<<

FINAL REPORT

– for publication –

RECONNECT "Reducing Congestion by Introducing New Concepts of " Contract No. RO-98-RS.3038

Project co-ordinator: Industrieanlagen-Betriebsgesellschaft mbH (IABG, Germany)

Partners: Forschungsgesellschaft Mobilität – Austrian Mobility Research (FGM-AMOR, Austria) AEA Technology Environment plc. (ETSU, UK) CEC Joint Research Centre, Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS, Spain) Studiengesellschaft für unterirdische Verkehrsanlagen e.V. (STUVA, Germany) Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO, The Netherlands)

Project duration: 01.12.1998 – 31.03.2000

Date: May 2000

Project funded by the European Commission under the Transport RTD Programme of the 4th Framework Programme Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

PARTNERSHIP

The RECONNECT project was carried out by a consortium of six partners from five countries as follows:

Project co-ordinator IABG: Industrieanlagen-Betriebsgesellschaft mbH, Germany Mr. Ulrich Leiss Einsteinstrasse 20 D-85521 Ottobrunn Tel: +49 89 6088 2219 Fax: +49 89 6088 2088 E-mail: [email protected]

Partners FGM-AMOR: Forschungsgesellschaft Mobilität – Austrian Mobility Research, Austria ETSU: AEA Technology Environment plc, UK IPTS: CEC Joint Research Centre, Institute for Prospective Technological Studies, Spain STUVA: Studiengesellschaft für unterirdische Verkehrsanlagen e.V., Germany TNO: Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research, The Neth- erlands

European Commission Directorate General Energy and Transport (DG TREN), B4 Mr. Uwe Fischer Rue de Mot 28, 6/21 B-1040 Brussels Tel: +32 2 29 55001 Fax: +32 2 29 68350 E-mail: [email protected]

RECONNECT was a task of the 4th Call in the 4th Framework RTD Programme. For further contact details see Annex A of this document.

For a comprehensive overview on deliverables produced by RECONNECT please consult Annex B. A reference to worthwhile project deliverables for further investiga- tion into a specific topic is highlighted in this document at chapter-end as follows ➲ D5 "Policy and market synthesis"

All documents with the status "public" have been subsequently made available via the project homepage, which is accessible at http://www.etsu.com/reconnect/reconnect.html

This final report was prepared by Wolfgang Helmreich (IABG).

Page i of vii Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Background Congestion on road and in the air is, at present, possibly the greatest single problem of transport policy in Europe. The economy is growing and transport is in parallel growing even faster. This has consequences for the volume and the quality of trans- , is threatening the environment and entailing risks for safety. In addition, the European Union is one of the most densely populated areas in the world and a lack of space is emerging. Congestion is producing intolerable costs and problems. This situation is calling for a reflection on possibilities to find new ways of transportation, using less surface space, enhancing safety, being more environmentally friendly, consuming less energy and being more efficient. Modern society is requiring high tech solutions characterised by a high degree of reliability. Industry and research are developing new ways of transportation which respond to most of the requirements mentioned.

Objectives The strategic research study RECONNECT – "Reducing Congestion by Introducing New Concepts of Transport" – aimed to identify, analyse and assess new means of transport in different generic categories with particular respect to their potential to ease congestion and promote sustainable mobility. Particular objectives have been: • to describe and analyse the potential of new means of transport to ease conges- tion in Europe’s transport systems and also to contribute to the objectives of sustainable mobility; • to show the new concepts technical and financial feasibility; • to identify suitable geographical areas/corridors for optimal function; • to assess the impacts of the new concepts on the environment, safety, reliability, efficiency, acceptability and employment; • to identify the technical, legal and financial requirements for realisation, and the opportunities for adaptation of existing laws and standards.

Key results This final report presents a concise overview of the potential of selected new trans- port concepts to overcome ground level congestion. In particular, it summarises the project’s findings regarding expected improvements in the relevant areas of conges- tion as well as the applicability and feasibility of the new concepts in the European transport system. Congestion areas Several new transport concepts for passenger and/or freight service have the poten- tial to reduce congestion and promote sustainable mobility. These concepts aim at different traffic problem or "congestion areas", characterised by geographical, infra- structure or organisational levels and reflecting a considerable range of overall im- portance. RECONNECT introduced the definition of "congestion areas" to allow for clustering of new means of transport, independent of the vehicle type, mode or transport concept, as shown in the Table below.

Page ii of vii Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

Congestion area Geographical level Overall importance Urban congestion 0-15 km very high priority Intercity highways 15-80 km very high priority Intra-rural 0-80 km medium priority Long distance 80-500 km medium priority Very long distance >500 km low priority Natural bottlenecks & barriers 0-15(-80) km medium priority Traffic nodes 0-15(-80) km high to very high priority Key contributing concepts Apart from important improvements in road and rail based ground transportation systems, considerable leaps forward can be expected from three principal modes of transport: • elevated of all sizes; • underground systems, but not the microtunnel concepts in particular; and • lighter-than-air vehicles that offer unique transport capabilities and serve me- dium priority areas at improved efficiency and environmental performance. The RECONNECT assessment methodology, building on experience from the stra- tegic FANTASIE project and structuring transport systems in 19 generic classes, al- lows for transfer of singular findings to a wider context. To make best use of available resources, this study focused on key representatives of transport concepts, based on the pre-selection of 21 "most promising" new means of transport. The main conclusions of the assessment work regarding the key representatives of new transport concepts are: • High capacity elevated passenger transport systems such as the H-Bahn Dort- mund and the Wuppertaler Schwebebahn (combined with new technologies) offer good congestion reduction potential in urban and inter-urban environments, where they are suited to become the backbone of public transport systems. Smaller concepts such as the Cable Liner are better suited for feeder and shuttle services. • Underground concepts such as the Underground Logistics System (ULS) pro- vide an efficient means of freight distribution and intermodal freight handling. They rely on automated and driverless electric vehicles that run in tunnels, and require moderately expensive new infrastructure. • Airships naturally target niche applications and allow for point-to-point operations in freight and passenger transport. Here, the CargoLifter (CL 160) is a promi- nent example of an innovative logistic solution in bulky and heavy cargo trans- port, aiming at replacing a whole shipment chain. Other versatile airship vehicles such as the Rigid Airship Design (RA-180) may also contribute to improved traveller intermodality in remote regions.

Page iii of vii Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

Perceived barriers for market success A set of barriers has been investigated to understand the underpinning obstacles for new transport concepts that may delay or ultimately hinder market penetration, namely: • the information barrier; • regulatory and legal barriers; • technical barriers; • financial and commercial barriers; • societal barriers; and • decision-making barriers. Financial and commercial hurdles pose the biggest obstacle. However, this clearly depends on the area of application. Public transport options typically involve expen- sive development cycles, and require the financial commitment of local or regional authorities for improved market access. In contrast, tailor-made concepts often at- tract private investors, therefore generating sufficient funds for costly ventures. The story of the CargoLifter is proof for this approach. Regulatory and legal barriers are also of major concern and often reflect shortfalls in the decision-making process. This is particularly true for radically new designs and hybrid concepts. For example, transport users and regulatory bodies have strong reservations against fully automated and driverless operation. Finally, the technical realisation of new ideas is found to be an obstacle for entirely new concepts, especially telematics based applications and collective transport sys- tems. Recommended actions to overcome barriers To overcome the barriers for market penetration, the necessary measures and ac- tions need to involve all stakeholders. The recommended actions are (by barrier and in order of concern): • Financial and commercial barriers: initial “seed” funding (e.g. government, pri- vate sector with vested interests); wide-spread introduction of public-private part- nerships (PPP); improved commercial marketing of new systems; • Regulatory and legal barriers: early involvement of all possible stakeholders; improved co-operation between different modes of transport; creation of low emission zones in sensitive areas; properly addressing the quality aspect in transport service; speeding up of legal procedures by installing a special govern- ment agency for legal aspects of new transport concepts (e.g. strategic rail authority); • Decision-making barriers: co-operation and exchange of information; active participation of all decision-makers in pilot and demonstration projects to show the potential of a new system; • Information barrier: using new media such as the Internet and utilising existing European information channels to enhance dissemination; involving potential us- ers in pilot and demonstration projects involving new transport concepts; • Technical barriers: continued research, development and demonstration of in- novations; consensus-building amongst industry and technical certification bodies in terms of standardisation; • Societal barriers: better marketing by showing the benefits (service level im- provements, comfort, safety); fair and open-minded assessment of effects, early involvement of transport users (in particular fleet operators, passengers).

Page iv of vii Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

Key RTD needs A principal field for European RTD is to advance the market introduction of the most promising concepts by increasing certainty and reducing production costs. The rele- vant areas of research are: • vehicle drive-lines (electric propulsion, hybrid propulsion, person-powered pro- pulsion); • lateral and longitudinal vehicle guidance; • construction of vehicle bodies of new concepts to current and future legislative standards (e.g. recycling); • vehicle equipment (e.g. Information Technology and Communication); • operations control and Telematics; • automated road and rail infrastructure; • environmental costs and benefits of new concepts; • noise and safety effects of new concepts. In addition, further research work is necessary for underground infrastructure tech- nologies, namely: • ground exploration; • tunnel driving; • mucking; • tunnel lining; • standardisation of dimensions. On a more generic level, note that RTD work is mainly necessary to overcome tech- nical barriers, especially for concepts that are up to now in an early stage of devel- opment. Furthermore, research work can help to spread the application of promising concepts that are fairly well developed or even fully operational by cutting down their high investment costs and ensuring proper marketing. Recommended EC research studies From the experience of this study, the following activities are proposed: • An in-depth research study on the new means of transport identified in RECON- NECT, FANTASIE and other technology assessment studies. This should focus on a refined class characterisation, detailed technology assessment as well as cost-benefit analysis of the most promising classes, based on the sophisticated framework of RECONNECT (which in turn is based on FANTASIE). • Targeted (exploratory) assessment studies and thematic networks on: • small underground tube systems for freight transport; • elevated automated guided passenger transport of various cabin sizes; • airship technology based concepts with new and unique transport capabilities for people and goods. • Targeted pilot and demonstration projects of the most promising ground level concepts ready for market introduction in the near future: • road based people movers; • individual public transport; • automated vehicle guidance; • man-wide cars.

Page v of vii Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PARTNERSHIP...... I

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY...... II

1. INTRODUCTION...... 1 1.1 Background...... 1 1.2 Objectives...... 2 1.3 Means used to achieve the objectives...... 2 2. ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK AND METHODOLOGY GUIDELINES...... 4 2.1 Impact assessment and feasibility criteria...... 4 2.2 Criteria categories for legislation and standardisation...... 5 2.3 Criteria categories for improved services...... 5 2.4 Cost-Benefit Analysis Methodology ...... 6 2.5 Integration of the framework...... 7 3. NEW CONCEPTS OF TRANSPORT...... 8 4. THE TARGETED ASSESSMENT DATABASE ...... 15 5. IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF NEW TRANSPORT CONCEPTS...... 17 5.1 Impact assessment...... 17 5.2 Mobility market analysis...... 17 5.3 Legal barriers and standardisation gaps ...... 21 5.4 Comparative analysis ...... 22 6. MARKET POTENTIAL AND KEY POLICY ISSUES ...... 24 6.1 Identification of congestion areas ...... 24 6.2 Compatibility with Common Transport Policy objectives...... 28 6.3 Urban transport and the "City of Tomorrow"...... 30 6.4 transport within networks...... 34 6.5 Long-range transport...... 36 6.6 Intermodality and interoperability...... 38 6.7 Niche applications ...... 42 6.8 Options to eliminate barriers ...... 44 6.9 Service level improvements to the transport market ...... 51 6.10 Major benefits ...... 52 6.11 Identification of further RTD needs ...... 60 7. OUTLOOK: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS...... 66 BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 70

ANNEX A: RECONNECT CONTACT LIST ...... 71 ANNEX B: LIST OF PROJECT DELIVERABLES ...... 72 ANNEX C: LINKS TO WEBSITES OF INTEREST ...... 73

Page vi of vii Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

List of tables

Table 1: Defined classes and covered concepts in RECONNECT...... 9 Table 2: Overview of principal effects of new means of transport...... 20 Table 3: Overview of scenario-based future analysis – forecast horizon: year 2020...... 21 Table 4: Selected new transport concepts and assigned base concepts used for comparative analysis in RECONNECT...... 22 Table 5: Definition of congestion areas ...... 25 Table 6: Congestion reduction potential per identified area (1) ...... 26 Table 7: Congestion reduction potential per identified area (2) ...... 27 Table 8: Qualitative check of new transport concepts against main CTP themes ...... 29 Table 9: Potential of urban and sub-urban systems to contribute to the "City of Tomorrow" objectives...... 31 Table 10: Integration of new transport concepts with interurban networks...... 35 Table 11: Long range transport potential of new concepts...... 37 Table 12: Potential of new concepts to enhance intermodality and interoperability...... 40 Table 13: Contributions to the European transport logistic system ...... 42 Table 14: Impediments for introduction of new transport concepts ...... 45 Table 15: Overcoming financial and commercial barriers...... 47 Table 16: Overcoming regulatory and legal barriers...... 48 Table 17: Overcoming decision-making barriers...... 49 Table 18: Overcoming the information barrier...... 49 Table 19: Overcoming technical barriers...... 50 Table 20: Overcoming societal barriers...... 50 Table 21: Overview of service level improvements of new concepts of transport ...... 52 Table 22: Major benefits of new transport concepts ...... 53 Table 23: Overview of environmental improvements attained with new means of transport.....54 Table 24: Overview of service safety improvements of new means of transport ...... 55 Table 25: Reliability improvements of new concepts of transport ...... 56 Table 26: Efficiency improvements of new concepts of transport ...... 58 Table 27: Public acceptance of new concepts of transport...... 59 Table 28: Development status of pre-selected new concepts...... 61

List of figures

Figure 1: The RECONNECT logics ...... 3 Figure 2: Image gallery of RECONNECT's pre-selected transport concepts ...... 13 Figure 3: Structure of the RECONNECT database on new concepts of transport...... 16

Page vii of vii Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background Congestion on road and in the air is, at present, possibly the greatest single problem of transport policy in Europe. The economy is growing and transport is in parallel growing even faster. This has consequences for the volume and the quality of trans- port, is threatening the environment and entailing risks for safety. In addition, the European Union is one of the most densely populated areas in the world and a lack of space is emerging. Congestion is producing intolerable costs and problems. This situation is calling for a reflection on possibilities to find new ways of transportation, using less surface space, enhancing safety, being more environmentally friendly, consuming less energy and being more efficient. Modern society is requiring high tech solutions characterised by a high degree of reliability. Industry and research are developing new ways of transportation which respond to most of the requirements mentioned.

Constantly growing traffic in Europe leads to increasing environmental, economical and social problems and deteriorates the competitiveness of economic activities and quality of life of its citizens. Already today, transport is one of the main contributors to air pollution and climate change/CO2 emissions. In particular, it is the fastest growing emission source. Other external costs of transport occur in terms of safety/accidents, noise, uncovered infrastructure costs and congestion. Overall, external costs are es- timated to about 4 % of GDP, depending on the country and method for calculation (Rothengatter, W., 1994). On the other hand, transport services are indispensable to satisfy basic society needs on mobility and accessibility and their high standard of quality is a prerequisite and an enabling condition for European competitiveness. Moreover, the industries in- volved in the supply of transport equipment and services constitute a substantial part of the activity of the EU in terms of added value, employment and trade. Transport policy makers at local, regional, national and the European level agree to a very large extent that swift action has to be taken to secure future economic devel- opment, to protect the environment, and to safeguard the quality of life for their citi- zens. The European Union took a leading role pursuing this objective in defining its Common Transport Policy (CTP) as a valuable strategic framework. It seems clear that several and not only one singular measure have to be taken to pursue sustainable mobility and the necessary adaptations in our transport system. Basically, there are three levels of intervention to achieve the decoupling of economic development and transport demand: • direct reduction of the demand for transport; • a shift to more sustainable modes, e.g. by means of intermodal services; and • improvements of the environmental characteristics of the remaining traffic.

To analyse the full potential of the second option, the shift to more sustainable modes, the European Commission launched an investigation in its fourth call for pro- posals within the transport programme of its fourth Framework Programme. This “Study of potential contribution of new means of transport to sustainable mobility” has been designed to evaluate the potential of emerging transport technologies and or-

Page 1 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000 ganisational concepts, which might improve the European transport system, its eco- nomic competitiveness and the quality of life of its citizens in the next 10 to 30 years. In addition to the ongoing efforts of European policy makers to shift traffic towards established transport modes with a higher degree of sustainability, this investigation should give important complimentary information, where new sustainable modes of transport can be expected on the market within this time frame.

1.2 Objectives The strategic research study RECONNECT – "Reducing Congestion by Introducing New Concepts of Transport" – aimed to identify, analyse and assess new means of transport in different generic categories with particular respect to their potential to ease congestion and promote sustainable mobility. Particular objectives have been: • to describe and analyse the potential of new means of transport to ease conges- tion in Europe’s transport systems and also to contribute to the objectives of sustainable mobility; • to show the new concepts technical and financial feasibility; • to identify suitable geographical areas/corridors for optimal function; • to assess the impacts of the new concepts on the environment, safety, reliability, efficiency, acceptability and employment; • to identify the technical, legal and financial requirements for realisation, and the opportunities for adaptation of existing laws and standards.

1.3 Means used to achieve the objectives Starting with a survey of new transport and vehicle concepts – from early concept ideas to already operational systems – for ground level vehicles (including water- borne systems), underground transport vehicles and logistics, and complemented by airships and hypersonic , RECONNECT provides a tailor-made clustering into representative classes and subsequent in-depth data gathering for concepts deemed "most promising". With equal attention, the infrastructure side of new means of transport has been analysed to allow for comprehensive judgements later on in the project. An assessment framework and methodology guidelines have been devel- oped, heavily building on output from the major strategic EC study FANTASIE1.

1 "Forecasting and Assessment of New Technologies and Transport Systems and their Impacts on the Environment" [8]

Page 2 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

RECONNECT: "How can new concepts of transport reduce congestion?"

WP 2: New means of transport WP 3: New infrastructure WP 4: Assessment frame- – survey and preselection survey work, methodology guideline

D1: "New means of transport – 1st Milestone: survey and preselection" D2: "Assessment framework and Concepts and methodology guidelines" methodology base WP 5: Targeted assessment database

D3: "Targeted assessment data- 2nd Milestone: base" Input data for assessment WP 6: Impact assessment and comparative cost analysis D4: "Impact assessment of new 3rd Milestone: transport concepts" Comparison of concepts

WP 7: Policy and market synthesis D5: "Policy and market synthesis" 4th Milestone: Potential of concepts, policy options and RTD needs

Figure 1: The RECONNECT logics

Based on a targeted and thoroughly structured database, RECONNECT has as- sessed environmental, safety, reliability and efficiency impacts. To integrate regula- tory, administrative or operational aspects in the overall consideration, an investiga- tion into standardisation gaps and legal barriers has been added. The final stage of RECONNECT was meant to give first concise answers to the question of how new concepts of transport may actually affect congestion-inflicted traffic systems, and where their specific potential in a variety of application areas is foreseen. With re- spect to limited resources and a tight timeline this study only aimed to give first hints on a comprehensive basis, while identifying the need for extended strategic research on behalf of the European Commission. Figure 1 (above) summarises the RECONNECT project logics (D stands for Deliver- able, WP for Workpackage).

Page 3 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

2. ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK AND METHODOLOGY GUIDELINES

A comprehensive assessment framework was presented for use in the RECONNECT project, which aimed to identify and assess the implications and benefits of new means of transport, especially in meeting the need to reduce congestion and achieve sustainable mobility in Europe. Throughout, key issues and criteria were highlighted to focus data collection and analysis in later stages of the project. Impact assessment and feasibility issues were addressed by a set of criteria which draws from European policy priorities in transport and other related sectors. Given the longer-term horizons for application of many of the technologies being studied in RECONNECT, it was necessary to consider both a) the match with current policy goals and criteria, and b) the contribution to forward-looking policy objectives and trends. Both these horizons have been considered.

