AUTOMATIC FOR THE PEOPLE? Wellington House, ISSUES AND OPTIONS FOR TRANSPORT T 0113 251 7204 ISSUES AND OPTIONS 40-50 Wellington Street, E [email protected] AUTHORITIES ON CONNECTED AND Leeds LS1 2DE www.urbantransportgroup.org FAUTONOMOUSOR LOCAL VEHICLES AUTHORITIES 2 Automatic for the people? The Urban Transport Group represents the seven strategic transport bodies which between them serve more than twenty million people in Greater Manchester (Transport for Greater Manchester), Liverpool City Region (Merseytravel), London (Transport for London), Sheffield City Region (South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive), Tyne and Wear (Nexus), West Midlands (Transport for West Midlands) and West Yorkshire (West Yorkshire Combined Authority). The Urban Transport Group is also a wider professional network with associate members in Strathclyde, Bristol and the West of England, Tees Valley, Nottingham and Northern Ireland. Report authors: Rebecca Fuller, with thanks to Clare Linton and Jonathan Bray. March 2020 Contents 3 CONTENTS 1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................4 2 Introducing Connected and Autonomous Vehicles ..................................6 3 UK priorities and policy position on Connected and Autonomous Vehicles ...............................................................12 4 Exploring the case for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles .............................................................................................18 5 Key issues for transport authorities on Connected and Autonomous Vehicles ...............................................................26 6 Options for transport authorities on Connected and Autonomous Vehicles ...............................................................35 7 Conclusions and recommendations .................................................................... 40 8 References .................................................................................................................................. 44 4 Automatic for the people? INTRODUCTION Connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) can The CAV industry also increasingly recognises be considered a ‘Marmite’ issue. People tend to the challenges that mass deployment of the either instinctively love or hate the idea of fully technology presents, requiring ‘government autonomous vehicles with little middle ground. approval, public trust, brand marketing, the Reports on the subject are often equally polarised, ability to manufacture at scale and the technical taking either an evangelical or a doom-laden tone knowhow to manage a fleet.’ 2 as they imagine the utopia or dystopia they will Whilst this report cannot give definitive answers eventually unleash. Some imagination is required as to what the future trajectory for the in either case given that nobody can say for development of CAVs will be, it does aim to certain exactly how CAVs will evolve, at what provide an objective framework for city regions pace and with what consequences. to think about CAVs, their implications for wider Envisaging a future with CAVs involves making a priorities and the approaches they might number of assumptions about how people will therefore take. In doing so, this report seeks to respond to them; at what level of autonomy and do three things that set it apart from the many connectivity they will predominantly operate and other reports there are on CAVs. in what circumstances; what the applications Firstly, it specifically looks at CAVs from the might be for different modes of transport; and perspective of city region transport authorities how soon (if ever) they will come to dominate the in the context of their wider objectives and transport mix. These assumptions have responsibilities, rather than considering CAVs implications for transport policy, networks and in isolation from wider public policy infrastructure but also for a wide range of other considerations. policy areas, from public health to urban planning. Secondly, it does not solely focus on the This helps to explain why CAVs have also been implications of an as yet hypothetical end state described as a ‘wicked problem’1. A wicked where the vast majority of vehicles are fully problem is one that is difficult (or impossible) to autonomous. Instead, it recognises that vehicles solve because of incomplete, contradictory and are increasingly connected and have begun to changing requirements. It involves many operate with features which have a degree of stakeholders with differing views, a large autonomy. We have therefore already embarked potential economic impact, no determinable on a CAVs trajectory. stopping point and complex interdependencies. Wicked problems are not ‘bad’ but are extremely challenging for policy makers. Introduction 5 1 Regardless of whether this trajectory ends in a The report then analyses the four key areas future where all vehicles are fully autonomous, often highlighted as representing the main there are implications in the here and now for potential contribution of CAVs (safety, transport authorities. This report takes the view economic, social and environmental benefits) that CAVs are, and will continue to be, a moving before examining six challenges of particular target with live implications at every twist and relevance to transport authorities. turn rather than a single leap to a pre-determined Consideration is then given to the options open end state on which all thinking and policy making to transport authorities in terms of how they should focus on accommodating. might approach the emergence of CAVs. Thirdly, whilst many other reports on CAVs It features a number of international examples focus exclusively on how cars might become highlighting a range of approaches from laissez fully autonomous, this report looks at a wider faire to acting as a guiding hand. range of vehicles including buses and public Finally the report suggests what transport service vehicles. It also looks at the implications authorities can do now to respond effectively of CAV technologies for the roads these vehicles to the development of CAVs and what actions will be travelling on. national government should take to enable them The report begins by providing clarification to do so. on what we mean by CAVs before assessing what stage the technology is at and where it sits in terms of UK government policy and priorities. 6 Automatic for the people? INTRODUCING CONNECTED AND AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES Defining Connected and Autonomous Vehicles For the purposes of this report, we define • are automated in some way – that is, they connected and autonomous vehicles as: can perform some or all functions without driver input. • those which use an external network connection to communicate in some way – Vehicles can have varying degrees of connectivity either to the driver, other vehicles, roadside and automation. infrastructure or the cloud, or to any In respect of automation, the most widely used combination (or all) of these and model is that developed by SAE which describes six levels of vehicle automation3: No The human driver performs all aspects of all driving tasks, even when these are enhanced Level 0 Automation by warning or intervention systems. Eyes on Hands on Driver The driver assistance features can carry out either the steering or acceleration/deceleration. Level 1 Assistance Eyes on Hands on Partial The driver assistance features can carry out both steering and acceleration/deceleration. Level 2 Automation Eyes on Hands on The driving automation features can perform all driving tasks but a human ‘fallback-ready Conditional user’ is expected to respond appropriately to ‘a request to intervene’. The fallback-ready Level 3 Automation user must be receptive to a handover request or to an evident system failure, but is not Eyes off (temporary) Hands off (temporary) expected to monitor the driving environment. The driving automation features can perform all the driving tasks within their ‘operational High design domain’ (for example, motorways only). There is no expectation that the human user Level 4 Automation will respond to a request to intervene. If the limits of the system are exceeded, the system Eyes off Hands off will put the vehicle into a ‘minimal risk condition’, such as a safe stop. This is identical to Level 4 except that the driving automation features are not limited by Full an operational design domain. Instead they are capable of performing all driving functions Level 5 Automation in all situations that a human driver could. Eyes off Hands off Introducing Connected and Autonomous Vehicles 7 2 No The human driver performs all aspects of all driving tasks, even when these are enhanced Level 0 Automation by warning or intervention systems. Driver The driver assistance features can carry out either the steering or acceleration/deceleration. Level 1 Assistance Partial The driver assistance features can carry out both steering and acceleration/deceleration. Level 2 Automation The driving automation features can perform all driving tasks but a human ‘fallback-ready Conditional user’ is expected to respond appropriately to ‘a request to intervene’. The fallback-ready Level 3 Automation user must be receptive to a handover request or to an evident system failure, but is not expected to monitor the driving environment. The driving automation features can perform all the driving tasks within their ‘operational High design domain’ (for example, motorways