MOBILICITYreport

8/9/2019 MOBILICITYreport

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helen hamlyn research

associates programme

2004

research associate:

Merih Kunur

mobilicity:scenarios for sustainable public

transport 2025

final report


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research associate:

Merih Kunur

Department:

RCA Vehicle Design

title of report:

mobilicity:

scenarios for sustainable public transport 2025

report to:

Capoco

October 2004


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Mobilicity:

scenarios for sustainable public transport 2025

Merih Kunur


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oreword

How will we travel on public transport around large cities in the future?

This report describes a project that set out to explore new directions

in sustainable mass transit for commuters and residents in the crowded

urban environment of 2025 and beyond.

The study was commissioned by independent consultancy Capoco, whichesigns passenger vehicles for world markets and has contributed to the

esign philosophy of many of Britains current generation of city buses,

to mark the 25th anniversary of its founding by Director Alan Ponsford.

The project began by developing a research matrix based on three

primary fields of investigation: the spatial organisation of cities, social

hange and sustainability, supplemented by economic, technological and

institutional factors.

This matrix was tested and expanded in an expert forum at the RCA at

which architects and urban planners, social researchers and sustainable

technology and vehicle experts came together to debate a future in

which densely populated world cities are becoming more polycentric and

in which current transport solutions are increasingly unsustainable.

Insights from the expert forum informed the development of user sce-

narios on specific sites in three world cities: London, Hong Kong and

Istanbul.

London hosted a noon-time business journey from Covent Garden to City

Airport by a male executive; Hong Kong, a trip by a grandparent through

densely populated shopping district to a main train terminal to meet

her grandchildren; and Istanbul, a long evening commute home across

the Bosphorus Bridge by a female office worker. Each urban journey was

filmed and time inefficiencies and user discomforts analysed. A single

vehicle design programme emerged from the analysis: a zero-emission,

hybrid-electric, easy-access system that is driverless and runs on global

satellite guidance sensors to fixed destinations.

The vehicle module comes in three sizes - 12, 18 and 24 seats and has

the ability to form a single train of up to six modules for express journeys

nd then split apart into divergent modules to enable local access.

By combining video footage of specific urban journeys with computermodelling of a new vehicle typology, the project proposes a future for

ity travel that is less frustrating and time-consuming. I am grateful to

Alan Ponsford at Capoco Design and Martin Hayes at Automotive PR

for sharing their expertise during the development of this project, which

makes a powerful statement on future urban travel.

Professor Jeremy Myerson

Director, Helen Hamlyn Research Associates Programme

Royal College of Artctober 2004


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Contents

Section 1: Explore 1-7

1 Introduction2 Project brief

3 Research partner4 Desk research5 Theoretical approach6 Background to mass transit7 A demographic look at the city and transport

Section 2: Focus 8-11

8 Expert forum9 Forming the idea10 The multi-layed city11 The polycentric city

Section 3: Develop 12-16

12 Three cities, three sites13 London14 Istanbul15 Hong Kong16 Design criteria

Section 4: Deliver 17-20

17 The design concept18 Exterior forum19 Finalised scenarios20 Conclusion

Appendices

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1 Introduction

This report documents a year's research work onMobilicity, a project that was part of the HelenHamlyn Research Associates Programme 2004.It was conducted in collaboration with CapocoDesign Limited and based in the Vehicle DesignDepartment of the Royal College of Art.

The report documents the initial desk research,theoretical positioning, user studies and designoutcomes that form future urban transportscenarios based in three world cities - Hong Kong,Istanbul and London.


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2 Project brief

This project looks at future scenarios forsustainable mass public transport in the urbanenvironment for the year 2025, commemoratingthe 25th year anniversary of Capoco Design. It setout to emphasise sustainability as well as socialinclusion within the context of a comparative

analysis of certain world cities urban transportstructures and systems in order to capture aseries of visual scenarios and design concepts.

3 Research partner

Capoco Design is a leading automotive design

consultancy based in the UK for the past 20 yearswith many innovative on-going projects acrosssix continents. It has worked for companies suchas Dennis, Optare and Plaxton since the late1980s. To mark 25 years in the business, Capococommissioned this project to explore the futureof urban transport over the next 25 years.


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4 Desk research

The project started by conducting in-depth deskresearch. This included:

>Review of existing material including data,reports and academic papers, books, periodicals,newspaper articles and websites.

>Add new and updated material to the above

concentrating on mass transport in world cities.

>Collect images from various and diversesources in order to capture the imagination.

>Source and study existing video material fromlms, documentaries and project investmentpresentations.


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5 Theoretical approach

From the desk research, the project classied

three primary driving forces and three secondarydriving forces that will shape the way mass transitin the city will develop. These are represented inthe diagram on the left.

Primary triangle of driving forces are:

1. SPATIAL

A spatial look at the city can be divided into thefollowing categories:

Spatial integration

Land use, or more generally an urban spatialstructure, is the product of the interaction betweenland markets and regulations. Increasingly, urbantransport is considered one of the major unresolvedproblems in large cities due to the pollution andcongestion it generates.

