An urban design response to the technological shift in transportation: How to conduct urban design with vehicle automation, sharing and connectivity

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An urban design response to the technological shift in transportation

How to conduct urban design with vehicle automation, sharing and connectivity

Author(s):

Maheshwari, Tanvi Publication Date:

2020-11-18 Permanent Link:

https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000451973

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AN URBAN DESIGN RESPONSE TO THE TECHNOLOGICAL SHIFT IN TRANSPORTATION

How to conduct urban design with vehicle automation, sharing and connectivity Tanvi Maheshwari | 18 November 2020

Preferred citation style

Maheshwari, Tanvi (2020) An urban design response to the technological shift in transportation, Future Cities

Laboratory Webinar, Singapore, November 2020.

THE DRIVERLESS VEHICLE ⁰²

Winner of the 2004 DARPA Grand Challenge race for driverless vehicles.

Source: cs.cmu.edu

An early driverless car or ‘phantom auto’ from 1921

Source: chroniclingamerica.loc.gov

THE ‘TECHNOLOGICAL SHIFT’ ⁰³

Dominant ride-hailing apps in 171 countries around the world (2016)

Source: similarweb.com

The rise of Electric Vehicles

Source: channelnewsasia.com

Increasing connectivity The convergence of emerging systems and technologies

in transportation have the potential to converge and

fundamentally shift existing mobility patterns.

THE CAR AND THE CITY ⁰⁴

General Motors’ Futurama exhibit designed by Norman Bel Geddes in 1939

System of Automobility : a path-dependent pattern of development of society and urban form, stemming from the automobile.

(Urry , 2004)

Will the technological shift in transportation further the system of automobility or does it have the potential to dismantle it?

Source: (Right) General Motors (obtained from computerhistory.org) (Left) mot.gov.sg

View of a highway in Singapore

IMPACT OF THE SHIFT ⁰⁵

General Motors’ Futurama exhibit designed by Norman Bel Geddes in 1939

Pace of technological development Public Acceptance

Operational Policy

Urban Design and Planning

Driving Forces

B. Segregating Street Space

B1: Grade separation

B2: At-grade physical buffer

B3: Shared street

A1: BAU A2: Reducing lane width A2: Reducing no. of lanes

A. Reclaiming Street Space

C. Responsive Streets

METHODOLOGY ⁰⁶

Four Design Experiments

L2NIC-2B Project: Planning for Autonomous Vehicles

07

SINGAPORE NEW TOWNS

Source: (Heng, 2015),

“Singapore’s new town development is an experiment in an urban laboratory

Liu Thai Ker (Liu et al., 1983)

How can the prevailing New Town Structural model can be modified in response to the technological shift in transportation?

Fictional New Town Prototype Transport options

Privately owned AVs

Single person automated taxi pods

6-20 seater Demand Responsive Transit or DRT Fixed route scheduled automated buses Mass Rapid Transit

Sketch MATSim User Interface developed by Ordoñez and Fourie

08

NETWORK EXPERIMENT

Loops Grid Superblock

Loops Grid Superblock

Mean distance

travelled/ride (km) 5.67 3.86 3.70

Detour Ratio 2.09 1.85 1.59

- 200,000 400,000 600,000 800,000 1,000,000 1,200,000

Loops Grid Superblock

DRT, Taxi and Car VKT

DRT - Empty VKT DRT - Revenue VKT Taxi - Empty VKT Taxi - Revenue VKT Car VKT

To ta l v eh icle k ilo m et re s t ra ve lle d

Bösch, P.M., Becker, F., Becker, H., Axhausen, K.W., 2018. Cost-based analysis of autonomous mobility services. Transport Policy 64, 76–91.

10

NETWORK EXPERIMENT

Loops Grid Superblock

Mean distance

travelled/ride (km) 5.67 3.86 3.70

Detour Ratio 2.09 1.85 1.59

110,000 115,000 120,000 125,000 130,000 135,000 140,000 145,000

Loops Grid Superblock

DRT Trip Legs

First/last mile connectivity remains an issue in the existing hierarchical and disconnected street network, despite DRT deployment.

In a more connected street network, well-designed active mobility network is a necessary complement.

- 20,000 40,000 60,000 80,000 100,000 120,000 140,000 160,000

Loops Grid Superblock

Taxi Trip Legs

215,000 220,000 225,000 230,000 235,000 240,000 245,000 250,000 255,000 260,000 265,000

Loops Grid Superblock

Car Trip Legs

To ta l n um be r o f t rip le gs

12

NETWORK EXPERIMENT

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5

Traffic Flow

Active Mobility

Transit Access Traffic emissions

Space Use

Loops Grid Superblock

Loops Grid Superblock

Avg peak speed* 38.89 38.56 26.68

Avg peak speed/free speed 0.93 0.94 0.95

* Average of average speed on all links, weighted by link length

- 50,000 100,000 150,000 200,000 250,000 300,000

Loops Grid Superblock

Trip Legs by Mode (Private)

Taxi Car

- 50,000 100,000 150,000 200,000 250,000 300,000

Loops Grid Superblock

Trip Legs by Mode (Shared)

DRT Bus

Superblocks are slow but not congested.

