but a few oints can be made in this regard+ ull automation of the nationKs roads cannot be achieved now and is not intended to be achieved for several decades+ 3riving as we know it today will not become obsolete either overnight or over the net generation+ Lust as the advent of comuters didnKt sulant the workforce, the automated highway system wonKt take the lace of drivers+ .9 will, in the beginning, be imlemented only on certain high;grade, high;erformance facilities+ 8eole will still need to drive on secondary roads to reach these facilities+ Moreover, these facilities will robably not san a whole roadway, but rather they will comrise one or more lanes of a multilane eressway+ .lso, for several years after .9 imlementation, safety will re@uire that the driver stay Jin the loo+J
&hile it is remature at this early hase in the rogram to develo a definitive systems aroach, some framework is imortant to suort this research+ n this resect, each contractor has defined a set of Jreresentative system configurations,J which are strawman, system aroaches, sanning the range of ossibilities+ (ee figures #, 2, and %+)
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Hey to the success of these recursor systems analyses is communication+ The #5 contractor teams are talking to each other, sharing findings, relating roblems, seeking solutions, collaborating, and brainstorming+ This innovative aroach to contract conduct foreshadows and ensures the technological innovations to come in .9+ This synergy is being fostered through teleconferences and articiation in an on;line bulletin board sonsored by B9 .M<=7.+ .lso, the contractors are meeting in .ril #$$> for an nterim =esults 7onferenceF they will meet again the following 4ctober to resent their final results+ This latter meeting will be oen to the ublic+ Through matri management and oen communication, the recursor systems analysis contracts will yield both @uestions and answers as inut for the .9
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systems definition hase+ Moreover, they will establish a core .9 community to serve as a fountainhead of .9 technical eertise+
Human a%to,s ,esea,%h .ll too often in large;scale system develoment, engineering for human factors is ut in as an afterthought+ ot so in the .utomated 9ighway ystem rogram+ J9&. has recogni-ed the imortance of human;centered design in N.9O system develoment+J ( 5) Thus, at the .9 rogramKs onset in #$$2, a contract was let to 9oneywell for human factors research+ The contract focuses on determining what drivers and .9 can and cannot do well and on how drivers and automated driving should fit together+ n addition, some research will be conducted on the issue of driver accetance of the automated highway system+ The ro?ect will result in secific guidelines and handbooks for .9 system develoers to ensure that human needs and caabilities are met in system design+ The human factors @uestions surrounding .9 involve the transition from manual to automated driving and back again, normal automated driving, and handling of emergency events+ The research is informed by comarable systems analyses;;that is, looking at lessons learned from other automated roadway systems that have humans in the loo+ These other systems are GermanyKs 4;Aahn system (buses whose steering control is taken over by an automated system in narrow tunnels)F the 7hunnel reair vehicle (which oerates on both normal and automated roadways)F the &ashington, 3+7+, Metro subway system (whose automated seed control feature must sometimes be controlled manually)F and airlane autoilot systems+
The Natona' AHS Conso,tum 4ne of the most intriguing asects of the .9 rogram is that its management lan is as innovative as its technology+ . rime, if not the rime, eamle of this is the consortium that will manage the .9 rogramKs systems definition hase+ This consortium;;which, as of this writing, has not yet been selected;;Jwill rovide leadershi and focus to the nationKs .9 effort+J ( /) . solicitation for consortium alicants was issued by the 3eartment of Transortation this ast 3ecemberF these alications are currently under review+ 9&. will eecute a cooerative agreement with the successful alicant+ 1nder this agreement, the consortium will manage the .9 definition haseF rovide for national coordination, including outreach and ublic relationsF and meet rogram milestones+ n addition, consortium members will share in the
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ro?ectKs cost, contributing time, materials, andCor funds e@ual to at least 20 ercent of the costs of the activities conducted under the agreement+ Aut why a consortium .nd who will comrise this consortium 9&. .dministrator =odney later ut it wellD JThroughout this endeavor, we will aggressively reach out to shareholders and to stakeholders to involve them in the decision;making rocess, beginning with the establishment of the ational .9 7onsortium+ This consortium, in artnershi with 9&., with 9T., and with other members of the 34T family, will be the focal oint for this nationKs .9 rogram+ .nd as such, we will be seeking to artner with a consortium which reresents the key stakeholders;;state and local transortation agencies, the vehicle industry, the highway design industry, and the electronics and communications industry+ .nd, in order to ta their creativity, this rogram will rovide significant oortunities for small businesses, disadvantaged businesses, as well as historically black colleges and universities+J ( 4) The ational .9 7onsortium will symboli-e a Jnew artnershi between the ublic and rivate sectors+J ( 4) .nd itKs a artnershi that makes good sense+ .9 will deend on cutting;edge technology+ uccess means taing into the diverse eeriences, knowledge, creativity, and eertise reresented by the various consortium members+ .9 is a radical dearture from todayKs means and methods+ uccess means having the visible and unwavering suort of the consortium membershi and their constituents+ uccess means using consortium membersK crucial financial and other resources+ The consortium members will en?oy