In Europe and in North America there is anincreasing demand for what has been called TransitOriented Development (TOD). TOD is nothing buta partial administrative allocation of land throughregulations and is particularly important for thegeneration of sustainable future urban transportconcepts.


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Zones

It is very important to designate an area for aparticular land use. This action is usually decreedby a management body such as a local planningauthority through the publication of a PlanningScheme. Whether it is a diffuse or a compactcity greatly affect the way we plan, design andintroduce new urban transport systems in suchcity models.

2. SOCIAL

The socio-psychological factors that inuence theway we travel in the cities. The success of futureurban transport systems requires following criticalterms to be carefully considered.

Access

Socially inclusive solutions are needed in orderto give better access to transport for the agingpopulation, for disabled people and those withspecial needs.

Affordability

The success of one particular transit system lies inhow much cheaper it is to travel with that particularmode of transport. It should be considered that inmost cases, expensive travel can stop people fromtravelling.

Trafc Management

Trafc Management makes best use of availableroad space and encompasses the managementof all modes of transport and all travellers. Itsobjectives are, in addition to reducing vehicledelays and stops:

to give priority to public transport and otherspecial vehicles;

to improve the conditions of pedestriansas well as the disabled, cyclists and othervulnerable road users;

to minimise the impact of air pollution due totrafc;

to improve safety;

to restrain trafc in sensitive areas;

to improve congestion and demandmanagement.

The development of Intelligent Transport Systems(ITS) in urban areas is one of the main researchareas of trafc management.

Interchange

Transport infrastructure and the passengerinterchange points where modal transfers occur areessential to achieve well-connected, door-to-doortrips using different modes. MIMIC, PIRATE andGUIDE-projects that investigated cost-effectiveand successful, development of public transportinterchanges explored.


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Fuel Technology

Hybrid-electric vehicles, fuel-cell buses, multi-fuel vehicles and Maglev (Magnetic Levitation)technology will be looked into in order to determinethe type of transport most suitable for the criteriaof a particular city.

Emissions

Zero emission vehicles will become widespread bythe year 2020. Combustion engine vehicles willgradually be phased out. Nevertheless, it shouldalways be remembered that producing energyto run public transport on might also result inemissions trains need electricity which in turn

comes from fossil fuel power stations.

Cost

Cost can be looked at in various ways. Investmentcosts of a new system or the running costs ofan existing system. Introducing a new transportsystem might be expensive due to its technology.Travellers might be reluctant to use a new systemuntil they become familiar with it. Therefore

targeted passenger numbers might be below theexpected number, thereby affecting the actualrunning costs of the system.

Lifestyle

This sense of self-image and way of life is avery important factor in Western societies. Asit is market driven, individuals show free-riderbehaviour. For the success of sustainable transportmodes, simpler and greener lifestyles should beencouraged and new ways of urban travel trendsshould be explored.

Subsidy

Subsidising the investment on the infrastructureof a new transit system or subsidising the runningcosts of that system (especially if it is an expensiveone) helps to keep the fares at an acceptable level

thereby encouraging more travellers to use thesystem.

3. SUSTAINABLE

The long-term effects of energy use and industrialprocesses can have a great negative effect onthe planet and especially on the cities we live in.Future transport requires immediate and effective

solutions to the problem.

Energy

Sustainable sources of energy, energy efciency,alternative energy types and affordability shouldbe carefully considered in the design of new urbantransport systems.


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Secondary driving forces on the other hand are:

1. Economic

Economic conditions of a city determine theinvestment of a certain type of transport system.New urban transport projects would greatly benetfrom the detailed comparisons of poorer cities withmore afuent ones.

2. Institutional

Regulations are very important for theimplementation of certain modes of travel. Buslanes, toll collecting, congestion charge, parking

fees, incentives for zero-emission vehicles willgradually affect the design of road vehicles in thefuture.

3. Technology

Technology will shape the future but it is verydifcult to predict whats around the corner.The choice of the most suitable and sustainabletechnology is a priority. In the 1910s, electric

cars were also produced but wrong policies ledto the emergence of the combustion engine asthe chosen technology of the last century. Thisproject will investigate all available new transporttechnologies with a view to the future.


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6 Background to mass transit

Mass transit has always been the backbone of movingpeople in the cities. The graph on the left representspeak periods of major US transport investment predictingthe new Maglev technology as the next major transportinvestment in the second half of the century. If we

compare this growth rate in the United States with theone in the UK (below left) the overall pattern of such peakperiods can be seen as almost identical. It is interesting tosee that the growth rate of roads has already had its peakdespite the increase of car ownership.

The rst Maglev train of the world, Transrapid in Shanghaiwith a design speed of over 500 km/h (310 mph) and aregular service speed of 430 km/h (267 mph), is the fastestrailway system in commercial operation in the world.

