“My suggestions for fluidifying urban centers with autonomous vehicles “
Christophe Sapet, NAVYA CEO
Recognizing the legal status of autonomous vehicles; proactive remote monitoring; communicating with service vehicles or even service providers: these very real, simple solutions for promoting autonomous vehicle deployment and fluidifying urban centers already exist. Now it is up to us to make sure they are deployed. Unlike some players on the market who have a somewhat futurist and long-term vision of events, I advocate a more practical and realistic approach with quick and very real results.
The booming autonomous vehicle sector is currently one of the most burning issues worldwide. Now, more than ever, I am convinced that fully autonomous, shared and electric mobility solutions are the most realistic way of reducing urban traffic congestion. This is a battle that I have been fighting for many years.
AUTONOM: the autonomous, electric and shared mobility solution
A traffic flow report published by the University of Illinois(1) in May 2017 illustrates that a total of only 5% of autonomous vehicles would need to be introduced to regulate traffic flow and reduce city-center congestion. In its July 2016 report, The Boston Consulting Group (2) confirms that this would in turn free-up 54% of all space currently set-aside for parking and reduce CO2 emissions by 80%. The risk of traffic accidents would be reduced from 50 to 90%.
Contrary to what some think, this autonomous mobility solution actually exists, and thousands of people use it every day throughout the world. AUTONOM (an electric, autonomous and driverless vehicle) complements current public transport solutions already in place and is “intermodal”, running alongside the train, tram, bus and subway. This mobility solution meets the needs of all users in urban centers within a thirty kilometer radius. The “cab” format is designed to transport 1 to 6 passengers, the “shuttle” is a shared transport solution for 15 passengers and looking ahead to the future, why not an autonomous bus for larger numbers?
How to accelerate AUTONOM’s deployment
We need to take real action towards accelerating AUTONOM deployment and fluidifying cities by working more closely with both the public and private sectors. It is important not to forget that we are in a global race to the finish line and this is a strategic matter for states, cities, companies and citizens alike.
The first point I would like to raise concerns the changes in legislation. Last March, the French government published a statutory law regarding vehicle trials on public roads (3), affirming its wish to add a legal aspect to the structure. Although we are delighted that awareness of these challenges has been raised, we must however remain vigilant whilst anxiously awaiting the enactment of these laws in January 2019, even if it seems like their implementation is a long way off and likely to delay deployment. Yet the more trials we put into place and the more vehicles we put on the road, the more we will be able to show lawmakers that autonomous transport is a pertinent, reliable and safe mode of transport. But France should not lose the head start it has on the global autonomous vehicle market because of the legal and administrative red tape surrounding trial conditions. In fact in France, the administrative procedures linked to these trials are becoming more complex. In addition to the “autonomous vehicle inter-administration” group, who manage the case files, we must also consult the city halls and police headquarters of all major towns and cities.
With legislation comes the question of responsibility in the case of incidents and accidents. On this topic, specialists agree that over time, responsibility will eventually be shared between manufacturers, transport operators, the infrastructure managing body and even other vehicles on the road. In my opinion, what is important now is to secure a legal status for autonomous vehicles.
Responsibility of course raises the question of safety. I am convinced that having to have an operator on board the AUTONOM is not the solution to ensuring sits safe operation. On the contrary, they can be distracting or even careless. We are working on implementing a proactive remote monitoring system in collaboration with our partner VALEO, to meet the “human supervisory” requirement. Thanks to monitoring and analytical tools available to us, this system will be able to guarantee that the supervisor always pays attention to driving and traffic conditions.
Another lever to optimize autonomous vehicle implementation is the way in which they communicate with the road infrastructure. Today, there are not enough sensors or antennae available for the roads to remain in constant communication with the vehicles travelling on them. V2X (Vehicle-to-everything) technology development will be instrumental in autonomous vehicle development. V2I technology, based on transferring information from a vehicle to systems likely to interact with it, enables it to optimize operations and anticipate future events such as traffic lights turning green. The vehicle can then adapt its speed accordingly, improving traffic flow. Technology also allows for V2V (Vehicle to Vehicle), V2P (Vehicle to Pedestrian) and V2G (Vehicle to Network) communication to enable vehicles to communicate with each other and with the infrastructure.
Our quest to better communicate with the infrastructure has led us to work with French signalling specialists The Lacroix Group. Together we are developing a V2I system so that our AUTONOMS can connect to traffic lights in order to anticipate the possible risks liked to traffic flow. Our partnership with the Aéroports de Paris is already up and running: at Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport our shuttles actively communicate with traffic lights. This solution could well feature in Smart Cities.
We are constantly trying to find ways of improving communication between AUTONOMS and their environment, some of which I find are of particular importance. In order to prevent traffic risks, we could for example think about equipping emergency service vehicles — police, ambulance and technical service vehicles etc. — with systems that can connect with autonomous vehicles. The Internet of Things (IoT) has progressed so much that we could even envisage kitting out staff with computerized vests that communicate with each other. This would be a highly efficient way of communicating with AUTONOMS.
Progress benefiting both society and citizens
When many make long-term forecasts, I personally prefer to remain very down-to-earth when it comes to the autonomous vehicle market and the city of the future. I have been a player in this market since 2014 and have always been dead set on developing my industrial activity little by little, in a repetitious manner, without skipping any steps. I am keen to offer realistic and affordable short-term solutions.
These concrete solutions will aid us with autonomous vehicle development. This is how, day by day, we will be able to fluidify urban centers and allow citizens to become the masters of their own space and time.
(1) “Dissipation of stop-and-go waves via control of autonomous vehicles: Field experiments”
(2) “Self-driving vehicles, robo-taxis and the urban mobility revolution”
(3) Statutory law n°2018–211 dated 28 March 2018 regarding vehicle trials on public roads. This law has enabled France to provide level 4 autonomous vehicle trials with a legislative framework (vehicles are designed to perform all safety-critical driving functions and monitor roadway conditions for an entire trip without driver attention).