To ta l n um be r o f t rip le gs To ta l n um be r o f t rip le gs

0.00 4.00 8.00 12.00 16.00 20.00

Loops Grid Superblock

Average travel time

Avg Waiting Time Avg in-vehicle time

m inu te s

13

PUDO EXPERIMENT

Many PUDOs (161 points, 150 mts walkshed) Few PUDOs (33 points, 300 mts walkshed) On-street PUDO (>1 lane/dir, no transit

corridor)

14

PUDO EXPERIMENT

- 20,000 40,000 60,000 80,000 100,000 120,000 140,000

Many PUDOs Few PUDOs

DRT Trip Legs

Fewer PUDOs make buses more competitive

- 50,000 100,000 150,000 200,000 250,000 300,000 350,000 400,000

Many PUDOs Few PUDOs

Bus Trip Legs Many PUDOs, Many VKT

Distance based DRT occupancy

6.43 8.67

Nu m be r o f t rip l eg s

15

PUDO EXPERIMENT

On-street PUDO combines the best of both worlds.

Distance based DRT

occupancy 6.43 8.67 8.31

Many PUDOs Few PUDOs On-street

Avg. Peak Speed (km/hr) 38.98 39.3 37.95

Avg. Peak / Free Speed 0.93 0.93 0.92

0.00 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00

Many PUDOs Few PUDOs On-street

Travel Time Total

Avg Waiting Time Avg in-vehicle time

m inu te s

16

PUDO EXPERIMENT

Fewer PUDOs are used more efficiently over the course of the day.

Many Few Average max. dwell length (m) 22.31 27.76 Average daily dwell length (m/day) 0.59 1.08

PUDO Design Matrix

17

PUDO EXPERIMENT

18

RECOMMENDATIONS

Network Experiment PUDO Experiment Parking Experiment Intersection Experiment

19

URBAN DESIGN RESPONSE

Short term: Retrofitting Interventions Mid term: Structural Changes

Long term: Post Road City

20

SHORT TERM

Technology

Level 4 automation commercially available Streets dominated by human-driven vehicles

Potential Issues

Poor first/last mile connectivity Infrastructure redundancy

Goals

Improve transit service and access

Diagram of the prevailing New Town structural model

21

MEDIUM TERM

Technology

More vehicle sharing and ride sharing with a driverless fleet

Potential Issues

Reduced public transit ridership Increase in taxi use

Goals

Maximise ridership of shared vehicles and

promote them as a complement to transit.

22

LONG TERM

Street as a public space

Source: schwarzbuch.de

Road as an enabler of the automobility system Technology

100% Level 5 automation, V2V and V2I

connectivity, and high rate of vehicle sharing

Goal

Dismantle the system of automobility

23

LONG TERM

Street as a public space

Source: schwarzbuch.de

Road as an enabler of the automobility system Technology

100% Level 5 automation, V2V and V2I

connectivity, and high rate of vehicle sharing

Goal

Dismantle the system of automobility

Electric Vehicle are quieter, cleaner, lighter AVs have better safety compliance

Shared vehicles can be centrally managed to optimise speed and routing.

Support a ‘Post-Road City’, dominated by

shared spaces and shared modes.

24

POST ROAD CITY

Low Friction Street

Medium Friction Street

25

POST ROAD CITY

HDB Void Deck

Source: ghettosingapore.com

26

POST ROAD CITY

The technological shift allows a tighter integration of

different activity spaces Injection of new activities in space reclaimed from cars

Deploying DRT to quickly

adapt to changes in demand

Embrace multi-functionality

and flexibility in design of

activity spaces in the future.

27

5 PRINCIPLES

Reconsider the road

Consider temporal use of space Design for walkability

Embrace slow mobility

Design for seamlessness

28

REFLECTIONS

Can urban design steer the impacts of the technological shift to dismantle the current system of automobility?

Urban design can steer the impacts of the technological shift towards a desirable state.

But the urban design response cannot be one urban model or blueprint.

Rather it should aim to define goals and intents, understand possible impacts and clarify a desired course of action.

For this, we need to embrace new planning tools, methods and procedures.

29

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

List of References

Amiel, T., Reeves, T.C., 2008. Design-Based Research and Educational Technology: Rethinking Technology and the Research Agenda. Journal of Educational Technology & Society 11, 29–40.

Bankes, S., Lempert, R., 2004. Robust Reasoning With Agent-Based Modeling.

Nonlinear Dynamics, Psychology, and Life Sciences 8, 21.

Hee, L., Heng, C.-K., 2004. Transformations of Space: A Retrospective on Public Housing in Singapore, in: Stanilov, K., Scheer, B.C. (Eds.), Suburban Form: An International Perspective. Psychology Press

Heng, J., 2015. From “gangster land” to home sweet home. The Straits Times Liu, T.-K., Lau, W.C., Loh, C.T., 1983. New Towns in Singapore, in: Yeung, Y.M. (Ed.), Place to Live: More Effective Low Cost Housing in Asia. IDRC, Ottawa, ON, CA.

Ordoñez Medina, S.A., Wang, B., Fourie, P.J., 2018. Operator and user perspectives on fleet mix, parking strategy and drop-off bay size for autonomous transit on demand.

Trinh, L.T.D., Fourie, P.J., Seshadri, R., Nagel, K., Hoerl, S., Wang, B., Wang, H., Lee, D.-H., 2017. Studying autonomous vehicle policies with Urban Planning in Singapore. Presented at the Technical Workshop (2019), FCL, Singapore ETH Centre, p. L2NIC 2b.

Urry, J., 2004. The ‘System’ of Automobility. Theory, Culture & Society 21, 25–39

Pieter, Sergio and Biyu

(the team behind Spatial DRT and Sketch MATSim) All collaborators involved in L2NIC Project

(This material is based on research supported by the Singapore Ministry of National Development

and National Research Foundation under L2NIC Award No. L2NICTDF1-2016-3. The research was

conducted at the Future Cities Laboratory at the Singapore-ETH Centre, which was established

collaboratively between ETH Zurich and Singapore’s National Research Foundation (FI370074016)

under its Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise programme.)