On the 19September 2003, the preparation phase for the

public, legal planning process for the rst German Maglevroute, the Munich Airport Link, was initiated.


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urban population since 1950 projected into 2030in ve yearly segments, shows how the urbanpopulation will overtake the rest of the populationafter 2015.

Emphasis should be given not only to urban publictransport systems alone but also to the new typesof individual transport making them more urbanfriendly.

The diagram above gives an insight into levelsof mobility from around the world in 1998. Theproportion of mobility in Canada and UnitedStates is much higher than the rest while China,Central Asia, India and Pakistan are the lowest.This indicates potential markets for mass transittransport projects.

7 A demographic look at the city and publictransport

There has been a huge increase in the populationof cities above 10 million since 1950, most of ithappening in the developing countries. At the outsetof the twentieth century 10% of the populationlived in the cities which then grew to around 50%of the world population in the year 2000. By 2025,the number of city-dwellers could reach ve billionindividuals (two thirds of them in poor countries)which will equate to about 60 percent of the world

population (Mutations, a cultural event organisedby Arc en Reve Centre darchitecture on thecontemporary urban condition in Bordeaux fromNovember 2000 to March 2001, has been publishedgathering a number of theoretical, critical anddocumentary viewpoints).

This increase, compared with the increment of the


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By narrowing down these regional statistics toselected cities in the developing world it becomesvery clear that the modal share of trips show bigdifferences between these cities.

This overview brings rather a critical perspectiveinto the design of future urban transport systemsfor each city as they all portray individuallydifferent scenarios. For example, Tianjin is heavilydependent on walking and cycling whereas Kuala

Lumpur uses more public transport and cars withthe least share of walking and cycling.

This rapid growth of cities has led to increaseddemand for transport facilities and suppliesthat have not always been met. In manycities this expansion has not received well-organised transport policies and investments.Most of these cities are facing serious problems

such as congestion, pollution, accidents andinadequate access by disadvantaged groups.

On the other hand motor vehicle populationis considerably increasing in most large cities.

There is a growing interest in rail-based publictransport as a notable trend and several projectsare being implemented or under construction incities such as Bangkok, Beijing, Kuala Lumpur,Manila, Seoul, Shanghai and Tianjin. However, themodal share of public urban transport is still onlybetween 40 and 60 per cent in Bangkok, Jakarta,Manila and other developing cities compared toapproximately 70 per cent in the developed citiesof Hong Kong, China, Singapore and Tokyo. Bustransport is also receiving increased attention incities like Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Shanghairesulting in improved and better services.


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The integration of public transport services istaking place in the cities such as Singapore andHong Kong where Intelligent TransportationSystems technology has been introduced to allowbetter links between transport and informationtechnology, especially where trafc management,charging and policy implementation are in use.

Growing eets and poor road network growth iscausing an incease in vehicle density ratios in almostall countries, reecting an increasing pressure onnetworks. The highest density is in Hong Kong with283 vehicles per road-kilometre (see images onthe left). At the lower end India shows a ratio ofonly four vehicles per road-kilometre (a review ofprogress made in the transport sector in the UNESCAP region since 1996).


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At the beginning of the debate participants showedimages that represented their own views of theresearch topics (see image above). Among thesewere pedestrianised streets, moving pavements,cyclists, alternative fuel vehicles and urbanconnectors. These gave a general sense of thevision that these experts had for the future ofurban movement.

8 Expert forum

In the second phase of the project, the three pri-mary elds of investigation from the research ma-trix were investigated at an expert forum at theRoyal College of Art (see image above). These fac-tors were:> spatial organisation of cities> social change> sustainabilityThese were supplemented by economic, techno-

logical and instutional factors.

Architects and urban planners, social researchers,transport technology and vehicle experts came to-gether to debate the future of densely populatedworld cities and sustainable transport solutions.


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Flevobike Alleweder Human-Powered Vehicle (HPV) shown by Paul

Nieuwenhuis

Paul Ewing brought this article on the zero emission fuel cell busfrom the Metro newspaper

>Community/local scale to rail/road connectionsacross the country is needed.

>You cant just ban the car, you have to look at thewhole picture. How much road space do we give tobikes/pedestrians/cars? We should not mix them.They need supporting infrastructure.

>20 % of trips are work related. School runsaccount for one third and social/leisure the rest.Travel to work takes the most time and the furthestdistance. People work away from where they live.

The following important areas were highlightedduring the discussion:

>The perception of journeys are changing aswe multi-task while travelling through the urbanenvironment. Todays new ways of working areinuencing commuter needs.

>Mobile telecommunication technology connectsmore people on the move. Teleworking is on theincrease and commuting is increasingly important.

People need comparison and exibility.

>Journey time is becoming more important andthis is a critical factor. Accessibility and time aremore important than land use. Should everythingbe ten minutes from where we live?