The main criteria headings for the three main areas are stated in the following sec- tions. In combination, they present a comprehensive set of measures for comparing new means of transport with other means and conventional methods of transport. The criteria considered to be of key importance, based on analysis of European transport policy priorities, are (below) highlighted in bold. These criteria have been the focus for subsequent information gathering for new means or systems that are data-poor.

2.1 Impact assessment and feasibility criteria The impact assessment and feasibility criteria enable the analysis of the impact of new means of transport and also the factors that are fundamental to their deploy- ment: • System performance; environmental impacts; safety impacts; technical feasibility; integration with other modes, acceptance & take-up; socio-economic impacts. This part of the framework gave a basis for assessing the various impacts and gen- eral feasibility issues concerned with introducing new means of transport. The criteria are policy-led and encompass the latest policy directions at the European level.

Criteria Sub-category Impact assessment System performance Congestion Environmental impacts Environmental sustainability; local air quality; regional air quality; nuisance; waste Safety impacts Safety of users; safety of non- users Feasibility Technical feasibility Primary technological feasibility; production Integration with other modes Intermodality Acceptance & take-up Public acceptance; market possibilities; political fea- sibility Socio-economic impacts Economic development; completion of single market; social cohesion / quality of life Note: The criteria considered to be of key importance, based on analysis of European transport policy priorities, are highlighted in bold.

Page 4 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

2.2 Criteria categories for legislation and standardisation The criteria categories for legislation and standardisation also indicate deployment issues, specifically the laws, regulations and institutional topics that may affect the success or potential of a new means or technology: • Vehicle rules; infrastructure rules; operational; mobility market; environmental concerns; strategic and institutional. These criteria enable the description of new means of transport in terms of their po- tential relationships with transport (vehicle and infrastructure) legislation and the standards that are in place across Europe covering aspects such as safety, operation within existing systems/means, technical characteristics etc.

Criteria Sub-category Vehicle rules Definition; technical issues; maintenance; safety Infrastructure rules Technical description; construction; maintenance; safety Operational Definition; rules governing traffic; operation; safety Mobility market Direct support; tax policies; cost reduction; policies for modal shift; organisation of the market Environmental concerns Emissions; land use; development control & building rules; recycling Strategic & institutional Long term programmes; safety / security; institutional re- sponsibility; overall objectives

2.3 Criteria categories for improved services The criteria for the assessment area of improved services focus on issues that are important for users of transport: • Availability; frequency; reliability; travelling speed; accessibility; security; comfort/ services; trip information; flexibility; costs; tariff system; role in European logistic system. The assessment of the quality of new means of transport involves the level of trans- port services that are offered. Criteria for this assessment area therefore focus on is- sues that are important for users of transport. These may involve service require- ments or measures of user satisfaction that can be associated with criteria for im- proved services. The aim of the whole set of criteria within this grouping is to obtain clear information with respect to services of new transport means that can be used to execute a multi-criteria or simple cost-benefit analysis of new transport means. The criteria cover both passenger and freight transport services.

Page 5 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

Criteria Measures of satisfaction Availability Type of transport service; supply to user groups; system capacity; supply hours; time scheduling; route flexibility; integration with other transport modes; feeder transport Frequency Frequency; regularity Reliability Punctuality / on-time delivery; avoidance of congestion; technical reliability Travelling speed Waiting time; transfer time; access and egress time; in vehicle time; total time / lead time / delivery time Accessibility General or limited accessibility; distance to access; connections; density of network Security Traffic safety; personal and property security Comfort / services Comfort and services: at terminals, in vehicle; organisation of trans- port services Trip information Availability of pre-trip information, on-trip information Flexibility Rules and regulations; adaptation to changes in transport demand with respect to location, time, volume and transport service type Costs Price; investment costs Tariff system Obtaining tickets; tariff system; reservation requirements; method of payment Role in European Integration with other modes; interoperability logistic system Note: The criteria considered to be of key importance, based on analysis of European transport policy priorities, are highlighted in bold.

2.4 Cost-Benefit Analysis Methodology Within a project with the limited resources of RECONNECT, it was not possible to apply a comprehensive cost-benefit approach to the assessment of new means of transport, not least due to the extensive data requirements that such an approach would entail. However, the basis for applying cost-benefit analysis (CBA) has been investigated and a much-simplified approach was described.

The CBA was to focus on a simplified and quantifiable range of data inputs, to help guide data collection in subsequent phases of RECONNECT:

Capital costs Pollutant emissions Operating costs Noise emissions Cost trends with time Accident rate Lifetime of equipment, build / installation time Land-use Earliest implementation date Visual impact

The proposed simplified methodology for cost-benefit analysis was based on annu- alised costs (equivalent annual costs). To allow this, a consistent approach was re- quired with respect to: • discount / interest rates; • inflation or changes in price through time; • the approach and underlying assumptions used for determining annual cost data.

Page 6 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

The RECONNECT project required a simple approach method for including environ- mental effects within the framework. This can best be met by linking pollutant emis- sions directly to external cost estimates with the use of unit pollution costs (i.e. envi- ronmental costs per tonne emitted). It was proposed that these unit pollution costs have some spatial disaggregation, so that the difference in impacts between different emission locations is included (i.e. between urban and rural areas). To allow a consistent analysis, data were required on the atmospheric emissions, noise levels, likely accident rates and land-use for each transport mode. These emis- sions had to be categorised according to the location of emission (urban or rural). The collection had to be consistent with the guidelines for cost data above. The quantification of other possible impacts could not be included at this stage of the framework, though they were listed and rated. When collating this data, information had to be taken on a life-cycle basis, rather than just from operation.

2.5 Integration of the framework The assessment framework, including criteria for impact assessment, feasibility, im- proved services and legislation/standardisation was to guide the majority of the as- sessment work to be undertaken in RECONNECT. As mentioned above, cost-benefit analysis was only envisaged using a highly simplified approach that focused upon a selected list of key criteria. However, Deliverable 2 laid the methodological founda- tions for any future study looking in depth at the costs and benefits of the most promising new concepts and means of transport identified by RECONNECT.

➲ D2 "Assessment framework and methodology guidelines"

Page 7 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

3. NEW CONCEPTS OF TRANSPORT

The focus of the RECONNECT study has been on technical and organisational transport innovations for underground, air and ground level transport beyond tradi- tional metro, air, road and . To assess their potential for reducing con- gestion as well as improving the environment, safety, reliability, efficiency and em- ployment situation an extensive survey of existing technologies and foreseeable de- velopments was performed, taking vehicles, infrastructure and transport concepts into account. Particular emphasis was put on their congestion and pollution reduction potential. Being one of the most populated areas in the world, Europe has to look for new, more efficient, safer and environmental friendlier solutions for freight and passenger transport consuming less energy and using less surface space. The emerging lack of space calls for exploiting the third dimension to a higher extent. Therefore improved tunnel technologies and logistic concepts, logistic and environmental advantages of airships (e.g. reduced landing infrastructure) and technological innovations for land transport on and above ground level beyond the traditional road and rail traffic have been investigated. These developments are expected to play a very important role in achieving the goal of sustainable mobility of the Common Transport Policy and to se- cure the competitive position of European suppliers of transport technologies and the economy as a whole. The methodology for the survey and pre-selection phase was to structure all gathered information in such a way that concepts were clustered into a set of classes with a few common core characteristics. The description of the class aimed to evalu- ate the class as a whole and to assess the information on the basis of experience and expertise of the RECONNECT partners. Respective coverage has been concise (1-2 pages each) and summed up the characteristic key points of the state of devel- opment of the class. Annexes in Deliverable 1 provide detailed information on all concepts and rely more on information received by companies and promoters. The structure of class descriptions addressed the following issues: • congestion reduction potential; • sustainable mobility potential; • role in existing transport system (intermodality, interoperability, replacement, co- existence); • technical and financial feasibility; • infrastructure issues; • representative system. The information for initial vehicle and infrastructure surveys has been gathered mainly by literature screening, questionnaires and interviews. The project partners have tried to rely on direct information from companies and expert opinions from in- dependent scientists at universities and research institutions. The pre-selection of candidates has been based on criteria such as sustainability potential, maturity of development, adaptability of concept to existing infrastructure, financial and technical background of partners in the development, as well as data availability.

Page 8 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

Classes of transport concepts Class Main characterisation Concept survey code (pre-selected concepts in bold) Ground level vehicles (including waterborne) Guided people movers GPM dedicated track, small Cable Liner; Poma-Otis, Odyssey, vehicles, frequent service Intamin, American , (< 40sec) or on demand Raytheon, Cable tracks, Cabinen- taxi, Ultra, Soulé SK; other GPMs Road based people movers RBPM no dedicated track Rivium ParkShuttle; Serpentine, Horlacher Taxlwurm, Parry People Mover Elevated public transport EPT elevated systems with Wuppertaler Schwebebahn; driver Safege, Aerobus, Alweg- Moving walkways MW driven Fast (TRAX); Trans-18, Passenger Conveyor System Fast water vessels FWV waterborne transport Fast Rotterdam–Dordrecht; Fast ships Fast bikes FB bicycle related BTS TransGlide 2000, Bicycle Lift; Sky bikes–Bike trains, High speed bikes, new bike infrastructure Man wide cars MWC narrow shaped vehicles TWIKE; V2P, BMW Scooter; man wide car in general Individual public transport IPT transport on demand; ve- Praxitèle; Tulip, ICVS, Station Car, hicles on a rental basis; Domobile, CityCar alternative propulsion Small individual cars SIC small and light weight in- TH!NK; Smart, LEM, Aixam 300/ dividual cars 400 Automated vehicle guidance/ AVG/ automated passenger Automated Vehicle Guidance Automated highway systems AHS transport on roads (AVG) f. passenger cars; Flexitrain Dual mode DM alternating guided and RUF Dual-Mode, Road Train; unguided transport Monomobile, Carmeleon, U-, Spurbus Essen, DMT Multifunctional urban vehicles MUV adaptable chassis NT Systèmes Technical innovation for logistics TIL hardware innovation for TMC, Salami Container, Lech freight transport TGZS Underground transport vehicles and logistics Driverless guided public transport DGPT automated passenger H-Bahn Dortmund; Meteor, Metro transport in vehicles big- Lyon, VAL, Small Metro, M-Bahn, ger than people movers Dorfbahn Serfaus High speed guided systems HSGS high speed guided vehi- Transrapid; Swissmetro, , cles on dedicated track MLU, HSST, Seraphim, Eurotunnel Automated freight-train AFT automated guided freight Underground Logistics System and -road concepts transport on road or rail (ULS)2; Underground transport and tube systems, MetroFreight, Auto- mated freight trains, Combi-Road Microtunnels MIT freight transport in micro- Mail tube system, Sumitomo ce- tunnels beyond pipelines ment capsule liner, Slurry pipeline Airships and hypersonic transport Airships AIRS dirigible lighter-than-air CargoLifter (CL 160), Rigid Air- craft ship Design (RA-180), Zeppelin NT (LZ N07); Hamilton Airship, Ro- sAeroSystems, Aeros, Airship Technologies, American Blimp, Global Skyship, Goodyear, WDL, Coopership, Aérospatiale Super-/hypersonic transport HST air transport in planes LLNL HyperSoar; HSCT, Sänger quicker than sound Table 1: Defined classes and covered concepts in RECONNECT

2 In RECONNECT Deliverable 1 "Underground Logistics System (ULS)" was the collective title for similar Dutch underground projects including the microtunnel concept, hence it was included in the MIT class then. [1]

Page 9 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

The pre-selected transport concepts

AVG

Automated Vehicle Guidance (AVG) for passenger cars (concept of a demonstration site)

FB

Bicycle Lift (in Trondheim, Norway)

GPM

Cable Liner

AIRS

CargoLifter (CL 160) (design of prototype P1)

FWV

FastFerry Rotterdam – Dordrecht (model shown)

Page 10 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

MW

Fast Moving Walkway (TRAX) (conventional MW shown)

DGPT

H-Bahn Dortmund (artist's impression of new H-Bahn connection to Duesseldorf , currently under construction)

HST

LLNL HyperSoar (artist's impression) Multifunctional Urban MUV Vehicle (no picture available)

NT Systèmes

IPT

Praxitèle

AIRS

Rigid Airship Design (RA-180) (preliminary design)

Page 11 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

RBPM

Rivium ParkShuttle

DM

Road Train (sketch of concept idea)

DM

RUF Dual-mode (vehicle demonstrator)

SIC

TH!NK (TH!NK Neighbour)

FB

BTS TransGlide 2000 (artist's impression)

HSGS

Transrapid (TR 08 design shown)

Page 12 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

MWC

TWIKE (TWIKE II)

AFT

Underground Logistics System (ULS) (concept of a freight distribution centre shown)

EPT

Wuppertaler Schwebebahn

AIRS

Zeppelin NT (LZ N07) (first flying prototype) Figure 2: Image gallery of RECONNECT's pre-selected transport concepts

Class code for concepts: AFT = Automated freight-train and -road concepts; AIRS = Airships; AVG/ AHS = Automated vehicle guidance/Automated highway systems; DGPT = Driverless guided public transport; DM = Dual mode; EPT = Elevated pub- lic transport; FB = Fast bikes; FWV = Fast water vessels; GPM = Guided people movers; HSGS = High speed guided systems; HST = Super-/hyper- sonic transport; IPT = Individual public transport; MIT = Microtunnels; MUV = Multifunctional urban vehicles; MW = Moving walkways; MWC = Man wide cars; RBPM = Road based people movers; SIC = Small individual cars; TIL = Technical innovations for logistics

Sources of illustrations: All images are taken from homepages of concept proposers or other in- volved institutions. Technologies or concepts are depicted for illustration purposes only and do not constitute an advertisement of any kind. Copy- right and all related property rights remain with the developing companies.

Page 13 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

The above Table 1 puts the initial work of the RECONNECT team into context with the pre-selection of "most promising" concepts, later assessments and potential analyses. It gives an overview of the 19 defined transport classes outlining their main features, and lists all surveyed concepts. Introduced class codes are later used to aggregate the potential analysis for specific concepts to their generic classes. Figure 2 illustrates pre-selected concepts with reference to their generic classes. It should be noted that some systems appear under slightly altered concept names compared to the initial survey in Deliverable 1.

As shown in Table 1, nearly one hundred transport concepts have been covered in the initial survey, additionally mirroring investigations by RECONNECT partners against an internal working paper from the European Commission, dated April 1997. The document called "New ways of transport. Operational and planned systems known at present" had been summarising a meeting at DG VII (now DG TREN), where an overview of some 75 innovative transport solutions for underground trans- port, people movers, automated vehicle guidance and other options was presented.

Compiled surveys of new transport concepts and related infrastructure requirements have been the comprehensive basis for in-depth investigation into pre-selected con- cepts, anticipated to be most promising with respect to the project's main objectives. While this chapter introduces the scope of the study and explains the starting point for work undertaken, the following two chapters describe in brief the means used to achieve the main objectives, i.e. by implementing a targeted assessment database and by performing a detailed impact assessment of the 21 pre-selected transport concepts. Chapter 6 ("Congestion reduction through new transport concepts") finally presents key findings of RECONNECT, thereby summarising consecutive groundwork of all workpackages.

➲ D1 "New means of transport – survey and preselection" ➲ D4 "Impact assessment of new transport concepts" ➲ D5 "Policy and market synthesis"

Page 14 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

4. THE TARGETED ASSESSMENT DATABASE

A custom made database has been designed to comprise all the relevant information on the most promising new means of transport pre-selected in an earlier stage of the project. The data met, in scope and nature, the criteria laid down in WP 4 "Assessment framework, methodology guideline" ensuring the database was fully “targeted“ at the requirements of the assessment and analysis of the subsequent WP 6. It was de- signed to reveal the advantages and disadvantages, potentials and constraints, benefits and conflicts arising from the various systems under consideration. The da- tabase contains data on systems for individual, collective and freight transport. The coverage is world-wide with particular focus on the EU, USA and Japan. The data- base was not designed for public use and dissemination, but only for internal as- sessment use. The database has been structured by general project and system information, de- scription of the technology, environmental issues, service characteristics, economic aspects, the impacts of the new mode of transport, barriers for the introduction and legal issues. Microsoft Access 97 has been used as the database software. Figure 3 summarises the database structure. A 12-page questionnaire was drafted for the collection of data. This was sent to the responsible contact persons for the specific systems. Due to the fact that the collec- tion of data already focused on pre-selected concepts, a response of nearly 100 % had been the target. This caused a higher effort for the data collection than planned. Only an English version was produced, which was in most cases sufficient. In several cases the answers were given in the contact person's native language, but this only caused additional efforts for the translation. The questionnaires were sent out by e- mail or normal mail with an accompanying letter introducing the RECONNECT proj- ect in general and explaining the purpose of data collection in particular. This was supplemented by direct telephone contacts with the responsible persons if required. Following reminders in a few cases, most of the questionnaires were filled out. The data collected with the questionnaire differed widely in extent and quality. The projects, which are in very different stages of implementation, had to fit into one common database. Several "over optimistic" concepts which were highly promotional had to be dealt with. Sole information from the Internet has been treated rather carefully, too. The Internet was merely used to establish a personal contact for fur- ther investigation and not as a basis for the information itself. It should be stressed that site visits conducting face-to-face interviews with the re- sponsible contact persons would have been the best way to collect data to full satis- faction. But due to the restricted resources of the RECONNECT project they were only feasible to a rather limited extent. As far as possible independent sources such as studies about the technologies or articles in topic related journals have been used for plausibility checking. Also, expert opinion and know-how amongst the consortium was used to scrutinise the facts and figures within the answers. Any doubts about the feasibility of certain concepts or parts of concepts were simply stated as remarks in the database.

Page 15 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

Name / title of the project General project / Location system information Contact address Date of completion of the RECONNECT questionnaire Project description and aims Project set up (paper-concept to full scale operation & R&D needs) Stages with dates Partners in project Funding

Which type of transport Acceleration Technology description Geographic level Weight Used propulsion system Capacity Used fuel / energy supply Operating range Type of vehicle Local operating conditions Transport concept Infrastructure Speed

Used fuel Environmental issues Emissions Noise level Vibrations Land use Other environmental impacts

System capacity Service characteristics Integration with other transport modes Reliability Technical reliability Frequency Travel time (total, in-vehicle, transfer, access and egress)

Currency Economic aspects Year Capital costs Operational costs Cost index Lifetime Building or installation time Revenues Tariff system Additional financial issues

Avoidance of congestion Impacts of the Intermodality new mode of transport Load-following capacity Safety of operatives Safety of passengers Impacts on economic development Impacts on social aspects

Compatibility Feasibility / Acceptance by industry barriers for the introduction Acceptance by society Competitiveness with existing technologies Industrial lock-in Effect on transport demand Requirement for system-wide change

Definition Legal issues Technical Rules governing traffic Safety Mobility market Environment

Additional information and remarks

Figure 3: Structure of the RECONNECT database on new concepts of transport

➲ D3 "Targeted assessment database"

Page 16 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

5. IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF NEW TRANSPORT CONCEPTS

The evaluation of merits and disadvantages of new means of transport combined an impact assessment framework and methodological issues with information on new transport concepts, into an assessment of impacts of new transport concepts. This was effectuated by considering the following aspects of transport concepts: • economic, social and environmental impacts; • legal barriers and international standardisation; • socio-economic performance by means of a comparative (cost-benefit) analysis. In general, the selected new transport concepts show a large variation in application, transport market segment and state of development. Consequently, much variation was found in the quality of gathered data. For many of the new transport concepts, only preliminary data and no empirical information is available. Despite this draw- back, an impact assessment and comparative analysis has been performed for each of the new means of transport.

