Page 10 - AUTOMATED - Issue 7 Tech transplants
P. 10
ISSUE 7
All aboard the automated bus
Navigating a city without public transport is There are varying degrees of metro automation. Some
almost impossible. Under the strain of systems are capable of running station to station
increasing urban populations and growing without any control from the driver, who functions only
pressure to reduce pollution in metropolitan to detect obstacles and open and close the doors.
areas, public transport is constantly adapting. The highest level of automation, a truly driverless
But is it changing fast enough? Here, EU metro vehicle, is already functioning in Copenhagen
Automation discusses the potential benefits of and Barcelona.
automation for public transport.
The imaginative public transport ideas of recent years, “The highest level of
have gathered both interest and controversy. automation, a truly
Remember Elon Musk’s subsonic train, Hyperloop,
and China’s straddling bus? Despite the oddity of driverless metro
some of these ideas, the reality is that automated vehicle, is already
public transport has real potential for changing urban
mobility. functioning in
Technology that makes driving easier is already Copenhagen and
embedded in everyday life. There is a lot of buzz
around the arrival of driverless cars, particularly since Barcelona”
Google first revealed its prototype; optimists assure
us that by 2025 entire journeys will be done
autonomously.
Most of the hype surrounding autonomous vehicles Paris finished the conversion of Metro Ligne 1 to
has focussed on cars – but did you know that the first operate using driverless trains in December 2012 after
automated public transport line, the Victoria line in years of planning, construction and negotiation with
London, opened in 1967? Fast forward to 2016 and unions. The conversion was done without major
there are a number of metro systems operating with interruption to passengers and its success led to the
significantly higher levels of automation. automation of several other lines in the system.
Metros and trains The conversion of the line to an automated system has
According to a recent report published by the allowed additional passengers to be carried at peak
International Association of Public Transport, as of times and enabled trains to run every 85 seconds.
July 2016 there were 53 fully automated metro lines in Sceptics have said this is partly to do with the wide,
36 cities across the world. Of the current 786 km of well lit, proximity of Paris’s metro stations, as well as
these automated lines, half sit in four countries; the abundance of security staff on the platforms
France, South Korea, Singapore and the United Arab –which would make it difficult to replicate in other
Emirates. It is predicted that by 2023 there will be metropolitan areas.
2,200 km of automated lines.
10
All aboard the automated bus
Navigating a city without public transport is There are varying degrees of metro automation. Some
almost impossible. Under the strain of systems are capable of running station to station
increasing urban populations and growing without any control from the driver, who functions only
pressure to reduce pollution in metropolitan to detect obstacles and open and close the doors.
areas, public transport is constantly adapting. The highest level of automation, a truly driverless
But is it changing fast enough? Here, EU metro vehicle, is already functioning in Copenhagen
Automation discusses the potential benefits of and Barcelona.
automation for public transport.
The imaginative public transport ideas of recent years, “The highest level of
have gathered both interest and controversy. automation, a truly
Remember Elon Musk’s subsonic train, Hyperloop,
and China’s straddling bus? Despite the oddity of driverless metro
some of these ideas, the reality is that automated vehicle, is already
public transport has real potential for changing urban
mobility. functioning in
Technology that makes driving easier is already Copenhagen and
embedded in everyday life. There is a lot of buzz
around the arrival of driverless cars, particularly since Barcelona”
Google first revealed its prototype; optimists assure
us that by 2025 entire journeys will be done
autonomously.
Most of the hype surrounding autonomous vehicles Paris finished the conversion of Metro Ligne 1 to
has focussed on cars – but did you know that the first operate using driverless trains in December 2012 after
automated public transport line, the Victoria line in years of planning, construction and negotiation with
London, opened in 1967? Fast forward to 2016 and unions. The conversion was done without major
there are a number of metro systems operating with interruption to passengers and its success led to the
significantly higher levels of automation. automation of several other lines in the system.
Metros and trains The conversion of the line to an automated system has
According to a recent report published by the allowed additional passengers to be carried at peak
International Association of Public Transport, as of times and enabled trains to run every 85 seconds.
July 2016 there were 53 fully automated metro lines in Sceptics have said this is partly to do with the wide,
36 cities across the world. Of the current 786 km of well lit, proximity of Paris’s metro stations, as well as
these automated lines, half sit in four countries; the abundance of security staff on the platforms
France, South Korea, Singapore and the United Arab –which would make it difficult to replicate in other
Emirates. It is predicted that by 2023 there will be metropolitan areas.
2,200 km of automated lines.
10