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Mobilicity Forum Participants:

David Banister, Professor of Transport

Planning, The Bartlett, UCL

Alain Chiaradia, Associate Director, Space

Syntax

Professor Paul Ewing, Mechanical Engineering,Imperial College

Helen Evenden, Tutor, Vehicle Design

Department, Royal College of Art

Merih Kunur, Research Associate, Helen

Hamlyn Research Centre

Yanki Lee, Doctoral Fellow, Hong Kong

Polytechnic University

Dr Paul Nieuwenhuis, Cardiff Business School,

Cardiff University

Alan Ponsford, Director, Capoco Design

Chair:

Jeremy Myerson, Professor of Design Studies,

Helen Hamlyn Research Centre, Royal College

of Art

Observers:

Louise Chiu, Capoco Design

Rama Gheerawo, Research Fellow,

Helen Hamlyn Research CentreMartin Hayes, Automotive PRMargaret Durkan, Helen Hamlyn ResearchCentre (Notes)


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9 Forming the idea

The expert forum, combined with other seminarson urban transport and sustainability, informedthe project on key areas and issues to be furtherexplored.

The spatial organisation of cities was seen tobe the most important inuence on the type ofrapid mass transit system to be designed. A shortpresentation at the beginning of the expert forum

depicting the future of travelling in a multi-layeredcity through science ction cinema lms tried tocapture the imagination.

However, when discussed, this multi-layered visionof the city was felt to be unrealistic in the timescaledue to high costs and sophisticated engineering.It could only be limited to specic sites in certain

metropolitan areas rather than become a generic,applicable and cost-effective solution.

The forum revealed that most cities are becoming

polycentric in their spatial organisation and

therefore more sustainable. This is a trend set to

continue.

The specic detail of the multi-layered city and

polycentric city are discussed in the followingpages.

Images from the expert forum


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10 The multi-layered city

Is this the future? The Maglev train has got nophysical contact as it runs on a magnetic cushionthereby allowing fast, clean, noise-free andvibration-free travel (image on the top right).During high-speed travel, passengers can walk

unaided through the aisles without needing tohold on. The track can be run overground orunderground according to urban planning needs.

Mass-transit is not necessarily trains of carriages,whether they are Maglevs or traditional railways.Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) runs on monorails andtakes a few passengers on board per module (imagebelow), but on the whole, it is mass transport in theway it operates. Both images represent a multi-layer approach to future transport in the city.

Some current solutions

One of the best examples of multi-layer urbanmovement is probably in Central Hong Kong.All these buildings are linked up with walkwaysabove ground letting the surface trafc ow morefreely. Sheltered walkways allow speedy and safermovement using escalators and travelators (seeimages middle and bottom right).


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The Multi-Layered City

Film often projects current cultural and socialtransport values into the future. Sci- represen-tations of the future city can suggest possibilitieswhen depicting transport and architecture. Almostinvariably, screen representations contain some

form of multi-layering of modes of transport.

The images on the right give the feeling of thismulti-layer movement in the city of the future. Itis taken from the lm Fifth Element by Luc Besson(1997).

Multi-layering is an approach that is only fullyviable on the screen. When looking at the realitiesof current world cities it is not an applicable orimplementable solution - certainly not by 2025.


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11 The polycentric city

A polycentric city has more than one developedcentre. Polycentric cities contain a range of high-density urban nodes or activity clusters each ofwhich can be dened as a centre. In London,for example, there are many centres outside themain City of London including Wembley, Harrow,Croydon and Heathrow.

Diagram (a) above left represents how trips are

made towards the central business district at thecentre of a monocentric city type. In a polycentricmodel (b) we can see self sufcient urban villagesaround the centre.

It is idealised by some urban planners who claimthat trips would become very short into theseclusters; ideally people could walk or cycle to

work. In reality, the polycentric city works prettymuch the same way as the monocentric city. In themetropolitan polycentric city, subcentres generaterandom trips from all over the built-up areas,therefore trips tend to be much longer than themonocentric city model (c).

Simultaneous radial and random movements areon the other hand can be seen in mono-polycentric

models (d). Red arrows in diagrams indicate weaklinks whereas black ones strong links.


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The polycentric city

Unfortunately, the nature of cities are notstraightforward. No city is ever 100% monocentric,and it is seldom 100% polycentric according toAlain Bertaud (The Spatial Organization of Cities:Deliberate Outcome or Unforeseen Consequence?Working Paper 2004-01).

He explains why, while some cities are dominantlymonocentric, others are dominantly polycentricand many are in between. He says: Somecircumstances tend to accelerate the mutationtoward polycentricitya historical business centerwith a low level of amenities, high private-carownership, cheap land, at topography, grid streetdesignand others tend to retard ita historicalcenter with a high level of amenities, rail-based

public transport, radial primary road network, anddifcult topography preventing communicationbetween suburbs.

Nevertheless, in polycentric cities trips tend to showalmost a random pattern with a wide dispersion oforigin and destination showing the pattern of tripschanging. In a polycentric city, trips will tend to belonger than in a monocentric city (Bertaud).