5.1 Impact assessment The evaluation of economic, social and environmental impacts involved issues such as efficiency, safety, reliability, public acceptance, financial risk, emissions, land use, and employment. The impact assessment was combined with a mobility analysis and was performed on the basis of a distinction between different segments of the mobil- ity market. Differences in socio-economic conditions were introduced in the analysis by distinguishing four different scenarios with respect to economic growth, sustainability of the transport system, technical development, etc. From the impact analysis it becomes clear that most new means of transport may only be able to re- duce congestion on a small scale. In many cases this congestion reduction potential is based on the provision of new infrastructure and a resulting modal shift. Much better scores were obtained for environmental effects and service level im- provements. Many new means of transport focus on service level improvements to attract passengers and freight, and comply with sustainable mobility policies to create public and financial support. This generally comes at the expense of high infrastruc- ture needs and consequently higher costs. Examples of new transport modes that are promising with respect to mobility, congestion reduction, environment and service level improvements – but for which infrastructure needs and total costs are very high – are the Cable Liner, the Underground Logistics System (ULS) and the Wuppertaler Schwebebahn. New transport concepts that offer attractive characteristics without exceptionally high costs are Automated Vehicle Guidance (AVG), the Bicycle Lift, the CargoLifter, the Fast Ferry, the RAD airship, the ParkShuttle and the Road Train. Total impacts depend on the size of application in the transport market.

5.2 Mobility market analysis The market potential of new means of transport was assessed by a scenario-based future analysis. Most new means of transport have the best market chances in a situation with sustainable transport policies, such as Praxitèle, the Road Train, the BTS TransGlide 2000 bicycle system, the TWIKE, and RAD's airship. Other new

Page 17 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000 means of transport require high economic growth to have substantial market poten- tial, for example the Fast Ferry, the Fast Moving Walkway and the Transrapid. This shows that the opportunities for new means of transport are crucially embedded in socio-economic developments. New transport concepts that appear to have high market potentials in any future scenario are Automated Vehicle Guidance (AVG), the CargoLifter freight airship, the H-Bahn, the ParkShuttle and urban vehicles such as NT Systèmes and the TH!NK. The methodological framework set out in the FANTASIE project was utilised to derive four scenarios that are limited to the analysis of the two main dimensions economic growth and sustainability: BAU – Business As Usual (moderate economic growth); UG – Unrestricted Growth (high economic growth); SB – Sustainable Balance (moderate economic growth); SG – Sustainable Growth (high economic growth). Assessment work included forecasts of expected growth for new transport concepts in the time period 1995 (representing a baseline) to 2020 and an estimate of antici- pated market shares – per scenario – for the reference year 2020.

The following section gives an overview of the impact assessment and mobility analysis by transport concept. For each of the selected transport concepts, a number of impacts were described in general terms. This concerned the following aspects: • mobility market impact and congestion reduction; • environmental impacts; • infrastructure needs; • service level improvements; • safety issues; • implementation and exploitation costs; • economic and social impacts.

A number of remarks can be put forward about the impact assessment and mobility analysis. First, the fact that the concepts in RECONNECT are in most cases new means of transport that have not yet been (widely) introduced in the transport market, makes it very difficult to assess the exact impact of these concepts. The analysis is therefore very general and only tries to give bounds to the expectations one can form about the new means of transport. Secondly, impacts depend on both the principal effects of individual means of trans- port and the importance of concepts in the market. A small effect in case of a widely used transport concept may have a larger impact than a large effect of a transport concept that is only used in a niche market. Therefore, the analysis must distinguish between principal effects and total impacts of transport means. Thirdly, the new means of transport treated in RECONNECT have no direct relation with transport concepts in the FANTASIE project. To assess the impacts of these concepts in a scenario context, they have been appointed to a concept that was in fact treated and for which quantitative information is available in FANTASIE. This has

Page 18 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000 to be kept in mind when judging the results of the impact assessment and mobility analysis in this chapter.

An overview of the principal effects by all transport concepts is given in Table 2. The table does not present total impacts, as these are dependent on the market share of the transport concepts as well. Market potentials are discussed by transport concept. Mobility effects are present when the new means of transport expand the mobility possibilities for travellers or freight. For congestion reduction, effects on the environ- ment, service level improvements, safety, economic effects and social effects, a scale is used that runs from − − (very negative or very small) via − (negative or small), 0 (negligible) and + (positive or moderate) to ++ (very positive or large). In case both positive and negative effects are present, this is indicated by ±. Infrastruc- ture needs are expressed in terms of negligible (0), moderate (+) or large (++). Im- plementation and exploitation costs are expressed negatively: the higher the costs, the more negative the sign. Costs include infrastructure, vehicle purchase, opera- tional and maintenance costs. Where no information is available, the table shows a dot. The principal effects presented in Table 2 are based on judgements by the RECON- NECT project members, after studying data of each of the new transport concept as obtained in previous workpackages.

Page 19 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

New means of transport Mobility Congestion Environment Infrastructure Service level Safety Costs Economy Social reduction needs improvements effects Automated Vehicle Guidance (AVG) + + + + + ++ 0 . + Bicycle Lift + + + + ++ 0 − .+ Cable Liner + + + ++ ++ + − − +. CargoLifter (CL 160) + + + + + + − ++ Fast Ferry Rotterdam – Dordrecht + + + + ++ 0 − +± Fast Moving Walkway (TRAX) + 0 0 + ++ 0 − − ++ H-Bahn Dortmund + + 0 ++ + + − − +. LLNL HyperSoar + 0 − − + −−− − ++ . NT Systèmes 0 0 + 0 + 0 ± + . Praxitèle + 0 + + + 0 − .+ Rigid Airship Design (RA-180) + + + + ++ + − ++ + Rivium ParkShuttle + + ++ + ++ 0 − ++ Road Train + + ++ ++ + + − +. RUF Dual-Mode 0 + ++ ++ + + − − ++ TH!NK + + + 0 0 ± + . + BTS TransGlide 2000 0 + + ++ ++ + − − ++ Transrapid 0 0 + ++ + + − − +0 TWIKE + + + 0 0 ± 0 0 + Underground Logistics System (ULS) + ++ ++ ++ ++ + − − +. Wuppertaler Schwebebahn + + + ++ + + − − ++ Zeppelin NT (LZ N07) + 0 + + ± + − − +0 Key: a) Ratings used for mobility, congestion reduction, environment, service level improvements, safety, economic effects and social effects − − very negative or very small ; − negative or small; 0 negligible ; + positive or moderate ; ++ very positive or large ; ± both positive and negative effects ; b) Ratings used for infrastructure needs 0 negligible ; + moderate ; ++ large c) Costs are expressed negatively. Where no information was available, the table shows a dot.

Table 2: Overview of principal effects of new means of transport

Page 20 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

Below, independent qualitative judgements are given by the RECONNECT partners with respect to the market potential of selected new means of transport.

New means of transport Class Qualitative judgement of market potential UG SG BAU SB Automated Vehicle Guidance (AVG) AVG +++ ++ + 0 Bicycle Lift FB +++0 + Cable Liner GPM ++0++ CargoLifter (CL 160) AIRS 0+0+ Fast Ferry Rotterdam – Dordrecht FWV ++00 Fast Moving Walkway (TRAX) MW ++ + 0 0 H-Bahn Dortmund DGPT ++ ++ + + LLNL HyperSoar HST +0+0 NT Systèmes MUV +++0++ Praxitèle IPT 0++0 + Rigid Airship Design (RA-180) AIRS 0+0+ Rivium ParkShuttle RBPM +++0 + Road Train DM 0+0+ RUF Dual-Mode DM 0+00 TH!NK SIC + +++ 0 ++ BTS TransGlide 2000 FB 0+0+ Transrapid HSGS ++00 TWIKE MWC 0 +++ + +++ Underground Logistics System (ULS) AFT +++0 + Wuppertaler Schwebebahn EPT 000+ Zeppelin NT (LZ N07) AIRS 0+0+ Key: +++ high/important ; ++ moderate/competitive ; + small/niche ; 0 negligible Table 3: Overview of scenario-based future analysis – forecast horizon: year 2020

5.3 Legal barriers and standardisation gaps Legal barriers involve laws and regulations that limit the construction or operation of new means of transport, or the integration with new or existing transport concepts in other nations. For the analysis of legal barriers and standardisation gaps, no system- atic review of the individual new means of transport was performed, since there is a large variation in basic aims and stage of development. Instead, the transport con- cepts were treated in classes for which general legal issues were identified. The analysis showed that legal issues must not be underestimated. Due to the novelty of transport concepts, laws and regulations need to be adapted or drafted to clear legal barriers for market introduction. Differences in legislation between countries may hin- der a European-wide spread of new transport concepts. Harmonisation is necessary to overcome expected barriers.

Page 21 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

5.4 Comparative analysis The analysis of the economic performance of transport concepts compared the se- lected new means of transport with typical base transport concepts and identified differences in impacts with respect to the mobility market, congestion reduction, envi- ronment, infrastructure needs, service level improvements, safety issues and costs. The analysis gave a very general and illustrative idea of the merits and disadvan- tages of the new means of transport in comparison with selected base transport con- cepts. The positive effect on congestion reduction by most new means of transport is an endogenous relationship that results from the definition and choice of the base concepts. Exceptional good scores on congestion reduction were given to the Road Train, the Underground Logistics System (ULS) and the Wuppertaler Schwebebahn. These concepts supplement the existing transport system in a very efficient manner. No reduction in congestion is expected for new means that mainly serve very long distance trips (HyperSoar and Transrapid), for new means that operate in markets where congestion is hardly present (RAD's airship and Zeppelin NT), or for new means that are very similar in transport service to the base concept (NT Systèmes). Table 4 maps selected new transport concepts to base concepts used for the above featured comparative analysis.

New means of transport Base concept for comparison Other modes affected Automated Vehicle Guidance (AVG) All-purpose car Bicycle Lift All-purpose car Public transport, motorbike Cable Liner Shuttle bus All-purpose car CargoLifter (CL 160) Antonov An-124 aircraft Road, air and ship freight Fast Ferry Rotterdam – Dordrecht All-purpose car Public transport, two wheelers Fast Moving Walkway (TRAX) All-purpose car Public transport H-Bahn Dortmund All-purpose car Public transport LLNL HyperSoar Airbus A340 aircraft NT Systèmes Heavy goods vehicle Praxitèle All-purpose car Public transport Rigid Airship Design (RA-180) Sikorsky CH-53E helicopter Road freight Rivium ParkShuttle All-purpose car Public transport Road Train Heavy goods vehicle Rail freight RUF Dual-Mode All-purpose car Public transport TH!NK All-purpose car Public transport, motorbike BTS TransGlide 2000 All-purpose car Public transport, motorbike Transrapid Airbus A320 aircraft Rail transport, all-purpose car TWIKE All-purpose car Public transport, motorbike Underground Logistics System (ULS) Heavy goods vehicle Wuppertaler Schwebebahn All-purpose car Public transport Zeppelin NT (LZ N07) Eurocopter EC155 helicopter Table 4: Selected new transport concepts and assigned base concepts used for comparative analysis in RECONNECT

Page 22 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

High comparable scores were given for environmental advantages. The use of elec- tric propulsion instead of conventional fuel propulsion is an important reason (e.g. Cable Liner and TH!NK). Other reasons are the substitution of the all-purpose car by human propulsion (e.g. Fast Moving Walkway and BTS TransGlide 2000) and indi- vidual transport by collective transport (e.g. H-Bahn and Road Train). The highest scores on service level improvements were given to new means of transport that of- fer individual and continuous transport services. Since infrastructure is often the most expensive part of new transport concepts, scores on infrastructure needs and costs have been mostly contrasting. The largest infrastructure projects are the Cable Liner, the H-Bahn, the Transrapid, the Underground Logistics System (ULS) and the Wup- pertaler Schwebebahn. Consequently, these systems have the highest costs. Rela- tively low infrastructure needs are foreseen for the CargoLifter and the Fast Moving Walkway. Both scored relatively positive on total costs.

One of the most important conclusions that can be drawn is, that a more in-depth analysis is needed to assess specific merits, drawbacks and market opportunities for new transport concepts when a decision needs to be taken with respect to invest- ments in a particular new means of transport.

➲ D4 "Impact assessment of new transport concepts"

Page 23 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

6. MARKET POTENTIAL AND KEY POLICY ISSUES

The following sections outline the potential of new transport concepts with respect to boundary conditions prevailing in the European context and prominent policy objec- tives. Offering an integrative perspective for priority themes of transport, statements are clustered to allow for easier usage by policy makers, traffic and regional plan- ners, or more generally, stakeholders involved in the transport business. Only those systems understood to offer enhanced efficiency, congestion reduction and environ- mental friendliness – thus promoting a sustainable future in European transport – are covered. Reflecting on analyses and assessment work undertaken in RECONNECT it should be mentioned that answers provided here do not necessarily constitute an ultimate judgement on the capability or market potential of new transport concepts. Hence in various fields new ideas may emerge during the next years – sometimes based on the experience in application of current concepts – that could significantly foster sustainability. Other vehicles or transport concepts may in contrast not deliver prom- ised advantages under real life conditions, so the pool of "new means of transport" is perceived to be in an on-going evolution process that is likely to bring up even some completely new approaches, encouraged by the urge to dramatically improve Euro- pean transport networks.

6.1 Identification of congestion areas The study RECONNECT raised the question as to which areas of congestion – in terms of geographical, infrastructure or organisational level – do exist, how they can be classified and which of the here investigated concepts have a significant potential to ease congestion. Hence a definition of "congestion areas" was introduced that allows for clustering of new means of transport, independent of the principal vehicle, mode or transport con- cept.

Page 24 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

Congestion area Geographical level Principle suitable & Priority; over- (passenger & freight service) available transport modes all importance Urban congestion 0-15 km APC, city cars, PT very high inner city (subway, , bus) people mover, bicycle, urban/sub-urban linkage, semi-urban agglomerations, walking, van (LGV), sub-urban arteries truck (HGV) Intercity highways 15-80 km APC, PT (commuter high between neighbouring city train, bus), inland ferry, centres, van (LGV), truck (HGV) at traffic junctions between highways, at industrial zones located on highways Intra-rural 0-80 km APC, PT (bus, train), medium van (LGV), truck (HGV) Long distance 80-500 km APC, (high speed) rail, medium regional & national, MagLev, airplane, air- between distant cities and ship, truck (HGV) distant industrial centres, European-wide Very long distance >500 km high speed rail, MagLev, low European-wide/international, ship, airplane, airship, global/intercontinental truck (HGV) Natural bottlenecks & barriers 0-15(-80) km APC, bus, ship, airplane medium mountainous regions, (helicopter), airship, van river crossings, (LGV), truck (HGV) islands, locations with extreme climatic conditions Traffic nodes 0-15(-80) km APC, PT (commuter very high main railway & bus terminals, train, subway, tram, inland & sea , bus), rail, ship, airplane, , van (LGV), truck (HGV) freight distribution centres industrial areas, high business parks, shopping malls, exhibition sites & fair grounds, sports arenas (in- & out-door), recreation zones Table 5: Definition of congestion areas

Page 25 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

The following Tables 6 and 7 depict the mapping of selected transport concepts in RECONNECT to congestion areas to indicate perceived fields of application for the respective system.

Congestion area Most promising RECONNECT concepts Class Congestion re- (passenger & freight service) duction potential Fast Moving Walkway (TRAX) MW + Inner city Praxitèle IPT + Rivium ParkShuttle RBPM ++ Bicycle Lift FB ++ Cable Liner GPM ++ Fast Ferry Rotterdam – Dordrecht FWV ++ Urban/sub- H-Bahn Dortmund DGPT ++ urban link- Urban congestion age, semi- NT Systèmes MUV + urban ag- Road Train DM ++ glomera- RUF Dual-Mode DM ++ tions and sub-urban TH!NK SIC ++ arteries BTS TransGlide 2000 FB ++ TWIKE MWC ++ Underground Logistics System (ULS) AFT +++ Wuppertaler Schwebebahn EPT ++ Automated Vehicle Guidance (AVG) AVG ++ NT Systèmes MUV + Fast Ferry Rotterdam – Dordrecht FWV ++ H-Bahn Dortmund DGPT ++ Rigid Airship Design (RA-180) AIRS ++ Road Train DM ++ Intercity highways RUF Dual-Mode DM ++ TH!NK SIC ++ BTS TransGlide 2000 FB ++ TWIKE MWC ++ Underground Logistics System (ULS) AFT +++ Wuppertaler Schwebebahn EPT ++ Zeppelin NT (LZ N07) AIRS + Automated Vehicle Guidance (AVG) AVG ++ Rigid Airship Design (RA-180) AIRS ++ Intra-rural TH!NK SIC ++ TWIKE MWC ++ Zeppelin NT (LZ N07) AIRS + Automated Vehicle Guidance (AVG) AVG ++ CargoLifter (CL 160) AIRS ++ Long distance Rigid Airship Design (RA-180) AIRS ++ Transrapid HSGS ++ Zeppelin NT (LZ N07) AIRS + CargoLifter (CL 160) AIRS ++ LLNL HyperSoar HST + Very long distance Rigid Airship Design (RA-180) AIRS ++ Transrapid HSGS ++ Zeppelin NT (LZ N07) AIRS + Key: +++ very high ; ++ high ; + small Table 6: Congestion reduction potential per identified area (1)

Page 26 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

Congestion area Most promising RECONNECT concepts Class Congestion re- (passenger & freight service) duction potential Bicycle Lift FB ++ CargoLifter (CL 160) AIRS ++ Fast Ferry Rotterdam – Dordrecht FWV ++ Natural bottlenecks & barriers Rigid Airship Design (RA-180) AIRS ++ Transrapid HSGS ++ Zeppelin NT (LZ N07) AIRS + CargoLifter (CL 160) AIRS ++ Fast Moving Walkway (TRAX) MW + H-Bahn Dortmund DGPT ++ NT Systèmes MUV + Praxitèle IPT + Rigid Airship Design (RA-180) AIRS ++ Rivium ParkShuttle RBPM ++ Traffic nodes Road Train DM ++ RUF Dual-Mode DM ++ TH!NK SIC ++ BTS TransGlide 2000 FB ++ TWIKE MWC ++ Underground Logistics System (ULS) AFT +++ Wuppertaler Schwebebahn EPT ++ Zeppelin NT (LZ N07) AIRS + Key: +++ very high ; ++ high ; + small Table 7: Congestion reduction potential per identified area (2)

The following sections deal with specific potentials of selected new transport con- cepts for a set of problem or congestion areas that (partly) mirror current policy key actions to be pursued in the course of the current CTP Action Programme of the European Commission. To put statements into context with respect to already com- municated policy papers and supporting material, introductory sections draw on frameworks developed in the FP 4 dissemination project EXTRA ("Exploitation of Transport Research"). Only worthwhile potentials have been described in detail whereas tables for each chapter summarise findings and allow for relative comparison of applicable concepts. Not all congestion areas as defined above have been treated separately because concise statements would have been impossible due to a variety of involved pa- rameters, or because outlined features of a transport technology would apply to most categories hence provoking inevitable repetition in the presentation. For future research work on congestion reduction, the methodology chosen here can certainly be expanded to case studies where pre-conditions e.g. in terms of geo- graphical level, population structure, existing infrastructure, topography and climate, forecasted economic growth or specific societal behaviours can be fed into more complex checklists to ultimately allow for the right choice of system(s) in a given situation.