future ayoffs in new business and enhanced services to their customers, and society as a whole will en?oy the broad benefits of highway automation+ n short, the .9 rogramKs consortium management aroach will hel ensure that every intriguing idea is considered, every concerned voice is heard, and every stakeholder is a full artner in the effort+ . key comonent of the .9 human factors research is driving simulation using owa 1niversityKs highly sohisticated, motion;based driving simulator+ The simulator consists of a ord Taurus with three seamless widescreen ro?ection systems showing realistic comuter;generated roadway scenes around the vehicle and a motion system that rovides the sensations of braking and accelerating+ Together, these comonents yield a very high;@uality driving simulation+ ecific .9 issues and @uestions that are being, or will be, eamined by the human factors researchers include the followingD
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&hat are the seeds and headway distances and the combinations of seed and headway distance that are too difficult for drivers to manage well 9ow well can eole get into and out of an automated lane under various seed and distance combinations &hat kinds of behaviors do drivers ehibit in automated lanes .re they alert 9ow much attention do they need to ay to the driving task to ensure that they can take over in case of a malfunction 9ow can this attention be ensured 9ow can .9 kee a driver from becoming bored during automated vehicle control 9ow do eole react to the reduced intervals (between vehicles) that are ossible in automated lanes 9ow do they react to the close roimity of the other cars and to the close merges of entering cars &hat are the otential carryover effects of automated control 9ow will drivers who have been going at high seeds at a very close interval react when they resume manual control of their vehicles as they eit from the .9 lane and turn onto secondary roads
The human factors team will comlete a reliminary handbook addressing these and other issues as they relate to .9 design by #$$>F a second edition of these design guidelines should be ready by #$$/+ This research will rovide essential guidance to the ational .9 7onsortium during the initial rototye system design+
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CHA(TER 9 VISIONS O+ AHS
Vsons o the AHS +utu,e *our meeting downtown is in an hour, but you leave your house;;which is some #00 miles away;;knowing youKll make it in on time+ n fact, youKll even have time to go over your notes on the way in+ *ou get in your car, guide it to the .9 eressway, and then settle down with your cu of coffee and notebook comuter on a tray in front of you+ PPP tKs the first weekend in Lune with the kids home from school+ t seems that everybodyKs on their way to the area theme ark+ Traffic is, like it was in the #$$0s, bumer to bumer+ Aut the difference is that now everyoneKs going smoothly at full seed+ .ll the cars around are filled with families reading, talking, and en?oying the natural scenery thatKs whi--ing ast on both sides of the narrow road+ PPP
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ollutants+ The balance between automation and conservation, between human needs and dwindling natural resources, has been successfully struck+
CHA(TER 1:
CONC/USION
Con%'uson ncreasingly, we are alying automation to routine, reetitious tasks so that our minds and hands are free to ursue worthier ob?ectives+ 3riving is a natural candidate for automation+ ts automation will free eole from erforming an often frustratingly tedious, tremendously time;consuming chore+ t will also ensure that the chore is erformed more safely, @uickly, reliably, and efficiently than eole could ever do unassisted+ .lthough the various technologies eist to create and imlement an automated highway system in this country, we cannot;;nor would it be desirable to;;move immediately to full;scale automation of the driving task+ .9 develoment will be a long;term, multihased ro?ect+ This slow and steady aroach will ensure that the work is done correctly, the right technologies are otimi-ed, drivers can gradually become comfortable with increasing technology in their cars, driver and industry concerns are addressed, and concurrent ugrades in the driving eerience;;such as energy;efficient alternative roulsion methods;;are incororated+ Moreover, long;term imlementation will ensure that the eotic (read JeensiveJ) technologies needed in .9 design will be significantly more cost;effective and accessible when they are used in volume+ .s we move into a new century, .9 will usher in an era of raid technological advancements that will imrove the safety, efficiency, and convenience of highway transortation as much as the change from dirt to aved roads revolutioni-e travel at the beginning of this century+ 4ne of the main reasons why the ational .utomated 9ighway ystem =esearch 8rogram (.9=8) failed was that the rogram was traed in technology;otimism+ everal 1++ 34T reorts on .9 show that there are no technical and non;technical showstoers+
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9owever, legal, institutional, and societal challenges ?ust as critical as technical issues+ Moreover, these institutional and societal issues cannot be settled in one day, because they are much to do with eole's ercetion, behavior, consensus and social changes based on those+
t is imortant to demonstrate that .9 brings ma?or transortation benefits in terms of safety, efficiency, affordability and usability, and environment in order to achieve its develoment goals+ *et, as we can see in the case of .9=8, rogram accetance is not ?ust based solely on technological caabilities but also on eole's social,economic, and environmental concerns+
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CHA(TER 11
RE+ERENCES
Ree,en%es (1) Eyle aton+ J.utomated 7ontrol;;7ornerstone of uture 9ighway ystems,J ,HS Re$iew, ummer #$$%, + #;#/+ (/) J=e@uest for .lications umber 3T9/#;$>;Q;000# to
(/) .lbert, heri and Hingsley <+ 9aynes+ Pri$acy and the ,ntersection o#