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Choosing sites

Most world cities follow some form of polycentricmodel as number of inhabitants outstrip the spaceavailable. As this trend is set to continue to 2025,actual polycentric cities from around the globewere looked at to set the project in a real-worldcontext.

>Amsterdam is well animated and curated.

>Beijing is a fast developing city transformed bysocial trends.

>San Francisco is walkable and balanced.

>Tokyo is a massive city but still very efcient.

>On the other hand, the Los Angeles model is notthe right model for public transport.

>As a result, the idea of using generic city-basedscenarios was abandoned in order to draw a morerealistic picture of how we will travel around largecities of the future.

The design brief would have more meaning andintegrity if based in real urban environments rather

than modelled, generic scenarios. By selecting threecities that were polycentric in spatial organisationbut culturally and geographically disparate, theproject would show real global application for arange of needs.

(Above) An aerial view of Istanbul's European side, with more newhigh rise ofce buildings being constructed in the same way in Lon-don's nancial district (picture below).


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HONG KONG LONDONISTANBUL

12 Three cities, three sites

The research phase of the project led to the

selection of three world metropolitan cities that

are polycentric and diverse to allow further

investigation of user transport needs.

Hong Kong, Istanbul and London were chosen

for their disparate styles of transport and theirgeographical location.

Specic locations were examined and at eachsite, the focus was given to a particular routewhere journey patterns could be observed. Eachroute involved different types of urban journeysthat linked one type of urban node to another

(e.g. town centre, international gateway, suburb,business district etc.). Pedestrianised locations,residential areas and interchanges were all part ofthe route chosen.

In each city, a user was asked to travel by means ofthe city's current public transport on a specic routeand at a certain time of the day. The journey wasdocumented using lm, photography and writtenmedia. The problems each user encountered werenoted and a detailed lm was made documentingthe user journey. The issues highlighted by thisresearch fed into the design brief for a new vehiclesystem.


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The Dome seen from the Docklands Light Rail train en route to Lon-don City Airport. Road seen here also leads to airport but there areno direct bus services from Central London.

Going to London City Airport by road may mean getting stuck inthe trafc especially in the City of London due to its narrow, busystreets. Direct, road-based transport should be exible and smallerin size.

looked at an ofce worker travelling to catch hisplane during the working day.

User:27 year old businessman working in the creativeindustry.

Observations:By current public transport it proved to be a long

trip with many interchanges, long walks, manystaircases and waiting times. Carrying luggageto the airport certainly added difculties andpressures throughout the journey.

13 London(see images on following page)

Key question:How can you link the international gateway tourban nodes?

Route:Covent Garden (business/tourist centre) to CityAirport (international airport). The current routeinvolves underground train, overground light railtrain, bus and walking. It moves from CentralLondon, through the nancial district to the newlydeveloped Docklands area.

Scenario:As this is primarily a business route, the scenario


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ANALYTICAL SCENARIO - TRANSPORT TODAY

SCENARIO 1 - BUSINESS ROUTELONDON


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14 Istanbul(see images on following page)

Key question:How do you maintain an express service whilstserving local districts?

Route:

Taksim (business district) to Goztepe (residentialdistrict). This is a minibus route over the BosphorusBridge from the European side of Istanbul tothe Asian side. The journey involves queuingfor a shuttle service minibus (Dolmus) run byindependent companies. These are local authorityregulated with xed routes and fares.

Scenario:An ofce worker returning home on the dailycommute during the evening rush hour.

User:27 year old female ofce worker.

Observations:The journey to go home by a minibus (dolmus)started by waiting in a long queue for 36 minutes.The whole trip suffered from heavy peak hourtrafc. When she reached her local area she hadto walk 15 minutes home as her house is not closeto the main route. The whole journey took 99minutes.

Istanbul has good and efcient sea connections with various typesof vessel. The services are frequent and reduce the load on the twobridges over the Bosphorus.

This road in Maslak as part of the network of motorways aroundIstanbul connects to Bosphorus bridge where we took the route forthe Istanbul scenario.


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SCENARIO 2 - EVENING RUSH HOURISTANBUL


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15 Hong Kong(see images on following page)

Key question:How can a mass rapid transit system co-exist withother modes in a dense urban cluster?

Route:Kawloon (residential district) to Central (busy

trade district on Hong Kong island). The routepasses through different types of urban districtincluding residential and commercial areas. Itends in an area with a major train station linked tointernational airport.

Scenario:An elderly grandmother travelling from her house

to meet her grand daughter at the airport trainstation.

User:78 year old retired female living in Hong Kong.

Observations:There were several interchanges and long corridorsbetween station platforms despite the journey

being off-peak. This proved fatiguing for the user.A single train journey with one interchange may betime efcient but if there are more interchangesit can take more time than road based transport.There were not enough alternatives for easy accessto local districts from main routes and vice versa.

This is one of the main roads in Hong Kong. Buses using theseroutes may provide shorter journey times compared to metro jour-ney with more than one interchange.

Central district of Hong Kong clearly shows narrower streets wheretaxis and minibuses operate as the only public transport modes.There are walkways which link street level to malls and stations.