Page 27 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

6.2 Compatibility with Common Transport Policy objectives A simple check of the potential deployment of new transport concepts against ge- neric themes as articulated in the European Union's Common Transport Policy (CTP) has been performed. This basically involved an evaluation of the potential of new means of transport against the theme of "sustainable development", which includes minimising environmental impacts, and making the best and most equitable use of resources. This implication is two-sided. On the one hand, new technologies need policy actions such as R&D investments to support their development or the adaptation of the regulatory framework to facilitate their market introduction and uptake. On the other hand, once in the market place, new transport technologies may contribute directly to reach or to enable the CTP objectives by improving the performance of the transport system. This section covers the analysis of the second implication, which attempts to describe the potential role and contribution of technologies to achieve the goals of the CTP. The cross checking of technologies and CTP was carried out in two ways. First, the CTP was broken down to a number of single policy actions that require technology innovation for their implementation and thereby the link with new trans- port concepts is deduced. Finally, the analysis was complemented by an overview of the role of the new transport concepts on the three pillars of sustainable develop- ment: economic, environment and social dimensions. In order to deduce the potential impact of technology innovation, it was necessary to review the main elements of the CTP and sustainability3. The fundamental objective of the CTP is to move the Community forward towards a sustainable mobility system in Europe whilst maintaining the key contribution of the transport system to European competitiveness, growth and employment. Therefore, the central subject is the promotion of sustainable development for which sustainable mobility is a prerequisite. In this context, the main challenge for policy-makers is to reconcile three major issues: • securing higher standards of living through economic development; • protecting and enhancing the environment; and • ensuring an equitable distribution of the benefits between present and future generations.

Based on these objectives, sustainable mobility can be defined in practical terms as: A transport system and transport patterns that can provide the means and op- portunities to meet economic, environmental and social needs efficiently and equitably, while minimising avoidable or unnecessary adverse impacts and their associated costs, over relevant space and time scales.

By way of conclusion, an overview of the potential contribution of the new transport concepts to sustainable mobility is included. Here, the main characteristics of sus- tainable mobility have been aggregated into the three main themes that reflect as well the main CTP goals: economic, environmental and social aspects. Table 8 matches the 21 new transport concepts against the three main themes of the Common Transport Policy. Qualitative ratings in the table imply whether a system is

3 This section is mainly based on projects FANTASIE (D18 and D23) and EXTRA, thematic paper "Sustainable mobility – inte- grated perspective". [7, 8]

Page 28 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000 compatible (9), neutral but not inconsistent (0) or non-compliant (–) with CTP objec- tives. A "–" rating in any of the columns automatically results in a negative overall valuation of the transport system.

New means of transport Class Economic Environ- Social develop- mental aspects ment protection economic activ- environmental equity, public ity and competi- sustainability acceptance, tiveness, em- (energy re- accessibility, Overall CTP ployment, inno- source use, working con- vation, exports, global warm- ditions, care compatibility land-use pat- ing, destruc- for marginal/ assured ? terns, regional tion of habi- underprivi- linking, comple- tats, bio- leged groups tion of Single diversity), lo- Market cal/regional air quality, nui- sance, waste Automated Vehicle Guidance (AVG) AVG 990 9 Bicycle Lift FB 0 99 9 Cable Liner GPM 999 9 CargoLifter (CL 160) AIRS 999 9 Fast Ferry Rotterdam – Dordrecht FWV 9 0 9 9 Fast Moving Walkway (TRAX) MW 999 9 H-Bahn Dortmund DGPT 999 9 LLNL HyperSoar HST 9 –– – NT Systèmes MUV 0 99 9 Praxitèle IPT 0 99 9 Rigid Airship Design (RA-180) AIRS 999 9 Rivium ParkShuttle RBPM 999 9 Road Train DM 999 9 RUF Dual-Mode DM 990 9 TH!NK SIC 0 99 9 BTS TransGlide 2000 FB 999 9 Transrapid HSGS 990 9 TWIKE MWC 0 99 9 Underground Logistics System (ULS) AFT 990 9 Wuppertaler Schwebebahn EPT 999 9 Zeppelin NT (LZ N07) AIRS 990 9 Key: 9 compatible ; 0 neutral ; – non-compliant Table 8: Qualitative check of new transport concepts against main CTP themes

Concluding remarks Not surprisingly the only investigated new concept to fail this review was the pro- posed hypersonic transport "HyperSoar". Environmental impacts of negative charac- ter are inevitable as related to the considered propulsion system and the mission profile requiring operation on the outer rim of the Earth's atmosphere. Noise from rocket engines at take-off and landing, the sonic boom and the release of green- house gases in sensitive parts of the upper atmosphere may be major showstoppers for such a vehicle. The rather vague and theoretical effects on enhanced mobility or

Page 29 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000 economic competitiveness do not appear to compensate for the disadvantages of super fast aircraft, let alone can any congestion reduction be expected. Consequently the idea of new generation supersonic or even hypersonic transports was not further treated in detail. As long as spectacular improvements in engine technology do not emerge, there seems to be no basis for this niche market applica- tion, with principal breakthroughs not likely to occur in the next ten years. Current concept evaluations around ideas of supersonic business jets (SSBJs) by such com- panies as Dassault, Lockheed Martin, Gulfstream and Sukhoi do reveal the need to undertake a lot of development work concerning engine technology and aerodynamic designs that would minimise the sonic boom phenomenon. Apart from the "HyperSoar" concept, most of the concepts studied in RECONNECT are compatible with the achievement of CTP goals and actions. They may facilitate these actions and in many cases these policy actions explicitly look for the imple- mentation of these concepts, e.g. those contributing to reduce transport problems in urban areas, lower car dependency or support intermodality. Only the impact of single transport concepts has been considered here, but they may play an important role in the CTP context also by influencing the transport system as a whole. This will include indirect effects such as the potential to improve the attrac- tiveness of the public transport system, through the public perception of new con- cepts in terms of safety, comfort and convenience. Finally, another issue, that has little explicit consideration in the CTP, is the economic effect on the suppliers of transport equipment. It is worthwhile mentioning that most of the new transport concepts studied here offer a significant export potential and competitiveness effect for EU industry. This multiplier effect is not only important in economic terms but also because the resulting economies of scale may enable ex- pensive technologies to reach critical mass and market viability also for the EU mar- ket.

6.3 Urban transport and the "City of Tomorrow" The promotion of sustainable development involves enabling competitiveness and employment, while de-coupling economic growth from environmental degradation. Out of six key actions under this theme in FP 5, key action 4 deals with the "City of Tomorrow and Cultural Heritage". The general objective addresses the common challenge to improve the quality of life in urban communities and associated urban regions, and to ensure the competitiveness of European cities while promoting sus- tainable development in terms of differing aspects among cities such as: • economic development; • architecture; • environment; • social and cultural conditions.

Cities all over Europe face common challenges related to: • air quality; • noise; • traffic congestion; • waste;

Page 30 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

• economic competitiveness; • employment; • security; and • the deterioration of infrastructure and grown environments. The innovative transport concepts covered in RECONNECT certainly address items such as air quality, noise and most prominently traffic congestion. Possible impacts on economic competitiveness and employment were treated as secondary effects. With respect to the aforementioned key action, one out of four inter-related priority themes targets the "Comparative assessment and cost effective implementation of strategies for sustainable transport systems in an urban environment"4. Distinct aims are to radically reduce urban pollution and congestion, while ensuring accessibility and mobility. Means to achieve this are seen in strategic approaches towards land use patterns favourable to the development of alternatives to the individual all- purpose car and towards the introduction of new urban transport technologies com- patible with the overall transport system. RTD priorities in the course of the launched Fifth Framework Programme will comprise pilot and demonstration projects that in- tend to validate the applicability and usability of new systems under real life condi- tions in urban environments. Table 9 matches the selected new transport concepts against the three major cate- gories of the "City of Tomorrow" theme.

New means of transport Class Potential to positively influence Pollution and Accessibility Economic congestion and mobility competitiveness and employment Automated Vehicle Guidance (AVG) AVG ++ + + Bicycle Lift FB + ++ 0 Cable Liner GPM + ++ ++ Fast Ferry Rotterdam – Dordrecht FWV + ++ ++ Fast Moving Walkway (TRAX) MW ++ +++ ++ H-Bahn Dortmund DGPT ++ + ++ Praxitèle IPT + ++ + NT Systèmes MUV + ++ + Rivium ParkShuttle RBPM ++ ++ ++ Road Train DM ++ ++ + RUF Dual-Mode DM ++ ++ ++ TH!NK SIC + ++ ++ BTS TransGlide 2000 FB +++ ++ + TWIKE MWC + ++ + Underground Logistics System (ULS) AFT +++ ++ + Wuppertaler Schwebebahn EPT ++ + ++ Key: +++ high ; ++ good ; + small ; 0 none Table 9: Potential of urban and sub-urban systems to contribute to the "City of Tomorrow" objectives

4 "Energy, environment and sustainable development. Programme for research, technology development and demonstration under the Fifth Framework Programme – Work programme." [2]

Page 31 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

Potential applications of new transport systems • The Fast Moving Walkway (TRAX) provides quick movement of considerable groups of pedestrians over short distances from a few hundred metres to a few kilometres. Attractive system features include improved access, egress and in- terchange transport capability. Potential applications are seen at large terminals (railway stations, airports), transport junctions, city centres, shopping centres and large parking lots (e.g. park-and-ride facilities at the municipal perimeter). • A demand-responsive car-rental concept such as Praxitèle offers high flexibility for choice of routes and destinations in urban areas and may be best linked to public transport interchange points to allow for complementary service. As a part replacement for public transport, advantages are likely to diminish because the resulting modal shift will quickly trigger typical problems related to the use of the all-purpose car. Praxitèle may potentially be of interest to local authorities and municipalities with severe parking problems. • Demand-responsive service combined with the option to do without dedicated in- frastructure predestine the Rivium ParkShuttle for feeder service, intercon- nected with more traditional rail or road based supply. However, the small vehicle capacity will limit application to situations where, for example, flexible working hours of employees or generally low occupancy rates are expected. High peak- hour usage is certainly critical because the number of vehicles on one connection cannot be extended endlessly, but a dedicated role in an inter-modal ”hub-and– spoke” scheme will be valuable. • Automated Vehicle Guidance (AVG) for passenger cars aims at improving the road capacity, measured in number of vehicles per lane. The distance between vehicles in congested areas can (theoretically) be optimised to around two or three metres. The best use of existing road space (often already critical) could be assured with a custom-made reduction of lane widths in municipal areas. Such a strategy would indeed mean a ban of the conventional all-purpose car without telematics features from inner city traffic. This would need to be thoroughly trialed and tested to increase user confidence and acceptance. • The Bicycle Lift can overcome bottlenecks in the sense of hilly locations in an otherwise suitable environment for cycling. This can improve the acceptance and actual use of human-powered transport. However, the foreseen modal shift will primarily be from walking to cycling and only to some extent the substitution of individual motorised transport. The bicycle lift will not be a remedy if precondi- tions are bad due to significant air pollution or generally poor bicycle infrastruc- ture in the urban/suburban areas. • The Cable Liner, utilising cable propulsion, can best be implemented where the limited operational capability is sufficient for feeder transport and integration into transport chains. Higher vehicle capacity, yet limitations in flexibility related to the required dedicated track, will allow for a small change in modal shift from road to rail where concepts such as the aforementioned ParkShuttle are not applicable. Better peak hour availability may for example be suited to connect business parks or shopping centres to commuter or metro stations, with service times adapted to the larger systems. • Inland or sea port cities with existing local waterway infrastructure should cer- tainly look at the Fast Ferry Rotterdam – Dordrecht concept to compliment public transport. While offering point-to-point connections, the integration of fast inland vessels with park-and-ride facilities may be considered, thus contributing to a local modal shift. Connecting previously unattractive residential commuter or

Page 32 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

generally water-isolated areas to urban centres could even change the lifestyle of commuters. • The H-Bahn Dortmund as an automatically operated and elevated metro system has the potential to supplement on major (congested) municipal routes, where its higher speed, appropriate capacity and excellent reliability of- fers a valuable alternative. The H-Bahn complements smaller systems such as the Cable Liner and may allow for access of urban areas where at-grade rail- systems cannot find the required free space for installations. The H-Bahn can be an integral part of an urban metro system with interchange points fed by smaller but more flexible concepts (e.g. ParkShuttle) serving routes with a lower transport flow. • Multifunctional vehicles such as the NT Systèmes potentially show a positive im- pact on reducing secondary congestion related to shortage of parking space in cities. As a versatile alternative to the conventional all-purpose car, the most no- ticeable benefit is reduced emissions. However, this is unlikely to successfully compete with other electrically-powered vehicles that provide inter-modal trans- port options such as Praxitèle. • In urban centres, the potential of the Road Train concept lies in the substitution of conventionally-powered vans and trucks. As the concept requires moderate infrastructure development (dedicated lanes; road or rail), its application will cer- tainly be limited to a few urban arteries. In this way, however, it may ensure an efficient connection to sub-urban areas. • The RUF Dual-Mode system can serve high capacity corridors in larger cities with the flexibility of an individual car for access and egress transport to and from the corridor. Compared to regular road and rail systems, the capacity for a few major urban arteries can be increased and the required lane width can be de- creased. Thus the system shows considerable congestion reduction potential for major urban transport corridors. However, the required infrastructure adaptations (dedicated lanes and high capacity on- and off-ramps) do certainly limit applica- tion in inner-city areas where additional space for access and egress points will be hard to find. • Small vehicles such as the TH!NK are designed for clean urban transport with minor benefits derived from their limited size. Their main attractions lie in reduced emissions at point of use and the positive impact on reducing secondary conges- tion related to shortage of parking space in inner cities. The potential to reduce lane width is unlikely to be implemented because urban traffic is anticipated to comprise a variety of compact cars that rely rather on telematics features than on reduced vehicle dimensions. Therefore, their biggest application potential is in overcrowded, access-restricted city centres. • The bicycle transit system BTS TransGlide 2000 supports bicycle and potentially moped and scooter transport. Along city arteries (e.g. commuting) its application can have considerable (peak hour) effects on easing congestion. The innovative system may therefore gain market share from the all-purpose car and public transport users. However, substantial infrastructure requirements and related concerns about visual intrusion will limit the system to use at locations where it can be built elevated over existing roads. The BTS TransGlide 2000 will not have a big impact on intermodality as the system deliberately supports two-wheelers. However, (localised) gains in car parking space will occur due to the modal shift from all-purpose cars. • Designed as a hybrid (electrically/human powered) three-wheeler, the TWIKE specifically targets urban transport. It basically belongs to the class of small city

Page 33 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

vehicles such as the TH!NK with similar benefits and constraints (see text above). In addition, the TWIKE shows significant health benefits (exercise!) when used in human-powered mode. It may also attract a small modal shift away from the all-purpose car and the conventional bicycle as weather-weary and speed- conscious people may use it for urban trips (e.g. commuting, shopping). • The Underground Logistics System (ULS) with its independent underground infrastructure has the potential to replace short distance road freight transport, achieving a considerable reduction of urban congestion. Employing telematics features to ensure a reliable and flexible service, the system will justify the initial infrastructure investment particularly in those situations where ground level roads cannot be further extended at reasonable costs. Intermodal transfer terminals with road, rail and water transport services will allow for integration of the ULS into a grown urban environment. Fully automated transfer procedures have the potential to establish a new quality for just-in-time delivery in municipal areas. Therefore, the biggest potential is for larger metropolitan areas and cities such as , Amsterdam and Tokyo. • Another elevated and well proven system, the Wuppertaler Schwebebahn has already proven to significantly reduce ground level congestion. The elevated in- frastructure has mainly been built over the local river and now constitutes a major traffic artery of the city of Wuppertal. This configuration may in fact be applicable for other cities with compact waterways not interfering with roads, and is seen as an alternative to underground systems in the case of critical tunnelling pre- conditions. With a station distance comparable to underground systems (typically 750m), there are good opportunities for interconnecting with public transport (bus, tram) or park-and-ride facilities. Given the proven reliability, environmental friendliness and long lifetime of the capital-intensive infrastructure, the nearly one hundred year old concept is still considered to be competitive. In the future, state- of-the-art upgrades such as AVG and driverless operation can be incorporated to increase capacity and reduce operating costs.

6.4 Interurban transport within networks Interurban transport within networks covers the geographical level of 15 to 80 kilo- metres. Examples for huge interurban agglomerations include the Ruhr area in Ger- many, several heavily populated areas of the Netherlands and industrial zones in England. Table 10 gives an overview of the expected potentials of new transport concepts to integrate with these interurban networks.

Page 34 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

New means of transport Class Potential to integrate with Passenger/com- Freight Multi-modal muter transport distribution transport chains Automated Vehicle Guidance (AVG)5 AVG ++ 0 + NT Systèmes MUV + 0 0 Fast Ferry Rotterdam – Dordrecht FWV ++ + ++ Praxitèle IPT ++ 0 0 Rigid Airship Design (RA-180) AIRS ++ ++ ++ Road Train DM 0 +++ + RUF Dual-Mode DM ++ 0 + TH!NK SIC + 0 0 BTS TransGlide 2000 FB + 0 0 TWIKE MWC + 0 0 Underground Logistics System (ULS) AFT 0 +++ ++ Zeppelin NT (LZ N07) AIRS ++ + + Key: +++ high ; ++ good ; + small ; 0 none Table 10: Integration of new transport concepts with interurban networks

Potential applications of new transport systems • Automated Vehicle Guidance (AVG) for passenger cars is not limited to a geo- graphical level. Hence seamless connection of several urban centres will maxi- mise the impact of this telematics application. The more sophisticated an AVG- based network is, the bigger becomes the effect on available capacity, reliability and positive influence on congestion areas. • Providing a regional waterway infrastructure exists, a fast ferry system such as the Fast Ferry Rotterdam – Dordrecht can serve destinations that otherwise would be prone to road congestion. A considerable impact on interoperability can be achieved by linking sub-urban commuter parking lots into the vessels' route. • The car-rental concept Praxitèle can be adapted for inter-urban trips between cities, provided organisational matters are set accordingly. For example, a com- muter rents the small car in her/his hometown and gives it back to any station at the destination (one way trip), or alternatively returns it at the end of the working week to the original rental location. • Multi-purpose airships such as the Rigid Airship Design (RA-180) or Zeppelin NT (LZ N07) may be used for shuttle services between urban agglomerations where mass transport systems are difficult to establish. The provision of suitable interchange points will ensure interoperability and intermodality with other freight modes. In addition, the higher capacity airship RA-180 may have potential for in- terurban freight distribution, in particular for shipping oversized goods. • The most desirable application for the Road Train concept is to use it on main interurban corridors. Its flexibility in terms of the number of linked vehicles and/or the introduction of dedicated lanes makes the system adaptable to local circum- stances. In interurban areas, where a capable passenger transport system (e.g. trains) already exists, this intermediate concept can focus on sup- plementing freight distribution between cities.

5 Only AVG for passenger cars is covered; however, telematics applications are not limited to be utilised in a single principal transport mode.

Page 35 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

• The RUF Dual-Mode system can be designed as the backbone of high capacity interurban arteries combining the flexibility of an individual car with mass trans- port capacity. For example, the typical commuter will benefit from integrating the system in regional motorway networks, thus promoting a significant modal shift from all-individual car use. To be successful and acceptable by the public, the RUF vehicles have to offer comparable standards to compact city cars in terms of comfort and safety. • In dense and highly industrialised regions a whole new network of an Under- ground Logistics System (ULS) could mean a new quality for just-in-time deliv- ery of cargo. If surface congestion is already critical and possibilities to enhance road and rail infrastructure are scarce, the investments for an all new under- ground system will pay off, because options to connect to conventional road freight traffic can be planned from the beginning. Considering the tendency to decentralise freight distribution centres for goods or mail, an ULS network could serve several assigned cities.

