Foreword All transport systems have a certain capacity determined by its configurations. For cars the most efficient current form is constant speed driving, e.g. the motorway. Its capacity is limited by the time separation between vehicles. Any transport system that stops because of congestion or other causes by definition sees its capacity reduced to zero. Hence traffic jams are hugely disruptive. Public transport operates on a model inherited from the 19 th Century. Vehicles (buses, trams, railways, metros) run on a regular (timetabled) basis and stops at every station (bus stop). Since there is no pre-booking and the need of transport is hard to foresee, the vehicles are often almost empty, at other times hugely congested. The NuMo technology emerges from decades of work across the whole transportation industry. Autonomous electric vehicles (AEVs) equipped with vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication can safely keep shorter distances. In practical terms this means that a platooned car system has the same capacity in one lane as a double-lane motorway. Automated intelligent controls ensure that the NuMo systems never stops, thus achieving the highest capacity. Instead of waiting for the mass deployment of fully automated vehicles, NuMo starts with dedicated networks that integrate tightly with existing infrastructure for step-wise smooth transition to fully automated transport system. NuMo includes an on-demand public transport system which only runs when it is needed. The system will take advantage of close-spacing possible with robot controls – vehicles can run close together and also use less road width by less wiggling. Equally importantly stations and access to the normal road network is arranged such that the traffic flow never stops. The urban impact can be imagined by understanding the impact of modern public transport systems currently under construction. Some of them are underground to avoid disrupting the street patterns. Some are elevated, some rely on physical separation at grade. One interesting option is to use tunnels underground or in water to further reduce disruption. Many cities are abandoning the traditional port infrastructure giving huge opportunities to again regard water as a connector rather than something to cross. The NuMo system uses all of those techniques and detailed design studies are under way for each of those options. NuMo will make an important contribution to environmental sustainability in many respects. Firstly, it will accelerate adoption of electric propulsion; secondly it will encourage vehicle sharing; and thirdly by only running when needed will save on unnecessary movements and finally its construction costs will be less than conventional systems. Sketches of NuMo networks are presented on places as diverse as Stockholm, Gothenburg and New York. Naturally the system will also be crucial in the development of new cities. This report is a summary of the studies performed within the project “New urban infrastructure support for autonomous vehicles” financed by Vinnova through the Strategic Innovation Program InfraSweden2030. The aim is to explore the infrastructure support to accelerate the introduction of autonomous electric vehicles for future mobility.
Project: Urban Infrastructure Opportunities with Autonomous Vehicles. Project Number: 2018-00628. InfraSweden 2030 Strategic Innovation Program. A joint program by Vinnova, FORMAS and Energimyndigheten