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SCENARIO 3 - LOCAL TO CENTRALHONG KONG


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16 Design Criteria

The vehicle system needed to be exible andadaptable to large metropolitan cities to suitchanging trip patterns and diverse user groupstravelling on diverse routes.

The way in which elevators operate in high-riseofce buildings may be applicable to road-based

public transport. The World Trade Centre twinskyscrapers in New York with shuttle elevatorsoperating at three levels was an example. These'express' elevators were allocated to go directly tothe top (110th) oor, second (44th) and third (78th)oor lobbies while the rest only operated withinthese sections (see image over page). This couldbe compared with direct route express services inpublic transport systems. Instead of a bus servicecovering a long route and stopping at every singlebus stop, efciency would increase through reduced

journey and waiting times and less overcrowding ifseparate bus services operated within stages in thesame way that shuttle elevators work.

The urban spatial structure is not linear but it ispath dependent. It requires accessibility within theroutes into local streets. Therefore, modularity


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and variable sizes would give more exibility to theurban transport system.

Within inner city areas, vehicles should have zeroemission. Outside these areas, they could switchto alternative fuels such as the gas combustionengine. They could operate on hydrogen oncorridors between the urban nodes.

In terms of reduced operating costs it isadvantageous to use AN autonomous vehiclesystem as driver costs are high, especially inwestern cities.


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17 The design conceptInitiating the design concept - How does the newconcept t into the scenario of 2025?

Early design sketches were based on the setcriteria. This involved consideration of how theoverall urban system worked and the design of theactual vehicle. The vehicle design parameters weredetermined by the research.

The vehicle is driverless, road-based, with singleunits combining to form a 'train'. Three differentmodule sizes were designed in terms of size,length, height, wheelbase and seating. Both frontand rear wheels steer for maximum curve taking.This is especially important as single modulesare expected to go in even the very narrow localstreets for best accessiblity and more than oneunit operating together require the capability ofmaximum turning.

Although this report focuses on the smallestmodule type the whole system is designed to havethree different vehicle sizes. These have threedifferent footprint sizes of 4sqm, 6sqm and 8sqmwhich translates to 12 seater, 18 seater and 24seater versions (see diagram top left).


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Up to six relatively small modular units can jointogether by electronic means, avoiding the need forphysical connection. Intelligent Vehicle Systems,Cell Phone Technology, Telemetrics and GlobalPositioning System were looked into for a suitableand cost-effective way of using such technologies.

The sketch on the bottom left shows a modulesplitting from the rest of the 'train' whilst on themove. This will happen by an incremental increasein speed of the front units and the slowing downof the units behind. All this will be controlled by the

central computer system.

The vehicle system can be customised to addressmost urban situations by modifying the size andnumber of units, the interior conguration, the sizeof 'train', the speed of units and the frequency ofstops.


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18 Exterior Form

Early exterior form studies were developed fromschematic sketches of the vehicle system in urbanspaces (see image above left). The principlesbelow focused on progressing the actual design ofthe vehicle through sketchwork and modelling.

> Inviting visual appeal> Spacious interior and good headroom> Wide door with low oor and ramp for easyaccess for all user groups including wheelchairsusers, parents with prams, travellers with heavyluggage etc.> Front and rear wheel steering to allow maximumturning.

> Visual continuity of the singular modules whenthey platoon

The interior was kept clutter-free with large areasof glass in the walls and roof panels to enablepassengers to easily see where they are on their

journey and feel more secure.

Concentration on more detailed work startedwhen we set out design package. Out of various

conceptual sketches one particular design with

large elliptical side windows and a curved roof

glazing to give as much transparency to the vehicle

as possible was chosen (see image above right).


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The rear prole of the vehicle was kept similar to

the front so that the front of one module visually

tted the rear of another (see image above).

As well as the paper sketches and designs, physicalscale models were created at 1:43 and at 1:8scale.

The 1:43 scale model was a honeycomb structured

SLA model (see image right) that was used to forma cast. This then allowed 6 modules to be producedshowing a physical model of units forming a train(platooning).

The 1:8 scale model, the traditional vehicle designstudio model, was milled to show the volume andthe curves of the shape.


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An Alias 3D computer-rendered model was alsocompleted to show operational aspects of thevehicle (see image on right). An animation wascreated to show the vehicle's doors opening andclosing with a glimpse of the interior to give a bettersense of dimension and scale to the vehicle.

The image above shows two units, each with aseparate nal destination, 'platooning' to form amini 'train' as they pull away from London City

Airport on an 'express to local' route.

The following pages describe how this vehicle sys-

tem would work to improve the three user sce-

narios previously described in London, Istanbul

and Hong Kong.


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SCENARIO 1 - BUSINESS ROUTELONDON

PROJECTED SCENARIO - TRANSPORT IN 2025

London

Key question:How can you link the international gateway tourban nodes?