6.5 Long-range transport Not primarily prone to congestion, long-distance transport does impose significant lo- cal or regional problems when it comes to integration with other modes, in particular feeder services. As an example for traffic generators serving the interface between surface and air traffic, airports often cause severe strains for the surrounding road or railroad infrastructure. City airports are rare and will be even harder to establish in the future. Air transport is in fact a major building block of modern long haul transport chains. In terms of the congestion areas introduced earlier in the document, long- range transport is defined as covering distances between 80 and 500 km on regional or national levels or even longer distances in the European context. Existing long-range transport systems – both for passenger and cargo service – all face congestion and related environmental problems, and suffer from at times insuffi- cient inter-connection with other modes. Conventional rail systems require consider- able investments in capable infrastructure but will always be confined to moderate topographic pre-conditions. European-wide air traffic increasingly contributes to criti- cal emissions at lower layers of the atmosphere and increasingly faces congestion ("slot") problems on the ground. Finally, long distance road transport has a poor rec- ord in the relation between moved individuals or goods and resulting environmental impacts. In particular heavy goods vehicles, as the de facto core of "just-in-time de- livery" schemes, prompt steadily increasing maintenance and economic costs. For instance, stresses put on a road surface by a single lorry has been reported to equal that of more than 25000 all-purpose cars6! Table 11 gives an overview of the principal potential of four new transport concepts in the long haul sector to supplement or even substitute the aforementioned conven- tional transport modes.

6 Heavy goods vehicle with 11 t axle load (EU limit) compared to APC (e.g. VW Golf) with 0.85 t axle load (ref: the "fourth power rule" from the AASHO Road Test, USA, 1958-60).

Page 36 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

New means of transport Class Potential to supplement (Ù) or substitute (9) existing Regular pas- Freight Multi-modal senger service shipments transport chains CargoLifter (CL 160) AIRS + Ù ++ 9 +++ 9 Rigid Airship Design (RA-180) AIRS ++ Ù ++ Ù ++ Ù Transrapid HSGS ++ Ù ++ Ù ++ 9 / Ù Zeppelin NT (LZ N07) AIRS ++ Ù + Ù + Ù Key: +++ high ; ++ good ; + small ; 0 none Table 11: Long range transport potential of new concepts

Potential applications of new transport systems • The CargoLifter (CL 160) semi-rigid airship aims to replace a whole freight transport chain when it comes to oversized and heavy payloads. This is achieved by allowing for real point-to-point delivery of cargo by means of crane functional- ity integrated into the vehicle with small extra infrastructure requirements at load handling sites. The driving force behind the development of the CargoLifter has originally been the desire to dramatically enhance efficiency and speed of long distance shipments, where current transhipment processes, the involvement of several modes and infrastructure obstacles (too much or on the other hand no infrastructure at all) are the most noticeable issues. Being in a payload class with today's largest cargo airplanes such as the Ukrainian Antonov An-124, the huge airship always adds the benefit of carrying bulky (already assembled) machines or components without dependency upon airports. However, the flying crane's ability to handle heavily oversized loads, does open an additional field of applica- tions e.g. in the car or aerospace manufacturing industries. In this case, payloads that even will not fit into the craft's large container system can be picked up at (almost) any location and attached to the vehicle's belly. Though not pursued by current market studies, a dedicated passenger version of the CargoLifter is prin- cipally not ruled out, with a stunning "cabin" volume of certainly more than 2000 m³ that would challenge Airbus Industrie's A3XX megaliner design in terms of capacity. Of course the logical application for such a gigantic cruiser would be leisure travel. Other usage is foreseen in the possibility to transfer e.g. fully equipped hospitals to remote regions in the course of disaster relief or humani- tarian aid. • The versatile Rigid Airship Design (RA-180) vehicle belongs to the class of medium-sized aircraft. It is anticipated to offer additional service options for pas- senger transport over typical distances of up to 1500 km. Internal accommoda- tion of travellers, or alternatively bulky freight, will allow for reasonable average cruise speeds that can be compared to those of multi-purpose helicopters. The major advantage over rotorcraft vehicles will be the long endurance capability (an issue in offshore operations for example) combined with a better environmental performance. Apart from long-range leisure-travel, which is not a focus of RE- CONNECT, one could foresee potential application in scheduled passenger and/ or cargo services, once the integration with other ground based modes is en- sured. One possible application may involve a feeder service of airships on thin- ner or remote routes with connection to mass transport at, say, railway terminals. Modern trains and airships supplement each other in terms of higher capacity and frequency (trains) or better flexibility (airships). In the future, the highlighted

Page 37 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

flexibility could be extended, provided that mobile mooring masts and increas- ingly automated landing procedures prove to be feasible. • Magnetic levitation (MagLev) train systems such as the Transrapid certainly do best when they can show their high standards in travel speed, comfort and com- parably good environmental performance over medium to long distances (250- 500 km, or above). Typical cruising speeds of 400 or 450 km/h and impressive acceleration result in high average speeds. Therefore, the main competition is foreseen with regional or national air traffic. The Transrapid is not limited to scheduled passenger service but may also offer dedicated freight transport. For example, the Swissmetro MagLev train can be applied in both freight and pas- senger transport7. Integration with railway terminals or airports is possible in a similar way to conventional rail, hence the Transrapid could become an embed- ded part of regional or European-wide networks. Also, the Transrapid system should be considered in situations where conventional high-speed rail connec- tions are not feasible due to difficult topography, and should not seek competition with flat land railway arteries. • Relatively small but highly manoeuvrable airships such as the Zeppelin NT (LZ N07) can play a role in scheduled feeder services on thin routes, that are inter- connected with higher capacity transport modes such as rail. In principle, the aforementioned considerations for the larger RA-180 airship also apply to this commuter-class vehicle. It should be stressed that scaled-up Zeppelin NT mod- els8 accommodating at least 100 passengers may extend the range of applica- tions. Larger designs would in fact unveil limited freight transport capability, which would foster versatility and operational flexibility.

6.6 Intermodality and interoperability In general, intermodal transport can be defined as the movement of people and goods involving at least two different modes in a door-to-door transport chain. The European Commission’s understanding of intermodality and intermodal transport goes beyond earlier definitions that have been put forward by several institutions such as the European Conference of Ministers of Transport (ECMT)9. In order to create a common understanding of the concept of intermodality the fol- lowing definition has been proposed: Intermodality is a characteristic of a transport system that allows at least two different modes to be used in an integrated manner in a door-to-door transport chain. The policies and actions most relevant to the theme can be outlined as: • new technologies, concepts and applications have to be developed, in particular telematics applications for intermodality; • the EC has recognised the need for a network approach to transport infrastruc- ture planning and has consequently adopted the guidelines for Trans-European Transport Infrastructure Networks (TEN-T), and;

7 For more information, refer to RECONNECT Deliverable 1. [1] 8 Proposed concepts include LZ N30 for around 15 t of payload (see RECONNECT Deliverable 1). [1] 9 EXTRA, thematic paper "Freight intermodality". [7]

Page 38 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

• intermodal transport provides a new opportunity to choose between modes, e.g. taking into account the peripheral status of many cohesion countries, intermodal transport can contribute to their better integration into the European Union.

More recently the European Commission has defined a new policy area called "trav- eller intermodality" as a part of its Citizens Network development strategy: What is needed is integration of transport services, facilitating efficient and ef- fective door-to-door travel whatever the number of transfers or the distances in- volved. One of the key principles here is intermodality. This allows different modes of transport to be used as part of seamless transport chains.10 Among the selected new transport concepts, the MagLev technology and multi- purpose airships target both freight and traveller intermodality. The Road Train and Underground Logistics System concepts are dedicated solutions for freight intermo- dality, while the remaining public or individual passenger transport systems apply to the theme of traveller intermodality. Interoperability and economic efficiency of the European transport system have been subject to a variety of strategic initiatives that helped to understand the complexity of influencing factors, national deviations, and included verification in case studies for all relevant modes. A common understanding of interoperability in practical terms has been articulated in the course of the project MINIMISE11 as follows: Interoperability is the ability of two or more given systems to operate effectively together in accordance with a prescribed method. In a narrower sense this is the ability of national transport systems (or sub-systems) to co-operate across national borders and across their socio-economic, legislative, organisational, technical, geographical and physical barriers. Interoperability is a multi-faceted aspect, which can be distinguished by different levels, dimensions and scales. Limited to vehicle and transport concepts, a set of technical and organisational as- pects underpinning interoperability in passenger and freight transport can be out- lined, that have been considered to assess related benefits of new transport con- cepts in RECONNECT.

Promoting interoperability in urban public transport: • provision of park-and-ride sites with sound interconnection of modes; • implementation of real time traveller information, accessible for individual or col- lective transport systems; • infrastructure links between heavy rail and tram, or networks; • harmonisation of tariff systems. Supporting freight interoperability: • extended use of rail and road telematics applications; • efficiency improvements in combined or intermodal freight terminals; • harmonisation of heavy duty vehicle parameters (axle loads, tyres, etc.) for road and rail.

10 EXTRA, thematic paper "Traveller intermodality". [7] 11 "Managing Interoperability by Improvements in Transport System Organisation in Europe". [10]

Page 39 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

Table 12 summarises the concepts’ application potentials for intermodality and interoperability.

New means of transport Class Potential to enhance Intermodality Interoperability passenger service freight distribution Automated Vehicle Guidance (AVG) AVG ++ 0 + Cable Liner GPM ++ 0 + Fast Ferry Rotterdam – Dordrecht FWV ++ + + H-Bahn Dortmund DGPT ++ 0 + Rigid Airship Design (RA-180) AIRS ++ ++ + Rivium ParkShuttle RBPM ++ 0 + Road Train DM 0 ++ ++ RUF Dual-Mode DM ++ 0 + Transrapid HSGS ++ ++ + Underground Logistics System (ULS) AFT 0 ++ ++ Wuppertaler Schwebebahn EPT ++ 0 + Zeppelin NT (LZ N07) AIRS + + 0 Key: +++ high ; ++ good ; + small ; 0 none Table 12: Potential of new concepts to enhance intermodality and interoperability

Potential applications of new transport systems for freight intermodality • The Rigid Airship Design (RA-180) vehicle offers additional freight distribution possibilities for bulky freight on thin or remote routes, where conventional road or rail shipments are not suitable or adequate infrastructure is lacking. Mooring sta- tions for the airship could be designed as multi-modal or dedicated cargo termi- nals that would allow for convenient transhipment procedures. • Since the Road Train is an intermediate freight system between trucks and rail, it will compete with both modes. Its main features include higher (lane) capacity than normal trucks and less operational restrictions than conventional rail. The larger corridors that will be typically served by the Road Train can have inter- change points with road and rail, which would make it an important part of a multi-modal logistics chain. • The Transrapid system generally has similar potential to support intermodality as conventional rail networks at, for example, freight distribution centres, airport cargo terminals or ports. Most likely these inter-modal freight stations will inte- grate rail, road and the cargo variant of the Transrapid. Moreover, related tech- nologies such as the Swissmetro concept would establish a backbone system that would require and allow for new intermodal transfer points. • In the urban or interurban area, the Underground Logistics System (ULS) of- fers new opportunities for intermodal freight exchange with road or rail vehicles that may in some situations allow for just-in-time delivery for the first time. The ULS is not expected to become the sole solution for local traffic corridors but a highly reliable and environmental friendly backbone with dedicated distribution points.

Page 40 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

Potential applications of new transport systems for traveller intermodality • Individual cars equipped with Automated Vehicle Guidance (AVG) will foster multi-modal trips due to the improved information and communication technology. In particular, the available information on connecting public transport options will allow for better trip planning thus avoiding congestion when individual cars will be left at park-and-ride facilities on the urban perimeter. • A medium capacity feeder system such as the Cable Liner needs careful inte- gration with public mass transport modes such as rail and must provide seamless transition to enhance intermodality in passenger service. A high level of opera- tional availability and reliability combined with the system's low environmental impacts at point of use should attract all-purpose car users who so far rejected public transport for lack of door-to-door connections. • One of the foreseeable options of the Fast Ferry Rotterdam – Dordrecht con- cept is the link to park-and-ride facilities, offering a new variant for intermodal passenger service. The envisaged small modal shift from all-purpose car use would certainly lead to efficiency and environmental benefits. In addition, adopt- ing a common tariff system for smooth transition to other modes could enhance acceptance of rapid inland vessels considerably. • Integrated into a local network of tram, bus and even underground services, the H-Bahn Dortmund system will encourage travel intermodality, with potential to prompt shifts from all-purpose car use. Given the system's good capacity and elevated infrastructure, the interconnection with park-and-ride lots at the border of congestion areas may offer service level and environmental benefits. • The Rigid Airship Design (RA-180) concept could be interconnected with larger railway terminals, where remote destinations would see first time access to re- gional public transport systems. The attractiveness of the system as a whole could therefore encourage traveller intermodality on a small scale. • As a classic feeder service to metro and underground systems, the Rivium Park- Shuttle offers additional service in an intermodal transport chain. This could lead to a small modal shift away from the all-purpose car. In places where low capac- ity but demand-responsive service is sufficient enough, the ParkShuttle may even attract pedestrians to use the quiet and environmental friendly service. However, limitations will remain due to the moderate travel speed of vehicles. • The RUF Dual-Mode system is, by definition, targeting traveller intermodality. It combines the flexibility of individual car use at suitable locations (i.e. outside congestion prone city areas) with collective moving of passengers on arteries, achieving considerable environmental and safety benefits from electric propulsion and mechanical guidance of vehicles. • The Transrapid system should be carefully integrated with existing modes to al- low for maximum impact in its operational sector between (regional) air traffic and conventional high-speed rail. The result may be a shift away from an intermodal transport chain, local public transport and/or air travel. • The integration of the Wuppertaler Schwebebahn with other services such as tram, bus and/or park-and-ride facilities is a key essential to the preferred design as a backbone system of an urban area where the special elevated infrastructure provides advantages. In fact, the effects on congestion reduction by encouraging traveller intermodality can be significant, as proven in Wuppertal with a share in public transport service of about 30%. • The Zeppelin NT (LZ N07) shows small potential for commuter services on thin routes, provided the integration with regional public transport networks in terms of

Page 41 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

attractive terminals and a common tariff system is ensured. The use of an airship on these connections will then relieve regional roads from congestion imposed mainly by the all-purpose car.

Possible role in the future European transport logistic system Current efforts to establish a Trans-European Transport-Network (TEN-T) for trans- port and logistics comprise a set of measures and projects, including: • enhancements in interoperability of railways with priority on developing and or- ganising a European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS); • initiatives to improve the interoperability of and deploy intelligent transport sys- tems, including a satellite positioning and navigation network (Galileo, GNSS II); • a framework for harmonised technical standards for railways and other guided systems, including both infrastructure and rolling stock; • review of the need for further harmonisation to promote system integration, in- cluding standards for the Trans-European Road Network (TERN), standards for loading units, limits for weights and axle loads of road vehicles and standards for electronic data interchange; • creation of a single electronic transport document for goods and passengers; • proposals on intermodal liability; • proposals on the development of intermodal transport statistics; • initiatives to promote the interoperability of the different forms of location and navigation technologies deployed in intermodal transport chains; • revision of the regulatory and support framework for combined transport; • evaluation of the effectiveness of measures to promote short sea shipping and possible new initiatives; and • the implementation of a European Air Traffic Management System (EATMS).

New means of transport Class Improving interoperability by means of Intelligent trans- Systems Combined port systems integration transport Rigid Airship Design (RA-180) AIRS ++ + + Road Train DM ++ +++ ++ Transrapid FB ++ ++ + Underground Logistics System (ULS) AFT ++ +++ ++ Key: +++ high ; ++ good ; + small ; 0 none Table 13: Contributions to the European transport logistic system

6.7 Niche applications Among the selected 21 concepts from representative classes, investigated in this study, 16 concepts aim at substituting or supplementing road transport means. Base concepts here comprise: • the all-purpose car (12 times); • the heavy goods vehicle (3 times); and • the shuttle bus (once).

Page 42 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

In contrast the remaining five concepts can be seen predominantly in a market with conventional air transport options such as: • subsonic aircraft of different size (3 times); or • helicopters (twice). The Transrapid concept – constituting one of two principal magnetic levitation tech- nologies – can be seen as covering a relatively broad range from all-purpose car substitution to competition with conventional high speed rail systems and short to medium range aviation. Hence it is, despite high initial investment costs, not consid- ered primarily a niche application but a high-end alternative to mainstream ground and air transportation. The lighter-than-air technology of the airship developments is certainly targeted at specific niche applications that are not satisfied by single existing modes or intermo- dal transport chains. Depending on the dedicated service mode – passenger transport and services for the general public (Zeppelin NT LZ N07), freight shipments (CargoLifter CL 160) or both (Rigid Airship Design RA-180) – the RECONNECT partners see the following applications for these vehicles:

Congestion-avoiding applications • scheduled or unscheduled passenger transport (including city access); • point-to-point delivery of bulky and/or heavy cargo; • machinery and plant manufacturing industry; • automobile and aerospace industry.

Other CTP relevant applications • observation and surveillance (e.g. border control; environmental monitoring); • research (e.g. meteorology, atmospheric physics, exploration of mineral resour- ces); • airborne communication, data-link or broadcasting platforms; • search and rescue / disaster relief / humanitarian aid; • special supply (e.g. to remote offshore oil platforms); • modular construction in civil engineering; • developing (third world) economies.

As already stressed for the pre-selection and data gathering phase of RECONNECT, the variety of foreseeable markets generally improves with extended payload and range performance of an airship. A versatile design based on a classic Zeppelin lay- out as with the Dutch RA-180 rigid airship, or a concept with unique load handling capability by means of integrating a crane into a flying object (CargoLifter) seem to offer new opportunities in small markets that actually may have a considerable im- pact in terms of efficiency and environmental friendliness. "The bigger – the better" is a simple statement that applies to aircraft of all sorts, indeed. Limited to relatively small payload and range, as with the current Zeppelin NT proto- type, airship advantages such as moderate infrastructure requirements, point-to-point transport capability or environmental benefits do not deliver significantly, because other existing modes such as rotorcraft vehicles offer comparable features.

Page 43 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

Despite typical suitability for long distance connections the Transrapid is principally applicable for short haul but high capacity links to traffic generators such as airports. This acknowledges the fact that large all new airports can only be built far away from city centres with associated problems for landside access. A typical track distance from city centre to airport terminal will likely amount to some 50 km which can justify operational speeds in the range of at least 300 km/h, thus significantly reducing trip times compared to conventional rail. Examples of young international airports with unsatisfying landside connection are Milan Malpensa, Munich FJS or the planned Berlin-Brandenburg International hub. Indeed, a realistic potential for the Transrapid due to high required infrastructure investments is only seen where negligible other transport systems exist or where early integration in wider transport policy schemes can be ensured.

6.8 Options to eliminate barriers In continuation of previous workpackages, this section assesses options to eliminate legal (e.g. certification regulations for new vehicles and operational requirements) and financial barriers (e.g. subsidies, fees, new financing models) and identifies pos- sibilities to improve the market penetration of a new means of transport. In the preceding WP 5, data on legal issues regarding the various new modes of transportation was collected and accumulated in the targeted assessment database, and in continuation analysed in WP 6. Due to different new modes of transportation and the varying levels of elaboration of concepts (from paper concepts at an early stage to projects which have already been successfully in operation for several years) it was decided not to make the analysis for legal barriers on a transport mode level, but to use a more general approach.

Two principal but generally applicable ways to overcome the barriers were found: • the new technology has to fulfil existing rules without any deduction. This will be the case e.g. for topics such as safety, environmental protection and similar fields; • the legal framework is adapted to the needs of a new technology. An example is the fully automatic operation of a system, which could not be covered by laws and rules which considered operation with a driver only before. Such statements sound rather simple on the first glance, but to give more explicit op- tions for a single new means of transportation to overcome legal barriers and stan- dardisation gaps each means has to be researched in a much more detailed way, which would rather require a study of its own. It was therefore decided to lay the focus on the elaboration and organisation of barri- ers itself and to give an overview, which types of barriers have to be taken into ac- count. The scope was enlarged beyond legalisation and standardisation issues. In addition the results of the work of the so called "High level group on innovation in the field of transport" in 1999 were taken as an additional checklist and incorporated into the findings of RECONNECT. Table 14 gives an overview of identified barriers for pre-selected transport concepts. Later in this section, recommendations on how to overcome perceived "high" (+++) or "considerable" (++) barriers are presented.

