Low-Speed Automated Shuttles: State of the Practice Final Report
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Low-Speed Automated Shuttles: State of the Practice Final Report www.its.dot.gov/index.htm Final Report – September 2018 FHWA-JPO-18-692 DOT-VNTSC-OSTR-18-03 Produced by Volpe National Transportation Systems Center U.S. Department of Transportation Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office Notice This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the Department of Transportation in the interest of information exchange. The United States Government assumes no liability for its contents or use thereof. The U.S. Government is not endorsing any manufacturers, products, or services cited herein and any trade name that may appear in the work has been included only because it is essential to the contents of the work. Technical Report Documentation Page 1. Report No. 2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipient’s Catalog No. FHWA-JPO-18-692 4. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date Low-Speed Automated Shuttles: State of the Practice September 2018 Final Report 6. Performing Organization Code V336 8. Performing Organization Report No. 7. Author(s) DOT-VNTSC-OSTR-18-03 Joshua Cregger, Margo Dawes, Stephanie Fischer, Caroline Lowenthal, Elizabeth Machek, and David Perlman 10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS) 9. Performing Organization Name And Address John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center U.S. Department of Transportation 55 Broadway 11. Contract or Grant No. Cambridge, MA 02142 Inter-Agency Agreement DTFH61-15-V-00016 HW35A1 12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address 13. Type of Report and Period Covered Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office Final Report U.S. Department of Transportation August 2015 – September 2018 1200 New Jersey Ave, SE 14. Sponsoring Agency Code Washington, DC 20590 15. Supplementary Notes ITS JPO project manager is Kevin Dopart. 16. Abstract To better understand the emerging area of low-speed automated shuttles, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office (ITS JPO) partnered with the John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe) to review the current state of the practice of low-speed automated shuttles. These vehicles share many characteristics with other forms of automated vehicles but include unique considerations in terms of design, operations, and service type, including: fully automated driving (intended for use without a driver); operational design domain (ODD) (restricted to protected and less-complicated environments); low speeds (cruising speeds around 10-15 mph); shared service (typically designed to carry multiple passengers, including unrestrained passengers and standees); and shared right-of-way with other road users, either at designated crossing locations or along the right-of-way itself. This report defines design and service characteristics; discusses the deployers, their motivations, and their partners; and provides information on demonstrations and deployments, both international and domestic. The document also provides context on common challenges and suggested mitigations. Building on all of this information, the document identifies several research questions on topics ranging from safety and accessibility to user acceptance and societal impacts. 17. Key Words 18. Distribution Statement Low-speed automated shuttles, automated vehicles, This document is available to the public through the National Technical Information Service, Springfield, Virginia 22161. pilot deployments, demonstrations 19. Security Classif. (of this report) 20. Security Classif. (of this page) 21. No. of Pages 22. Price Unclassified Unclassified 37 Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72) Reproduction of completed page authorized Acknowledgments This project was funded by the Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office. We also thank the early deployment communities who participated in the Low-Speed Automated Shuttle Information-Sharing Working Group and the many other stakeholders who took the time to speak with us and inform this document. U.S. Department of Transportation Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office Low-Speed Automated Shuttles: State of the Practice | i Table of Contents Acknowledgments .............................................................................................................................. i Introduction and Scope .................................................................................................................... 6 LOW-SPEED AUTOMATED SHUTTLES .......................................................................................................... 6 METHODOLOGY .......................................................................................................................................... 6 OBJECTIVES 7 DOCUMENT ORGANIZATION ........................................................................................................................ 7 Industry and Deployment Overview ................................................................................................ 8 VEHICLE AND SERVICE CHARACTERISTICS .................................................................................................. 8 DEPLOYERS 12 OVERVIEW OF DEMONSTRATION AND DEPLOYMENT ACTIVITY................................................................... 14 Issues, Mitigations, and Future Research .................................................................................... 19 ISSUES 19 MITIGATIONS 25 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ............................................................................................................................ 26 Conclusion 29 References 30 Appendix A: SAE Levels of Automation ....................................................................................... 31 Appendix B: Working Group Participants .................................................................................... 32 Appendix C: Use Cases .................................................................................................................. 33 PRIVATE CIRCULATOR ............................................................................................................................... 33 GROUP TRANSIT SHUTTLE ........................................................................................................................ 33 AUTOMATED PARATRANSIT SERVICE ......................................................................................................... 34 AUTOMATED URBAN DELIVERY ................................................................................................................. 34 U.S. Department of Transportation Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office Low-Speed Automated Shuttles: State of the Practice | ii List of Figures Figure 1: Available examples of low-speed automated shuttles ........................................................... 9 List of Tables Table 1: Typical Characteristics of Low-Speed Automated Shuttles ..................................................... 8 Table 2: Transportation Challenges and Potential Solutions with Automated Shuttles ...................... 13 Table 3: CityMobil2 Demonstration Sites............................................................................................. 14 Table 4: Selected Domestic Low-Speed Automated Shuttle Deployments ........................................ 16 Table 5: Summary of Low-Speed Automated Shuttle Use Case Characteristics ............................... 33 U.S. Department of Transportation Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office Low-Speed Automated Shuttles: State of the Practice | iii Executive Summary Activity in the development of automated driving technologies has intensified over the last decade, and while the majority of attention to this field has focused on conventional vehicles and services—including passenger cars, heavy-duty commercial vehicles, and transit service—this technology may also enable nonconventional vehicle types and use cases. Within the last several years, this has been evident in the rise of a few manufacturers focusing exclusively on the development of a largely new category of vehicles and associated services—low-speed automated shuttles. Purpose and Scope To better understand this emerging area, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office (ITS JPO) partnered with the John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe) to review the current state of the practice of low-speed automated shuttles. These vehicles share many characteristics with other forms of automated vehicles but include unique considerations in terms of design, operations, and service type, including: fully automated driving (intended for use without a driver); operational design domain (ODD) (restricted to protected and less-complicated environments); low speeds (cruising speeds around 10-15 mph); shared service (typically designed to carry multiple passengers, including unrestrained passengers and standees); and shared right-of-way with other road users, either at designated crossing locations or along the right-of-way itself. Key Findings This report defines design and service characteristics; discusses the deployers, their motivations, and their partners; and provides information on demonstrations