Route:Covent Garden (business/tourist centre) to CityAirport (international airport). The route goes from

Central London through the nancial district to thenewly developed Docklands area.

Scenario 2025:Different units will travel from localised businessdistricts such as Covent Garden, Barbican andMoorgate. These individual units will act as localtransport services in these areas, moving from

stop to stop. Once they reach the outskirts of eachlocal area, they 'platoon' to form an express 'train'out of the business/tourist centre of London thatgoes directly, without stopping, to City Airport.

The system combines the benets of local area'pick-ups' wth the benets of high speed airportexpress services. There is a balance between pub-lic and private transport as each individual unitmoves closer to delivering the door-to-door bene-ts of private vehicles whilst increasing the directeffectiveness of public rapid transit systems.

19 Finalised scenarios


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SCENARIO 2 - EVENING RUSH HOURISTANBUL

Istanbul

Key question:How do you maintain an express service whilstserving local districts?

Route:Taksim (business district) to Goztepe (residentialdistrict). This is an express-to-local route over

the Bosphorus Bridge from the European side ofIstanbul to the Asian side.

Scenario 2025:In Istanbul, the opposite happens from the Londonscenario. At specic points in the business districtsuch as Sisli, an express train that goes across theBosphorus Bridge to the Asian side of Istanbul can be

boarded. Each train is made up of six units, and eachunit displays a different nal destination such as Modaor Fenerbahce. Commuters just have to choose theirresidential district and enter that particular unit.

Once the train crosses the Bosphorus, the units slowdown, split up and deliver passengers to within veminutes of their home. Two units will remain togetherfor destinations that are more highly populated such asGoztepe (as shown on the diagram above).

Once again, the system manages to maintain an expressservice whilst serving local districts by delivering the

combined benets of public and private transport.

PROJECTED SCENARIO - TRANSPORT IN 2025


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SCENARIO 3 - LOCAL TO CENTRALHONG KONG

Hong Kong

Key question:How can a mass rapid transit system co-exist withother modes in a dense urban cluster?

Route:Kawloon (residential district) to Central (busytrade district on Hong Kong island). The route

passes through different types of urban districtsincluding residential and commercial areas. It endsin Central which has a major train station linked tointernational airport.

Scenario:In Hong Kong, disparate routes from differenttypes of locale come together to nish at a nal

destination. Each 'mini-train' from the local suburbsis formed by joining together a different number ofunits. This allows the vehicle to navigate the denseurban cluster as either single units or as 'mini-trains', adjusting speed and frequency of stops asappropriate to the particular neighbourhood theyare passing through.

Once the mini-trains move out of dense areas theycan 'platoon' to form express services. As the unitscome in three sizes it is possible to achieve a highlevel of public service in the most crowded urbanenvironment using the smallest units.

PROJECTED SCENARIO - TRANSPORT TODAY


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20 Conclusion

As the world population increasingly moves to livein cities, urban transport requires constant changes

for the sustainability of movement in large urbanareas.

This research showed that although there is agreat diversity among world cities in terms ofpopulation , urban structure, economic conditions,social trends and culture, an adaptable and exibleintelligent road-based vehicle system should bedesigned and implemented as an alternative futureurban transport for shared transport problems.

Although there are variations in polycentric citymodels, cost-effective, and zero-emission vehiclescombining centre-to-centre express services withvery local, modular access will go a far way toincrease the quality of urban travel.


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Appendix A

Bibliography

Books and PeriodicalsReportsProjectsWebsites


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Bibliography

I. Books and Periodicals

>Barbier F, Margail F (1992) The Integration ofVery Small Urban Vehicles with Public TransportNetworks, OECD Documents, The Urban 203-Electric Vehicle, pp 209 British Library 593575 (B)

VK 27>Bendixson T (1989) Transport in the Nineties- The Shaping of Europe, The Royal Institution ofChartered Surveyors, London>Bonnel P (2000) Urban Travel Competition andPricing, Transport Reviews Vol 20, No 4, Oct-Dec2000 Taylor & Francis, London pp 385-401>DETR (2000) Transport Trends 2000 Edition, TheStationary Ofce, London>DETR (1998) Focus on Personal Travel, The

Stationary Ofce, London>Ferguson F (1975) Architecture, Cities and theSystem Approach, George Brazillier Inc., NewYork>ISGLUTI International Study Group on Land-use/Transport Interaction (1988) Urban Land-use and Transport Interaction Policies andModels, Gower Publishing, Hants. British LibraryYC.1988.a.13915>Latour, B (1996) Aramis or the Love of

Technology Harvard University Press,>Nijkamp P, Rienstra S. A and Vleugel J. M (1998)Transportation Planning and the Future, Wiley,England, ISBN 0471974080, Central Library 656NIJ>Paulley, N (2000) The Relationship BetweenUrban Form and Transport Supply and DemandTRL Journal of Research 2000 Vol.3 No 2, Berkshire

pp 1-6>Pini, D and Guerrini, L (1989) The City in MotionRassegna No 39 Unconventional Transport pp 44-53>Penn, A., Hillier, B., D. & Xu, J., (1998)Congurational modelling of urban movementnetworks, Env. & Plan. B:>Richards, B (1990) Transport in Cities