Page 44 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

Key Information Regulatory Technical Financial & Societal Decision- & legal commercial making +++ a lot of wrong new means paper concept very costly; no bad public many involved information; opposes ex- only; several defined target opinion parties; stands vague/theoreti- isting laws principal tech- market; “pro- against the cal concept in nical solutions grammed loss” current policy an early stage still pending directives ++ low information legal frame- in prototype relatively un- neutral public fragmented level work, or the stage; base competitive; opinion decision mak- uncertain in- new means system works, change in fi- ing formation has to be only improve- nancial frame- adapted ments on detail work required level + information mainly fulfils technical work needs (public) good accep- clear defined level is ok the existing mainly fin- funding (at tance decision find- regulations ished; field least for the ing tested starting phase) 0 proper infor- fulfils the ex- market ready product has very good ac- no problem mation is isting regula- product, al- very good ceptance; pub- available and tions ready available chances to be lic opinion is widespread for application successful good

New means of transport Class Existing barriers for implementation Information & Regulatory legal Technical & Financial commercial Societal Decision- making Automated Vehicle Guidance (AVG) AVG + ++ ++ + + ++ Bicycle Lift FB + + 0 + + + Cable Liner GPM + + 0 + + + CargoLifter (CL 160) AIRS + ++ + + + + Fast Ferry Rotterdam – Dordrecht FWV ++ + 0 ++ + + Fast Moving Walkway (TRAX) MW + + + +++ 0 + H-Bahn Dortmund DGPT 0 +12 0+++ LLNL HyperSoar HST ++ +++ +++ +++ ++ +++ NT Systèmes MUV + + + ++ 0 + Praxitèle IPT + + / ++13 ++++ + Rigid Airship Design (RA-180) AIRS + ++ + ++ + + Rivium ParkShuttle RBPM + ++ + + ++ + Road Train DM ++ ++ +++ ++ + ++ RUF Dual-Mode DM++++++++++++ TH!NK SIC + + 0 ++ + + BTS TransGlide 2000 FB ++ + ++ ++ + ++ Transrapid HSGS + + + +++ ++ ++ TWIKE MWC + + 0 ++ + + Underground Logistics System (ULS) AFT ++ ++ ++ ++ + ++ Wuppertaler Schwebebahn EPT 0 0 0 + 0 + Zeppelin NT (LZ N07) AIRS + ++ + ++ + + Key: +++ high ; ++ considerable ; + moderate ; 0 none Table 14: Impediments for introduction of new transport concepts

12 System is in operation. The legal framework was changed to allow the automated/driverless operation of this metro-system. 13 Rating is ++ if the feature 'automatic redistribution of vehicles' is implemented.

Page 45 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

Recommended actions to overcome barriers To overcome the barriers for market penetration, the necessary measures and ac- tions need to involve all stakeholders. The recommended actions are (by barrier and in order of concern): • Financial and commercial barriers: initial “seed” funding (e.g. government, pri- vate sector with vested interests); wide-spread introduction of public-private part- nerships (PPP); better commercial marketing of new systems (refer to ); • Regulatory and legal barriers: early involvement of all possible stakeholders; improved co-operation between different modes of transport; properly addressing the quality aspect in transport service; speeding up of legal procedures by install- ing a special government agency for legal aspects of new transport concepts (e.g. strategic rail authority); creation of low emission zones in sensitive areas; • Decision-making barriers: co-operation and exchange of information; active participation of all decision-makers in pilot or demonstration projects to show the potential of a new system; • Information barrier: using new media such as the Internet and utilising existing European information channels to enhance dissemination; involving potential us- ers in pilot and demonstration projects involving new transport concepts; • Technical barriers: continued research, development and demonstration of in- novations; consensus-building amongst industry and technical certification bodies in terms standardisation; • Societal barriers: better marketing by showing the benefits (service level im- provements, comfort, safety); fair and open-minded assessment of effects, early involvement of transport users (in particular fleet operators, passengers).

The following set of Tables 15 to 20 specify recommended actions and measures to overcome perceived barriers for affected new transport concepts. The tables are as well presented in order of concern (compare above).

Page 46 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

Transport concept Potential barrier Recommendations Fast Ferry Rotterdam – • Small market as a result of limited • Use of technologies from other Dordrecht number of waterways markets to reach economies of scale Fast Moving Walkway • High initial investment costs for the • Governmental capital provision (TRAX) infrastructure • Difficult to get revenues (who will pay for the use of a moving walk- way) LLNL HyperSoar • High technology development • Use of other technology sources costs (space technology) • High operation and maintenance • Advanced vehicle design costs • Low potential passenger volume • Marketing NT Systèmes • The vehicles are more expensive • Purpose build solutions for special than conventional vehicles applications • Low potential market share – niche • Early involvement of the potential market only users Praxitèle • Initial investment costs – vehicles, • Initial (governmental) funding smart-card equipment and installa- needed tion, recharging facilities etc. • Public private partnership (auto- motive industry) Rigid Airship Design • High investment costs in technical • Initial (governmental) funding (RA-180) design and legal certification is- needed sues • Public private partnership • Just for a niche market • Marketing of the system Road Train • Higher cost compared to the con- • Only applicable in environmentally ventional vehicles (trucks or con- sensitive areas ventional railroad) RUF Dual-Mode • The vehicle is more expensive • Funding or change in taxation in than a comparable conventional favour of less polluting vehicles vehicle (due to two propulsion systems) • High infrastructure costs – unclear • Financial incentives – public pri- financing vate partnership TH!NK • The vehicle is more expensive • Funding or change in taxation in than a comparable conventional favour of less polluting vehicles vehicle BTS TransGlide 2000 • Expensive infrastructure • Initial (governmental) funding needed • Public private partnership Transrapid • Very high costs • Financial incentives through gov- ernmental capital provision • Too low potential passenger vol- • Market research in advance (no ume parallel implementation to existing high speed rails) TWIKE • The vehicle is more expensive • Funding or change in taxation in than a comparable conventional favour of less polluting vehicles vehicle Underground Logistics • Huge investment costs with long • Financial incentives through gov- System (ULS) term benefits ernmental capital provision • Many of the benefits may be non- • Internalisation of external costs monetary, i.e. operational costs may not be too high Zeppelin NT (LZ N07) • High investment costs in technical • Initial (governmental) funding design and legal certification is- needed sues • Public private partnership • Just for a niche market • Marketing of the system Table 15: Overcoming financial and commercial barriers

Page 47 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

Transport concept Potential barrier Recommendations Automated Vehicle Guid- • Unclear legal framework for AV • New legislation ance (AVG) operation • Unclear liability for damage when • New legislation driver is not in charge • Protection of innovations of individ- • Patenting; allow industry-wide ap- ual car manufacturers plication (pay developers) • Lack of organisational structures • European platform for the devel- for integration with general infra- opment and standardisation of this structure system technology • Changes costs between different • Fair compensation of shifts in stakeholders and users costs and responsibilities CargoLifter (CL 160) • Long endurance capability – crew • Change in legislation (according to working time restrictions freight/passenger navigation) • No allowance of free load handling • Change in legislation • No applicable standards regarding • New legislation (see section tech- design and certification nical barriers) Fast Ferry Rotterdam – • Ticketing system deviates from • Standardisation of ticketing system Dordrecht public transport • new means of transport introduces • Compensation for external costs new external costs (i.e. washing) LLNL HyperSoar • High emissions at high altitudes • It is questionable if the environ- • Not allowed to use hypersonic mental laws should be changed speed over the continent Praxitèle • Unclear legal framework for auto- • New legislation matic operation (redistribution!) Rigid Airship Design • Not certified for passenger opera- • Change in legislation (RA-180) tion in most countries • Long endurance capability – crew • Change in legislation (according to working time restrictions freight/passenger navigation) • No applicable standards regarding • New legislation (see section tech- design and certification nical barriers) Rivium Park Shuttle • No legal framework for automated • New legislation vehicle operation • Not clear who is liable for damage • New legislation in case of accidents when driver is not in charge • No legislation for combined use of • New legislation automated and other vehicles on same track Road Train • Total vehicle length (towing vehicle • Change in legislation plus trailers) higher than allowed (for mechanical coupling) • Liability issues (electrical coupling • Change in legislation and vehicle spacing!) RUF Dual-Mode • Unclear liability for auto operation • New legislation (low risk!) • Standardisation of vehicles for op- • Standardisation and certification of eration on special infrastructure the vehicles/infrastructure Underground Logistics • No legal framework for automated • New legislation System (ULS) vehicle operation • Unclear liability for damage when • New legislation driver is not in charge • Unclear who is owner and operator • Special attention for organisation of infrastructure (Private Public Partnerships) Zeppelin NT (LZ N07) • Not certified for passenger opera- • Change in legislation tion in most countries • Long endurance capability – crew • Change in legislation (according to working time restrictions freight/passenger navigation) • No applicable standards regarding • New legislation (see section tech- design and certification nical barriers) Table 16: Overcoming regulatory and legal barriers

Page 48 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

Transport concept Potential barrier Recommendations Automated Vehicle Guid- • Automotive Industry and govern- • Co-operation and exchange of in- ance (AVG) ment can decide on different as- formation pect and have different objectives • Separate decision making can in- • Active participation of all decision troduce sub-optimal decisions makers LLNL HyperSoar • Low driving factors for implemen- • Redesign of the system, co- tation – partly for environmental operation with other fields of trans- reasons. The system is not seen portation (e.g. satellite launch in- as a possible option for passenger stead of passenger transportation). transport Road Train • Lack of incentives for the system • Application only in environmentally • Not seen as an option for the gen- sensitive areas eral road transport RUF Dual-Mode • Lack of incentives for the system – • Demonstration project to show the no political will possibilities of the system BTS TransGlide 2000 • Lack of incentives for the system – • Demonstration project to show the no political will possibilities of the system Transrapid • Many parties involved, delays and • Demonstration projects to show uncertainties the possibilities – maybe on a smaller geographical level Underground Logistics • Lack of scale due to fragmentation • Demonstration projects to show System (ULS) of levels of decision and conserva- the possibilities and central gov- tive approach of decision makers ernmental initiatives for co- operation and development Table 17: Overcoming decision-making barriers

Transport concept Potential barrier Recommendations Fast Ferry Rotterdam – • Not known to potential users • Marketing among users of com- Dordrecht peting modes • Development too much focussed • Marketing of the system. on technical innovation due to non- involvement of users • Ease to solve barriers may hinder • Flexible set-up and quick response the use to observed problems LLNL HyperSoar • Development very much focused • Definition of a user group on technical innovation • Information mainly focused on • Providing of clear and reliable in- raising funds for further develop- formation ment (and therefor maybe too op- timistic) Road Train • Uncertain (early) concept - vague • Further development of the system information RUF Dual-Mode • Information focused on marketing • Providing of clear and reliable in- issues. formation Underground Logistics • System concept too complicated • Involve (small) businesses in de- System (ULS) and modern for potential (small) velopment of system user • Users are unaware of possibilities • Marketing among potential users and restrictions for use Table 18: Overcoming the information barrier

Page 49 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

Transport concept Potential barrier Recommendations Automated Vehicle Guid- • Accuracy of system at individual • Technical development and tests ance (AVG) user level • Individual car manufacturers de- • Co-operation incentives for re- velop different systems that do not search and standardisation direc- match tive • Different systems in Europe and • European co-operation and stan- world-wide dardisation of infrastructure LLNL HyperSoar • Development in an early stage, • Further technical development and missing components, new materi- tests als needed • Some problems very hard to over- come (e.g. thermal management – the re-entry from the stratosphere heats the hull, such as for space- craft, which leads to a certain “chill out time” after touchdown) Road Train • Comfort and reliability of system • Technical development and tests • Potential of combined traffic on • Technical development and tests track technically too difficult RUF Dual-Mode • Standardisation issues are critical • Co-operation with the automotive for both vehicles and infrastructure manufacturing industry – stan- dardisation directives BTS TransGlide 2000 • Bicycles have to be adapted to the • New vehicle design higher speeds reached in the sys- tem Underground Logistics • Reliability in complex logistic situa- • Technical development and tests System (ULS) tions • Different sizes of tunnels and vehi- • European co-operation and stan- cles limit the logistic operation in dardisation of infrastructure larger areas • System requires transhipment of • Efficient overall transport chain de- goods and co-ordination of under- sign to overcome problems with ground traffic transhipment and co-ordination Table 19: Overcoming technical barriers

Transport concept Potential barrier Recommendations Automated Vehicle Guid- • Acceptance of new technology that • Marketing by showing the benefits ance (AVG) reduces the influence of the user (comfort and safety) • Introduction of new problems (AVG • Fair and open-minded assessment may stimulate congestion driving) of effects LLNL HyperSoar • Low comfort due to flight charac- • Design of the crafts, further techni- teristics (hypersonic speed and re- cal development entry of the atmosphere) • Problems with the time zone travel • Involvement of the users (arrival at night hours) • Advanced pilot training and per- • Training of the personnel sonnel for the maintenance needed Rivium ParkShuttle • Acceptance of new technology that • Provision of acoustic and interac- is very impersonal tive information RUF Dual-Mode • Acceptance of new technology that • Marketing by showing the benefits reduces the influence of the user (comfort and safety) • General problem of dual mode • Choosing an integrated approach, systems (does not only combine not only technological develop- the advantages but also the disad- ment vantages of public and individual transportation – e.g. fixed routes, vehicle equipment, car-occupancy, need for parking space etc.) Table 20: Overcoming societal barriers

Page 50 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

6.9 Service level improvements to the transport market Below, an overview is given of service level improvements of the new transport con- cepts that are treated in detail in RECONNECT. The transport concepts are very different in characteristics with which they compete in the transport market. Most concepts try to attract passengers by an increased comfort level and offering demand responsive services. Both are needed to compete with the all-purpose car. Improvement in speed is not explicitly aimed at, except in the case of the HyperSoar, the TransGlide 2000 and the Transrapid. More important is reliability in travel time, the interconnectivity with other modes and flexibility in ca- pacity. Most airships offer the advantage of enabling new transport connections to re- place a whole transport chain. Other less important improvements include an efficient use of travel time, the avoidance of parking problems and a certain tourist value. However, new transport concepts do not always offer improvements in transport services. A number of disadvantages may act as barriers for the introduction of new transport means or keep potential travellers from using these modes. Although some new concepts may be very good in reducing congestion or burden to the environ- ment, as a result they may also be less comfortable because of a reduced size, they may be less powerful, or less flexible in route en capacity. Collective means of trans- port often have dedicated tracks, which reduces problems with congestion, but also increases the risk of obstruction in case of an accident of technical failure. It must be concluded that new means of transport use many service level character- istics to make them more attractive to potential users. But also the main aim of these transport concepts, which is the reduction of negative environmental effects or the reduction of congestion, in many cases leads to at least some service level disad- vantages compared to conventional means of transport. Table 21 gives an overview of the impact assessment results with ratings for the principal service level effects of the new transport concepts, as well as the compara- tive advantage over selected base concepts.

Page 51 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

Transport concept Principal Comparative Main reason effect advantages Automated Vehicle Guid- ++ +++ More comfortable driving, efficient use of travel time ance (AVG) and more possibilities for efficient trip planning Bicycle Lift +++ 0 Improves bicycle services in comfort and route choice, but bicycles remain less comfortable than al- ternative modes Cable Liner +++ + High quality demand responsive services co-exits with low flexibility in route choice and a relatively low speed CargoLifter (CL 160) ++ ++ Introduction of transport possibilities that previously not exist Fast Ferry Rotterdam – +++ + Comfortable transport services on existing infra- Dordrecht structure, but discontinuity of services and need for feeder transport Fast Moving Walkway +++ +++ Fast and easy access without the need to park, in- (TRAX) cluding public transport H-Bahn Dortmund ++ + Specific track enables fast and congestion free trans- port, but not demand responsive LLNL HyperSoar 0 + Comfort level is relatively low, but compensated by high speed NT Systèmes ++ ++ Flexibility in capacity Praxitèle ++ ++ Flexible combination of comfortable public transport without parking problems and individual (demand re- sponsive) feeder transport Rigid Airship Design +++ ++ Relatively high capacity and comfort level, but also (RA-180) relatively slow Rivium ParkShuttle +++ ++ Demand responsive feeder service for public trans- port system, but with relatively low capacity Road Train ++ ++ Flexibility in capacity with a reduction of operators RUF Dual-Mode ++ +++ The combination of high capacity comfortable rail travel with individual and flexible travel services TH!NK + + Small vehicles provides limited comfort, but is easy to operate BTS TransGlide 2000 +++ + Increase in speed and comfort of bicycle transport does not compensate for the service level of the all purpose car Transrapid ++ +++ The combination of rail procedures and comfort with airplane travel speeds TWIKE + + Small vehicles provides limited comfort, but is easy to operate Underground Logistics +++ +++ Capacity is comparable with heavy goods vehicles, System (ULS) but service is more flexible and better linked to other modes through automated logistics Wuppertaler Schwebebahn ++ ++ High level public transport service with good accessi- bility into urban centres with parking problems Zeppelin NT (LZ N07) + + Offers solutions to specific transport problems, but also has limited applicability Key: +++ high ; ++ good ; + small ; 0 none Table 21: Overview of service level improvements of new concepts of transport

6.10 Major benefits Table 22 gives an overview of the environmental, safety, reliability, efficiency and public acceptance benefits of the new means of transportation, which represents summary findings for the following sections.

Page 52 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

New means of transport Class Benefits for Environment Safety Reliability Efficiency Public acceptance

Automated Vehicle Guidance (AVG) AVG ++ +++ + ++ + Bicycle Lift FB ++ + +++ ++ +++ Cable Liner GPM ++ ++ +++ ++ ++ CargoLifter (CL 160) AIRS ++ ++ ++ ++ + Fast Ferry Rotterdam – Dordrecht FWV ++ + ++ ++ ++ Fast Moving Walkway (TRAX) MW + + +++ ++ +++ H-Bahn Dortmund DGPT + ++ ++ ++ ++ LLNL HyperSoar HST 0 0 0 ++ 0 NT Systèmes MUV ++ + ++ + ++ Praxitèle IPT ++ + ++ ++ ++ Rigid Airship Design (RA-180) AIRS ++ ++ ++ ++ + Rivium ParkShuttle RBPM +++ ++ ++ ++ ++ Road Train DM +++ ++ + ++ ++ RUF Dual-Mode DM +++ ++ ++ + ++ TH!NK SIC+++++++++ BTS TransGlide 2000 FB ++ ++ ++ + +++ Transrapid HSGS ++ ++ ++ + ++ TWIKE MWC+++++++++ Underground Logistic System (ULS) AFT +++ ++ ++ ++ ++ Wuppertaler Schwebebahn EPT ++ ++ ++ ++ ++ Zeppelin NT (LZ N07) AIRS ++ ++ ++ ++ ++ Key: +++ high ; ++ good ; + small ; 0 none Table 22: Major benefits of new transport concepts

Environmental improvements Environmental improvements are realised by new transport concepts if the following issues are better avoided than in case of conventional transport concepts: • emissions; • noise; • non-renewable energy use; • land-use; and • visual intrusion. Table 23 gives an overview of the principal and comparable environmental advan- tages of the new transport concepts, and the main reasons for these ratings.

Page 53 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

Transport concept Principal Comparative Main reason effect advantages Automated Vehicle Guid- ++ ++ Smoothing of traffic flow leads to lower energy use, ance (AVG) emissions and noise levels Bicycle Lift ++ +++ No local emissions and extended use of bicycles in- stead of APCs reduces energy use, emissions and noise Cable Liner ++ +++ Low energy consumption, no local emissions and low local noise levels , elevated infrastructure uses less land but causes visual intrusion CargoLifter (CL 160) ++ ++ Lower energy consumption and emissions than for conventional cargo aircraft Fast Ferry Rotterdam – ++ ++ Lower per passenger emission levels and noise im- Dordrecht pacts than APC, but noise and wash are local disad- vantages Fast Moving Walkway ++++Compared to APC, low energy use, noise level and (TRAX) land use; no local emissions H-Bahn Dortmund + +++ Insignificant emissions, low energy use and noise levels; visual intrusion from elevated infrastructure LLNL HyperSoar 0 0 Large emissions with poorly understood effects, high noise levels NT Systèmes ++ ++ Reduction in emission level and resource use for ve- hicle production Praxitèle ++ ++ No local emissions, lower land use in urban areas than privately owned APC Rigid Airship Design ++ ++ Lower energy use, emission levels and noise levels, (RA-180) but higher land use and visual intrusion than for modern helicopters Rivium ParkShuttle +++ +++ Low energy use, noise levels and land use (par-king space, infrastructure), no local emissions Road Train +++ +++ High energy efficiency with lower noise en emission levels than for conventional heavy goods vehicles RUF Dual-Mode +++ +++ Lower energy use, emissions and noise levels com- pared to APC; hardly any extra land use TH!NK ++ +++ No local emissions, low energy use and noise levels BTS TransGlide 2000 ++ +++ No local emissions and extended use of bicycles in- stead of APCs reduces energy use, emissions and noise Transrapid ++ + Lower energy use, emission levels and noise levels, higher land use and visual intrusion TWIKE ++ +++ No local emissions, low energy use and noise levels Underground Logistics +++ +++ Virtually no local emissions and noise, energy use System (ULS) and general emission smaller than for HGV, lower land use and visual intrusion Wuppertaler Schwebebahn ++ +++ Insignificant emissions, low energy use, low noise levels, and land use requirements, but visual intru- sion from elevated infrastructure Zeppelin NT (LZ N07) ++ ++ Lower energy use, emission levels and noise levels, but higher land use and visual intrusion than for modern helicopters Key: +++ high ; ++ good ; + small ; 0 none Table 23: Overview of environmental improvements attained with new means of transport

Page 54 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

Safety level improvements Safety levels of the new transport concepts include the probability of accidents, the severity of accidents, as well as the social safety level (protection against criminal acts). Table 24 shows whether new concepts have improved safety effects, a com- parative advantages with selected base means of transport, and the main reason for these ratings.

Transport concept Principal Comparative Main reason effect advantages Automated Vehicle Guid- +++ +++ Application has aim of improving active and passive ance (AVG) safety of present all-purpose cars. Accidents by hu- man errors must not be replaced by technical failure. Bicycle Lift + 0 No special safety issues, and bicycle riders remain relatively vulnerable Cable Liner ++ +++ Dedicated track, low speed and high technical reli- ability CargoLifter (CL 160) ++ + Technical safety and removing cargo from the road, but similar to modern cargo aircraft Fast Ferry Rotterdam – ++No special safety improvements or risks Dordrecht Fast Moving Walkway +++No special safety issues, but slow transport is rela- (TRAX) tively safe H-Bahn Dortmund ++ ++ Dedicated track and avoidance of human errors by automated operation LLNL HyperSoar 0 0 High speed, new technology and out of earth’s at- mosphere operating area NT Systèmes + + Comparable to standard (heavy) goods vehicles Praxitèle + + Comparable to standard all-purpose car Rigid Airship Design ++ + Safest form of lighter-than-air craft, but comparable to (RA-180) helicopters Rivium ParkShuttle ++ ++ Low speed and automated operation, but lack of hu- man control and combination with other traffic reduce safety Road Train ++ ++ Dedicated track with automated operation and ap- propriate automated safety measures RUF Dual-Mode ++ ++ Guided vehicles on dedicated track TH!NK + + Reduced safety for passengers, increased safety for other road users BTS TransGlide 2000 ++ 0 Harmonised traffic on dedicated lane, but higher speeds make bicycle riders more vulnerable Transrapid ++ + No derailing, no at-grade crossings and automated operation on dedicated tracks, compensated by high cruising speed and strong decelerations TWIKE + + Reduced safety for passengers, increased safety for other road users Underground Logistics ++ ++ Hardly any humans involved in operation, dedicated System (ULS) track and automated guidance Wuppertaler Schwebebahn ++ ++ Dedicated track and proven technology Zeppelin NT (LZ N07) ++ + Technical safety and removing transport from the road, similar to modern helicopters Key: +++ high ; ++ good ; + small ; 0 none Table 24: Overview of service safety improvements of new means of transport

Page 55 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

Reliability improvements Reliability benefits mean the reliability of service, the reliability in terms of fulfilling the timetables and being able to overcome certain impediments which are encountered in the operation of the system. The improvements of the technical reliability are mainly part of safety improvements, and only taken into account as far as they con- cern the service characteristics.

Transport concept Principal Comparative Main reason effect advantages Automated Vehicle Guid- +++Cars equipped with AVG still have to rely on normal ance (AVG) roads and are impeded by congestion but make bet- ter use of existing infrastructure. Bicycle Lift +++ +++ The system is, from the technical point of view, very simple, is not impeded by other traffic and operates on demand. Cable Liner +++ +++ The system relies on long term proven technology (from -lifts), operates continuously and is not im- peded by other traffic. CargoLifter (CL 160) ++ +++ It heavily increases the reliability because it replaces a rather complex transport chain. Fast Ferry Rotterdam – ++ +++ It relies on non-congested waterways. Dordrecht Fast Moving Walkway +++ +++ The system relies on long term proven technology (TRAX) and operates continuously. H-Bahn Dortmund ++ +++ Dedicated tracks. LLNL HyperSoar 0 0 Reduced compared to subsonic aircraft due to com- plexity and operational characteristics. NT Systèmes ++ ++ Consists of proven technology. Praxitèle ++ + Good reliability, but no dedicated track. Rigid Airship Design ++ 0 Airships have a higher weather dependency than (RA-180) helicopters. Rivium ParkShuttle ++ ++ The vehicles have dedicated tracks such that no sig- nificant delay will take place. Road Train + ++ Increased reliability when operating on an dedicated track. RUF Dual-Mode ++ +++ Congested highways replaced by dedicated tracks. TH!NK ++ + Relying on the same infrastructure than the APC but reduced space needed for parking. BTS TransGlide 2000 ++ +++ Dedicated infrastructure. Transrapid ++ +++ Rail based magnetic levitation systems are very reli- able compared to aircraft and have less (de)boarding time. TWIKE ++ ++ Still relying on the same infrastructure than the APC but possibility to pass by congestion (because of the narrow shape) and reduced need for parking space). Underground Logistic Sys- ++ +++ Dedicated infrastructure. tem (ULS) Wuppertaler Schwebebahn ++ +++ Dedicated track. Zeppelin NT (LZ N07) ++ 0 Airships have a higher weather dependency than helicopters. Key: +++ high ; ++ good ; + small ; 0 none Table 25: Reliability improvements of new concepts of transport

Page 56 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

The reliability of the base concept – in most cases the all-purpose car – is mainly im- peded by congestion, which was taken as a pre-condition for the comparison. The reliability of new means of transportation is often improved by the usage of dedicated driveways.

Efficiency benefits Efficiency of a transport service is determined by a number of issues: • reduction of congestion of existing modes; • reduction of costs to the user; • facilitating fair and efficient pricing; • improvement of mobility performance; and • increase of capacity. For the efficiency of new transport services, RECONNECT mainly looked at mobility improvements that new transport concepts provide, while congestion reduction was treated separately. See overleaf Table 26 for details.

Public acceptance Public acceptance is the attitude of the general public towards the system, which in- cludes the users and the non users. The acceptance includes the readiness to use the system and also the acceptance of the non users, which may experience the ex- ternal effects of the system. The acceptance of the base concepts is ambiguous sometimes. For example the ac- ceptance of an all purpose car (and therefore the usage) is very good in general but the negative side effects (congestion, environmental pollution, decrease of living conditions, etc.) are seen negative. Table 27 summarises the anticipated acceptance of new concepts.

Page 57 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

Transport concept Principal Comparative Main reason effect advantages Automated Vehicle Guid- ++ ++ High mobility performance by communication tech- ance (AVG) nology (e.g. route information) and optimal use of available infrastructure Bicycle Lift ++ 0 Potential for using bicycles in hilly areas, increasing performance and capacity of bicycles; no improve- ment compared to efficiency of APC Cable Liner ++ 0 Improved performance and capacity of the full PT system; but also attained by shuttle bus CargoLifter (CL 160) ++ ++ High efficiency by avoidance of transhipment; multi- modal transport chains can be replaced Fast Ferry Rotterdam – ++ ++ Direct and fast link over water in urban areas, possi- Dordrecht bility of bringing bicycles on board improve opportu- nity for feeder transport Fast Moving Walkway ++ ++ Structuring large flows of people in a fast manner, (TRAX) especially in crowded places, easy transfers between transport modes H-Bahn Dortmund ++ 0 High quality PT in terms of speed, frequency and re- liability, but in general not better than the APC LLNL HyperSoar ++ + High speed and therefore high performance, but not very different from subsonic aircraft NT Systèmes + 0 Vehicles used more efficiently than conventional ones, but transport service not improved Praxitèle ++ 0 Improvement of transport chains that include PT services by the provision of high performance feeder service, but APC remains better Rigid Airship Design ++ + High performance and capacity can be combined (RA-180) with direct connections, especially when natural bot- tlenecks are present, but same service can already be provided by helicopter Rivium ParkShuttle ++ ++ Improved public transport services by the provision of high quality feeder services (demand responsive), without parking problems Road Train ++ ++ High flexibility and optimal use of available infra- structure, improvement of capacity compared to regular road or rail freight transport RUF Dual-Mode + + Capacity increased on corridors, while individual transport services remain available in urban areas, but dependent on new infrastructure and no real service level improvement TH!NK ++ + Small size of vehicle allows for high capacity road transport (including parking), but performance re- duced compared to APC BTS TransGlide 2000 + + The performance of bicycle transport on longer dis- tances is improved, but special infrastructure is needed and still not comparable to the APC Transrapid + + High speed, but no improvement in overall transport capacity compared to regional aircraft TWIKE ++ + Small size of vehicle allows for high capacity road transport (including parking), but performance re- duced compared to APC Underground Logistics ++ ++ High performance and capacity transport service, System (ULS) very efficient as a result of AVG and logistic proce- dures; good connections with other modes Wuppertaler Schwebebahn ++ + High quality public transport system does not inter- fere with road transport, low land use, small im- provement in efficiency in congested areas Zeppelin NT (LZ N07) ++ + Multi-purpose vehicle for direct connections, but only minor improvements in performance or capacity compared to helicopter Key: +++ high ; ++ good ; + small ; 0 none Table 26: Efficiency improvements of new concepts of transport

Page 58 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

Transport concept Principal Comparative Main reason effect advantages Automated Vehicle Guid- +0Market tests say that customers are willing to accept ance (AVG) and pay for these systems but the general opinion is still ambiguous. Problems may arise with the reduced personal influence of the driver. Bicycle Lift +++ + Acceptance is very good because it eases the way of bicycle usage. The general acceptance of bicycling is still lower than car usage (mainly a problem of the traffic frame conditions tailored to car usage). Cable Liner ++ ++ Good acceptance because of the high service level. CargoLifter (CL 160) + +++ The transportation of oversized goods always has negative impacts on the other modes, which lead to low acceptance, but the CargoLifter highly reduces the impacts to the start and landing sites only. Fast Ferry Rotterdam – ++ ++ A marketing research indicated a positive attitude by Dordrecht possible users. Fast Moving Walkway +++ +++ Very good acceptance, ease of walking. (TRAX) H-Bahn Dortmund ++ ++ The attitude towards driverless operation of transport systems is conflicting but can be overcome through marketing measures. LLNL HyperSoar 0 0 Low acceptance due to high noise and emissions. NT Systèmes ++ ++ Good acceptance due to low noise and other emis- sions. No particular public interest. Praxitèle ++ ++ Good acceptance by users and no consequences for non users. Still people prefer private car ownership. Rigid Airship Design +++Less negative side effects than the conventional (RA-180) mode. Rivium ParkShuttle ++ + Good acceptance but still conflicting attitude towards driverless operation. Road Train ++ + Good acceptance by non-users due to less negative side effects than the conventional mode but it offers no door-to-door service and needs therefore time and means for modal change. RUF Dual-Mode ++ + Good acceptance due to high service level and less negative effects than the conventional mode. But the system needs to be quite developed in a matter of size to be competitive against the APC. TH!NK ++ + In general good acceptance because of the reduced emissions. But still safety concerns (small vehicle is thought to be unsafe) and the lower operating range when compared with the conventional mode (APC). BTS TransGlide 2000 +++ + Good acceptance mainly among cyclist, because it heavily eases their ride but it takes more than a stand alone infrastructure for a mode switch. Transrapid ++ ++ Usage itself is very convenient. But the high accep- tance is lowered due to the high infrastructure costs. TWIKE ++ + In general good acceptance because of the reduced emissions. But still safety concerns (small vehicle considered unsafe). Ambiguous opinions about hu- man powered vehicles. Underground Logistics ++ +++ The system reduces the negatives effects of heavy System (ULS) goods vehicles to a minimum. Wuppertaler Schwebebahn ++ ++ Seen as a backbone of the transportation system. Zeppelin NT (LZ N07) ++ +++ Application mainly for leisure travel. Good accep- tance. Much more convenient flight characteristics than a helicopter. Key: +++ high ; ++ good ; + small ; 0 none Table 27: Public acceptance of new concepts of transport

Page 59 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

6.11 Identification of further RTD needs RECONNECT covered a number of new modes of transport that can be character- ised by a variety of aspects each of them in a wide range of nuances: • status of development from more or less vague ideas over paper concepts to re- alised installations which have already shown a successful operation; • kind and extent of "new technology" from using well known elements in a new way or a new combination to really new approaches in technology or logistics; • fields of application from urban to very long distance; • service area: passenger, freight or both of them, from mass transit to (quasi-) in- dividual transport; • field of transportation: air-borne, road-based, rail-based, dual-mode, water-borne and use of underground space; • operator/ownership: from public transport to private bicycle; • investment costs for vehicles and/or infrastructure from small to very high; • congestion reduction potential from negligible to high/important; and • judgement of market potential from negligible to high/important. Taking this background with its multiple facets into account, it is obvious that the po- tential of the different systems to contribute to a reduction of congestion varies widely. The potential of a specific system is mainly owed to its capacity and attrac- tiveness on the one hand, because this determines the share of users which can be shifted to a new mode, and to the costs of vehicles, infrastructure and operation on the other. In general, further research can contribute to improve the potential of new modes of transport. However, it should not be disregarded that "conventional" modes of urban public transport such as bus, tramway, light railway, or metro have also shown a large po- tential for improvements. To mention only some of the achievements, low emission drives, low floor technology to ease boarding and alighting, driverless operation, and dual-voltage vehicles which can operate on urban light rail routes as well as on main line tracks have been brought up.

To understand the origin of perceived barriers which are understood to demand addi- tional research and development efforts, Table 28 gives an overview of the current development status of the 21 new concepts pre-selected in RECONNECT.

Page 60 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

New means of transport Phase of concept development (as by early 2000) Automated Vehicle Guidance (AVG) Bicycle Lift Cable Liner CargoLifter (CL 160) Fast Ferry Rotterdam – Dordrecht Fast Moving Walkway (TRAX) H-Bahn Dortmund LLNL HyperSoar NT Systèmes Praxitèle Rigid Airship Design (RA-180) Rivium ParkShuttle Road Train RUF Dual-Mode TH!NK BTS TransGlide 2000 Transrapid TWIKE Underground Logistics System (ULS) Wuppertaler Schwebebahn Zeppelin NT (LZ N07) Concept idea Pre-design Demonstrator Prototype Pilot application Fully operational Table 28: Development status of pre-selected new concepts

* TH!NK and TWIKE are produced in small numbers

Page 61 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

Key RTD needs A principal field for European RTD is to advance the market introduction of the most promising concepts by increasing certainty and reducing production costs. The rele- vant areas of research are: • vehicle drive-lines (electric propulsion, hybrid propulsion, person-powered pro- pulsion); • lateral and longitudinal vehicle guidance; • construction of vehicle bodies of new concepts to current and future legislative standards (e.g. recycling); • vehicle equipment (e.g. Information Technology and Communication); • operations control and Telematics; • automated road and rail infrastructure; • environmental costs and benefits of new concepts; • noise and safety effects of new concepts. In addition, further research work is necessary for underground infrastructure tech- nologies, namely: • ground exploration; • tunnel driving; • mucking; • tunnel lining; • standardisation of dimensions. On a more generic level, note that RTD work is mainly necessary to overcome tech- nical barriers, especially for concepts, which are up to now in an early stage of de- velopment. Furthermore, research work can help to spread the application of prom- ising concepts that are fairly well developed or even fully operational by cutting down their high investment costs and ensuring proper marketing.

New conceptual and design approaches for vehicles and infrastructure The quality checklist for the citizens' network from the Green Paper on Transport for Citizens14 includes the criteria which can influence the choice between the automo- bile and public transport in favour of the latter. Many of them cover aspects of com- fort and attractiveness, which can be influenced by the conceptual approach and the design of vehicles and stations or stops. New vehicles for "conventional" systems such as , tramways, light railways, metros have shown a tremendous development aiming at more convenience and comfort: • low floor technology, in combination with an appropriate design of the stops, make boarding and alighting very much easier than it was with former vehicles which could be entered and left only by climbing over several steps. Multilevel stations are equipped with and so that mobility impaired passengers can use the system without difficulties too15. New modes of transport must take account of the relevant guidelines;

14 Refer also to the QUATTRO project. [12] 15 The principles have been laid down for example in the reports COST 322 "Low Floor Buses" and COST 335 "Passengers' Accessibility of Heavy Rail System".

Page 62 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

• the vehicles should be equipped with an appropriate heating and ventilation sys- tem. Due to conditions of climate, air conditioning may be necessary; • to improve the actual safety and the feeling of safety by the passenger in vehi- cles and stations, broad spaces without "hidden areas", bright lighting and com- munication systems to the driver or a central control station are necessary. These demands are known in general. But further research could help to develop criteria for concrete design tasks. • The vehicles must be tailored to the specific market for a new mode of transport (overall size, share of seats and space for passengers who prefer to stand during the trip). The dialogue with the customer/user can be helpful.

Organisational and conceptual frameworks The attractiveness of a transport mode is not only influenced by technical attributes but – perhaps even more – by service characteristics. This starts with frequency, punctuality and reliability and ends with the cleanliness and availability of staff. Although these demands are known in general, there arise problems in daily opera- tion of defining limits for a certain aspect (how can "cleanliness" be described in facts and figures?). Research work could help to fill out certain topics of the quality checklist with data, which can be used for design and daily operation. The involvement of (potential) us- ers is essential.

Further RTD needs for new means of transport As already stressed, a variety of barriers can be defined which may hinder the intro- duction of new transport concepts. The categories of barriers are: • information; • regulatory and legal; • technical; • financial and commercial; • societal; and • decision-making. There do exist different ways to overcome barriers: • information barriers can be overcome by "selling" a product (marketing, influenc- ing the public opinion, involvement of potential users). To enhance public awareness of new concepts – in particular for public transport alternatives – marketing efforts are strongly recommended. Taking a look at mar- keting expenditures of major car manufacturers, it becomes clear that success in the market place and the reflected modal split is not fixed as a matter of fact. Av- erage marketing expenditures for public transport are typically below 10% of all transport related spending in information and advertising. A change in opinion regarding marketing research has already taken place, fostered by several EU strategic initiatives such as the TAPESTRY16 project; • regulatory and legal barriers can be overcome by changing existing or develop- ing new legislation. This is usually not a topic of research work;

16 "Travel awareness publicity and education supporting a sustainable transport strategy in Europe".