Architecture, Design and Technology Press, London>Richards, B (1984) Recycling of ExistingResources Process Architecture, No 47 NewTransportation Systems Worldwide-Part II, pp 76-83>Richards, B (1984) Advanced Light Rapid TransitProcess Architecture, No 47 New TransportationSystems Worldwide-Part II, pp 84-87>Rogers, R (1997) Cities for a Small Planet Faberand Faber, London

>Safdie, M (1997) The City After Automobile BasicBooks, New York>Tsukio, Y (1984) Busway Process Architecture,No 47 New Transportation Systems Worldwide-PartII, pp 94-96>Urban Transport Research Group, Universityof Warwick (Ian Black, Richard Gillie, RichardHenderson and Terry Thomas), (1975) AdvancedUrban Transport Saxon House, Hants. BritishLibrary X.520/10107>Wootton, J (1995) Passenger Transport After 2000AD, Chapter 14 - The Future of Road Transport E &FN Spon, London pp 183-198Wootton, J (1999) Replacing the Private CarTransport Reviews Vol.19, No 2, Apr-June 1999,Taylor & Francis, London pp 156-175


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of New Transport Concepts>RECONNECT Deliverable 5: Policy and MarketSynthesis, March 2000>RECONNECT Final Report Executive Summary>Transport Statistics Report, Journey Times Survey1996, Inner and Central London, TSO Publications,June 1997>Urry, J. (2000) Inhabiting the car

III. Projects

>Mackett, Roger L. and Ahern, A., (September2000) Potential for mode transfer of short trips:Report on the analysis of the survey results(contract for DETR), Centre for Transport Studies

UC>FANTASIE (Forecasting and Assessment of NewTechnologies and Transport Systems and theirImpacts on the Environment)

VI. Websites

>Adranz www.adtranz.com>Advanced Transport Group, University of Bristolwww.zeus.bris.ac.uk>Alcatel www.alcatel.com>Alstom www.transport.alstom.com>Bombardier www.transportation.bombardier.com>Cable Liner www.dcc.at>DETR www.detr.gov.uk/

II. Reports

>Andreasson, I (2001) Innovative Transit Systems survey of current developments, VINNOVA reportVR 2001:3Department for Transport, Local Government andthe Regions Transport Statistics Statistical ReleaseLight Rail Statistics: England: 2000/01 - Key Facts

>Bertaud, A (2004) The Spatial Organizationof Cities: Deliberate Outcome or UnforeseenConsequence? Working Paper 2004-01>Department for Transport, Transport Statistics,Travel in urban and rural areas of Great Britain,Personal Travel Factsheet 11 2001>Department of the Environment, Transport andthe Regions Transport Statistics Car use in GreatBritain, Personal Travel Factsheet 7 - 2002>Department of the Environment, Transport and

the Regions Transport Statistics Journey TimesSurvey: Inner and Central London: 1999>Mackett, R.L. (2001) Policies to attract driversout of their cars for short trips. Transport Policy, 8,295-306.>Mackett, R.L. and Ahern, A. (2000) Potential formode transfer of short trips: Report on the analysisof the survey results. Report to the Departmentof the Environment, Transport and the Regions.Centre for Transport Studies, University CollegeLondon, September 2000.>RECONNECT Deliverable 1: New Means ofTransport - Survey and Preselection>RECONNECT Deliverable 2: AssessmentFramework and Methodology Guidelines>RECONNECT Deliverable 3: Targeted AssessmentDatabase>RECONNECT Deliverable 4: Impact Assessment


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>Engineering and Physical Sciences ResearchGroup www.epsvc.ac.uk>Higher Transit Research www.pacier.com>Imperial College - Centre for Transport Studieswww.cts.cv.ic.ac.uk/>Innovative Transport Technologies; University ofWashington, www.faculty.washington.edu/~jbs/itrans/

>Rivium ParkShuttle www.ant-peoplemover.nl>RUF Dual-Mode www.ruf.dk>Swedish National Road & Transport Research>Institute www.railway-technology.com/contractors/project/vti>Siemens www.siemens.de/vt>Motorola Ergtransit www.ergtransit.com>National Statistics www.statistics.gov.uk>Transport 2000 The Impact Centre www.transport2000.org.uk/

>Transport for London www.transportforlondon.gov.uk>TRL Journal of Research 2000 www.trl.co.uk>UITP www.uitp.com>University of Leeds, Institute for TransportStudies www.its.leeds.ac.uk/


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Appendix B

London Route

Public transport connections to City Airport


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This map shows the last leg of public transport connections to London City Airport (underground, DLR interchange forthe bus services to the airport.


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Appendix C

City maps (to scale)

IstanbulHong KongLondon


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MAP OF ISTANBUL


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MAP OF HONG KONG


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MAP OF LONDON