Page 63 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

• to overcome technical barriers can be a typical task of RTD work. The need of research work is mainly due to the development status of a concept. Concepts which are in the status of a prototype, a pilot application of fully operational only face moderate or no technical barriers; • the other concepts for which "considerable" or "high" technical barriers can be identified are in the status of concept idea, pre-design or demonstrator: • Automated Vehicle Guidance (AVG): This concept is in the pre-design phase. Its further development needs additional research work to be carried out in a co-ordinated way of co-operation to avoid the implementation of different sys- tems. • The LLNL HyperSoar would need a lot of RTD work to leave the status of a concept idea. Due to the negative impacts of the concept a support by RTD funds is not recommended. • There exists only a concept idea for the Road Train. A funding of step-by-step RTD work should show the potential of the concept. • The RUF Dual-Mode concept has already reached the status of a demonstra- tor. It should be clarified, if RTD funding is necessary for further development, or if this can be left to industry. • A pre-design exists for the BTS TransGlide 2000. A demonstrator or prototype facility needs investment costs but not necessarily research funds. • The Underground Logistics System (ULS) is in the pre-design phase. RTD funding seems to be justified regarding logistics of operation, technical devel- opment of vehicles and infrastructure (especially tunnelling technology), and intermodal aspects (inclusion in an overall transport chain). • Financial and commercial barriers may arise for several reasons: insufficiency of financial mechanisms for innovation, lacks regarding cost coverage and funding, the size of the market as well as lack of competition. Usually these barriers cannot be overcome by RTD activities. But there exist some approaches where research can help to lower investment costs, such as for all concepts that are dedicated to use underground space. It was already shown above, that research activities can help to build tunnels for transport sys- tems faster or cheaper. This would be of benefit for the Underground Logistics System (ULS) but also for other modes covered in RECONNECT which have the use of underground space not explicitly in their concept. Furthermore, it should be reminded that the pre-selected systems are representatives for classes of concepts. For example, the H-Bahn Dortmund is the representative for the class "Driverless guided public transport", covering several systems which run com- pletely underground such as Meteor in , Metro Lyon and VAL in Lille. It is obvious, that the benefits of these systems are higher and financial barriers are easier to overcome, when infrastructure costs can be lowered. • For some concepts societal barriers have been identified which may hinder the success of an innovation. Barriers can be expected in the field of manpower as well as in problems of acceptance by the staff of the transport or by the users of the system. To overcome such barriers is a matter of staff training and user in- volvement during the development process. • Decision-making barriers exist for some concepts. They consist of a conservative approach of decision-makers, a fragmentation of levels of decision, and a lack of incentives. They can mainly be overcome by an active participation of all deci- sion-makers in the development process and especially by demonstration proj- ects to show the possibilities of a system. It is a task of researchers and develop-

Page 64 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

ers to convince decision-making authorities of the benefits of their concepts. Re- search funds are not really necessary to fulfil this task.

To summarise it can be stated that RTD work is necessary mainly to overcome tech- nical barriers, in particular for concepts that are up to now in an early stage of devel- opment. Furthermore, research work can help to spread the application of promising concepts, which are fairly developed or are even fully operational by cutting down high investment costs and ensuring proper marketing.

➲ D4 "Impact assessment of new transport concepts" ➲ D5 "Policy and market synthesis"

Page 65 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

7. OUTLOOK: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The RECONNECT project has provided a first comprehensive survey of new means of transport, focusing on vehicle and infrastructure innovations. In-depth investigation of selected "most promising" new concepts and the structured assessment of impacts and potentials have been drawing on the FANTASIE methodology. This appraisal of state-of-the-art transport concepts shall be the basis for further strategic research work, with the following brief sections intended to outline possible fields of future actions.

New approaches The majority of new vehicle or transport concepts appraised in this project can be judged as derived from existing systems, implementing new components, materials, propulsion units, information technology or computerised controls. They are heavily drawing on conventional wisdom when it comes to the overall design or conceptual frame of a new proposal. Radically innovative approaches are rare, indeed. New principal solutions are seen in the field of telematics applications (e.g. AVG) that aim at extending the capabilities of road transport means by offering information in- frastructure, driver guidance, anti-collision features, etc. Telematics are expected to offer considerable advantages for rail based systems as well, because expenditure savings in track and vehicle infrastructure are foreseen that may consequently be at the core of organisational schemes such as the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) currently under development. Small individual and city cars, man-wide vehicles or automated, driverless but road based systems are generally derived from the all-purpose car – still being the base- line of the much favoured individual transport. Alternatives to conventional rail such as several suspended and mono-rail systems, or a high-tech solution such as Mag- Lev, have been around for several decades without achieving remarkable market penetration. The renaissance of lighter-than-air craft as well adopts long known con- struction principles that have not dramatically changed since Count Zeppelin's first airship took to the skies over Lake Constanze on 2nd July 1900. Rather innovative ideas will most likely comprise all kinds of hybrid designs for ground transportation or waterborne systems such as: • all electric and guided road or rail vehicles; • railroad telematics applications; • light rail or people mover systems utilising linear motors to reduce noise and al- lowing for construction of less intrusive, terrain following guideways; • rubber-tyre electric public rapid transport systems significantly reducing noise; • advanced conventional technologies in all design aspects for fast inland in the short term; • all-electric ships, once system integration problems are overcome (possible inte- gration with fuel-cell production); • whale-tail (i.e. basic drag reducing) designs for inland ships likely to become a key link to intermodality, especially in environmentally sensitive waterways.

In many congested and primarily urban areas, a lot of innovative small-scale trans- port solutions are planned, mainly for feeder and multimodal transport. Demonstra- tion projects are undertaken to investigate the best solutions and configurations.

Page 66 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

Thus, a European approach will increase the learning effects and economies of scale of these demonstration projects. The high-speed rail system is another example of a successful and high-quality Trans-European transport system, which also shows that transport solutions need much time and governmental support for development be- fore becoming widely accepted standards.

More spectacular visions have already been articulated for next generation airborne vehicles. Among popular proposals are hybrid designs merging fixed/rotary wing heavier-than-air craft or lifting bodies with lighter-than-air technology. The desired benefits would be a combination of dynamic and aerostatic lift, hence larger payload capacity, increased cruise speed due to smart aerodynamic setups or improved safety aspects due to more operational flexibility (ceiling, speed). Examples of such futuristic concepts in the widest sense are: • the US "Para-Airship"; • the "Stingray" from Swiss company Prospective Concepts; • the "SkyCat" from Airship Technologies in the UK; or • the "Aerocraft", an advanced aeronautical design study from NASA's Revolution- ary Concepts (REVCON) project, with involvement of Lockheed Martin's secret "Skunk Works". Other technological concepts as e.g. backed by the European Space Agency (ESA) and DaimlerChrysler Aerospace (Dasa) comprise dedicated stratospheric airship platforms operating at altitudes of approximately 20 kilometres. Those systems would complement satellite based telecommunication networks, once total mission times of between two and five years – comparable to life time expectations for satellites – can be achieved. Dasa's High Altitude Long Endurance platform (HALE) designed as a non-rigid blimp may face competition from the semi-rigid Japanese Stratospheric Platform Airship (SPA), or the American SkyStation project. Solar technology and the use of regenerative fuel cells would most likely ensure long endurance capability of these vessels. However, it has to be stated that most of these sophisticated ideas are in the early stage of proposals, hence not comparable to state-of-the-art concepts in the short term, which RECONNECT has been putting the focus on.

Highlights among selected new transport concepts Inevitable restrictions at the time of pre-selecting innovative concepts for RECON- NECT have repeatedly been stressed. Hence, picking ultimate "winners" from the va- riety of systems is not unambiguously possible. Nevertheless, the project team would like to emphasise that some of the 21 investi- gated concepts have performed remarkably well throughout the stages of assess- ment and analysis; and that of course with respect to congestion reduction as the study's main theme. (For a detailed analysis of market potential, pre-conditions and the appropriate fields of application for those highlighted concepts, refer to ➲ D5 "Policy and market syn- thesis".)

Page 67 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

Once more referring to defined congestion areas, the RECONNECT partners high- light the following representatives that utilise three principal modes – elevated, un- derground and air transport – to ease ground level congestion: Solutions for urban congestion, intercity highways and traffic nodes Passenger service Freight distribution The H-Bahn Dortmund, in operation on A high degree of independence from a university campus, stands for public ground level congestion is achieved by transport concepts that build on dedi- the Underground Logistics System cated elevated infrastructures to over- (ULS) that allows for a new quality in come congestion. Very reliable and en- intermodal freight transport. The poten- vironmental friendly service combined tial to serve as a backbone for municipal with good options to foster intermodality, distribution networks comes at the ex- the system justifies acceptable infra- pense of acceptable investment costs structure investments. owed to the microtunnel concept. A second full scale application at the The ULS is likely to be realised for a Duesseldorf airport is currently under connection from Amsterdam's airport to construction. the Aalsmeer Flower Auction.

Solutions for natural bottlenecks or (very) long haul Point-to-point freight delivery The CargoLifter airship will replace a complex transport chain for heavy and bulky freight that currently leads to slow shipment processes. To become inde- pendent of costly ground infrastructure, the vehicle integrates crane functionality and will provide sound manoeuvrability in demanding weather conditions. A proof-of-concept demonstrator is al- ready flying, with construction of a first full scale prototype to commence later this year.

This appraisal of most promising new transport concepts may always be aggregated to generic classes as presented in Table 1 of this document. For example, if there are deviating circumstances in a given case, some of the other systems from the same class might equally or better suit the needs of a considered application.

Page 68 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

Recommendations for future EC research studies and other activities The "new means of transport" task was initiated at the end of the transport pro- gramme within Framework Programme 4 with very limited resources. It was intended as a first step to give an overview of the variety of existing ideas, concepts or already operating new systems and to highlight the most promising new means of transport in order to reduce congestion while fulfilling the other aims of the CTP. Today, a second step should be a series of more detailed, not only technology driven, studies and activities to focus on the concepts with the highest benefits and potentials. There was a great variety of different systems not easily comparable due to attributes, stage of development in the innovation cycle, and lack of experience and data. Hence the RECONNECT consortium developed classes of transport con- cepts as a generalised characterisation to maintain the full potential of a specific class even if the pre-selected concept is not fully sophisticated yet. The specific recommendations in addition to the technology driven RTD recommen- dations of chapter 6 are17: • A detailed research study on new means of transport with focus on refinement of the class characterisation, detailed assessment and cost benefit analysis for the most promising classes following the sophisticated framework of RECONNECT (based on FANTASIE); • Combined (exploratory) assessment studies and thematic networks around: • small underground tubes for freight transport; • elevated automated guided passenger transport of different cabin size; • airship technology based concepts with new and unique transport capabilities for people and goods. • Targeted pilot and demonstration projects of the most promising ground level concepts ready for market introduction in the near future: • road based people movers; • individual public transport; • automated vehicle guidance; • man wide cars. It is obvious that drastic improvements require significant investments. The singular application of new means of transport further increases costs. The aim must be to define early standards to allow frequent application of the same system to reduce risk and cost simultaneously. Stakeholders of competing systems without significant mar- ket penetration should join to a European industry (such as the Airbus story) and agree on one most promising concept or transport concept family. Then concepts re- quiring new infrastructure could be offered much cheaper and much more competi- tive on a global basis. Recommended actions are: • a research study dealing with the political and economic aspects of that dimen- sion; and • demonstration projects, applying the MAESTRO Guidelines18, to early involve the end user (passengers, freight distributors) and all other actors to remove barriers and to create awareness of the benefits of the new complementary means of transport. The integration aspect with existing rather conventional transport should be envisaged.

17 Interaction and co-ordination with key action 'City of Tomorrow' will be necessary. 18 MAESTRO ("Monitoring, Assessment and Evaluation Scheme for Transport Policy Options in Europe") [9]

Page 69 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

BIBLIOGRAPHY

[1] Strategic research study RECONNECT ("Reducing Congestion by Introducing New Concepts of Transport"): Deliverables 1, 2, 3 and 4 (all public); CEC (ed., 1999-2000), Brussels [2] "Energy, environment and sustainable development. Programme for research, technology development and demonstration under the Fifth Framework Pro- gramme – Work programme"; CEC (ed., 1999), Brussels [3] "The Common Transport Policy. Sustainable Mobility: Perspectives for the Fu- ture"; COM(98)716, 1998, Brussels [4] "Proposals for council decisions concerning the specific programmes imple- menting the Fifth Framework Programme of the European Community for re- search, technological development and demonstration activities"; CEC (ed., 1998), Brussels [5] "High level group on innovation in the field of transport"; CEC (June/August 1999), Brussels [6] "The Citizens' Network." Green Paper from the European Commission; COM(95)601, 1995, Brussels [7] Strategic dissemination project EXTRA ("Exploitation of Transport Research"): Thematic papers on "Sustainable mobility – integrated perspective", "Freight intermodality" and "Traveller intermodality" (restricted); CEC (ed., 1999-2000), Brussels [8] Strategic research study FANTASIE ("Forecasting and Assessment of New Technologies and Transport Systems and their Impacts on the Environment"): Deliverables 2, 20 and 23 (restricted), 9, 12, 13 and 22 (public); CEC (ed., 1997-2000), Brussels [9] "The MAESTRO Guidelines [for transport pilot project evaluation]". Strategic re- search study MAESTRO ("Monitoring, Assessment and Evaluation Scheme for Transport Policy Options in Europe"): Deliverable 6; CEC (ed., 2000), Brussels [10] Strategic initiative MINIMISE ("Managing Interoperability by Improvements in Transport System Organisation in Europe"): Final report for publication; CEC (ed., 1996-1999), Brussels [11] Research project MOTIF ("Market Oriented Transport in Focus"): Final report for publication; CEC (ed., 1998), Brussels [12] Research study QUATTRO ("Quality Approach in Tendering Urban Public Transport Options"): Final Report; CEC (ed. 1998), Brussels [13] Research study UTOPIA ("Urban Transport: Options for Propulsion Systems and Instruments for Analysis"): Deliverable 2 (public); CEC (ed. 1998), Brussels [14] Research study BEST ("Steigerung des Kundennutzens von betrieblichen Sys- temen und Technologien im öffentlichen Personenverkehr"); FGM/AMOR (ed., 1999), Graz

Page 70 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

ANNEX A: RECONNECT CONTACT LIST

Title First name Family name Role Partner Address Zip code City Country Telephone Fax E-mail Code Mr. Uwe Fischer Scientific officer DG Energy and Rue de Mot 28 B-1040 Brussels BE +32 2 29 55001 +32 2 29 68350 [email protected] Transport – B4 (DM 28 6/21) (DG TREN)

Mr. Ulrich Leiss Project IABG Einsteinstrasse 20 D-85521 Ottobrunn DE +49 89 6088 2219 +49 89 6088 2088 [email protected] co-ordinator Dr. Dieter Hayn Quality manager IABG Einsteinstrasse 20 D-85521 Ottobrunn DE +49 89 6088 3527 +49 89 6088 2088 [email protected] Mr. Wolfgang Helmreich Team member IABG Einsteinstrasse 20 D-85521 Ottobrunn DE +49 89 6088 2006 +49 89 6088 2088 [email protected]

Mr. Christian Brand Dissemination AEAT E6 Culham Oxon Abingdon UK +44 1235 463 617 ++44 1235 463 001 [email protected] manager (ETSU) OX 14 3ED Mr. Paul Watkiss Team member AEAT E6 Culham Oxon Abingdon UK +44 1235 463 948 ++44 1235 463 001 [email protected] (ETSU) OX 14 3ED

Mr. Wolfgang Red Project manager FGM-AMOR Schoenaugasse 8a A-8010 Graz AT +43 316 810451 25 +43 316 810451 75 [email protected] Mr. Karl Reiter Team member FGM-AMOR Schoenaugasse 8a A-8010 Graz AT +43 316 810451 27 +43 316 810451 75 [email protected]

Mr. Hector Hernández Project manager IPTS World Trade Centre, E-41092 Sevilla ES +34 95 4488 292 +34 95 4488 339 [email protected] (JRC) Isla de la Cartuja s/n Mr. Matthias Weber Team member IPTS World Trade Centre, E-41092 Sevilla ES +34 95 4488 336 +34 95 4488 279 [email protected] (JRC) Isla de la Cartuja s/n Ms. Laura Lonza Ricci Team member IPTS World Trade Centre, E-41092 Sevilla ES +34 95 4488 496 +34 95 4488 339 [email protected] (JRC) Isla de la Cartuja s/n

Dr. Friedhelm Blennemann Project manager STUVA Mathias-Brueggen- D-50827 Cologne DE +49 221 59795 0 +49 221 59795 50 [email protected] Strasse 41

Mr. Arjan Heyma Project manager TNO Inro P.O. Box 6041 NL-2600 JA Delft NL +31 15 269 6860 +31 15 269 6050 [email protected] Dr. Wim Korver Team member TNO Inro P.O. Box 6041 NL-2600 JA Delft NL +31 15 269 7250 +31 15 269 6050 [email protected] Mr. Peter Zwaneveld Team member TNO Inro P.O. Box 6041 NL-2600 JA Delft NL +31 15 269 6873 +31 15 269 6050 [email protected]

Status of this information: May 2000

Page 71 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

ANNEX B: LIST OF PROJECT DELIVERABLES

The RECONNECT project has produced the following documents:

Number and title of deliverable Status/ Workpackage Responsible availability reference partner D1 New means of transport – survey and pre- public 2 & 3 IPTS selection D2 Assessment framework and methodology public 4 ETSU guidelines D3 Targeted assessment database public 5 FGM-AMOR D4 Impact assessment of new transport con- public 6 TNO cepts D5 Policy and market synthesis public 7 IABG

Progress report 1 confidential 1 IABG Final report (for publication) public 1 IABG Final consolidated progress report confidential 1 IABG Summary report (CORDIS) public 1 IABG Dissemination report confidential 1 ETSU

Newsletter, June 1999 public 1 ETSU Project brief, May 2000 public 1 ETSU

Page 72 of 73 Reducing Congestion by Introducing Final Report New Concepts of Transport May 2000

ANNEX C: LINKS TO WEBSITES OF INTEREST

A (non-comprehensive) compilation of valuable links to web pages of concept pro- posers and various other information sources is provided below.

Transport concept / information source Web address/URL (http://...) Bicycle Lift www.novit.no/dahls/Trampe/index.html Cable Liner www.dcc.at CargoLifter (CL 160) www.cargolifter.com Fast Ferry Rotterdam – Dordrecht www.fastferry.nl/indexff.html H-Bahn Dortmund www.h-bahn.de LLNL HyperSoar www.llnl.gov/PAO/NewsReleases/1998/NR-98-09-04.html Praxitèle www-rocq.inria.fr/Praxitele/welcome-angl.html Rigid Airship Design (RA-180) members.tripod.com/rigid/air.html Rivium ParkShuttle www.ant-peoplemover.nl RUF Dual-Mode www.ruf.dk TH!NK www.think.no BTS TransGlide 2000 www.biketrans.com Transrapid www.maglev.com ; www.mvp.de TWIKE www.twike.ch Underground Logistics System (ULS) www.haskoning.nl Wuppertaler Schwebebahn www.wsw.de Zeppelin NT (LZ N07) www.zeppelin-nt.com

Innovative Transportation Technolo- faculty.washington.edu/~jbs/itrans/ gies; University of Washington, Seattle US Transportation Research Board www.nas.edu/trb/index.html Directory of Transportation Resources, dragon.Princeton.edu:80/~dhb/ Princeton University The ESTO network esto.jrc.es/welcome/

Airship information sources (general) spot.colorado.edu/~dziadeck/airship.html ; www.hotairship.com

Page 73 of 73