2020 Issue

42 A chieving zero fatalities and crashes of automobiles has been a long-term but seemingly unreachable goal. Few people can imagine a complete solu- tion, so the short-term goal has been to mitigate vehicular crashes instead. The usual “E’s” of Traffic Safety involve Engineering, Enforcement, Education, and (more recently) Emergency Response. Some people have suggested adding a fifth “E”: Everyone. That is, traffic safety is the responsibil - ity of everyone on the road. All of these strategies are partially effective, but they still come short of the ultimate goal of zero. Instead of adding another numbered “E,” I would suggest an alternative that is perhaps the final “E”: Emerging Technology. The rapid emergence of new technology with connected and autonomous vehicles (CAV), or highly autonomous vehicles (HAV), is our future path to achieve zero crashes. These steps are coming in a variety of small, incremen- tal advances with each version of emerging technology, both with vehicles and Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) applications. The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT), with our transit partner, the Utah Transit Authority (UTA), has deployed a Level 4 Autonomous Shuttle for a one-year demonstration project. This shuttle is capable of transport- ing up to 10 riders comfortably in a fixed route, pre-deter - mined path that is no more than 2 miles long. UTA is inter- ested in learning about ways to connect riders for their first and last mile to existing transit routes. UDOT is researching how the general public accepts and understands what a CAV/HAV does and does not do. Autonomous Shuttle Demonstration Project Chris Siavrakas, P.E., PTOE, Technology Project Manager — The Institute of Transportation Engineers, Utah Chapter This all-electric vehicle requires approval, at each venue, from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), since it does not have seat belts, a steering wheel, brake pedals, mirrors nor the driver control cock- pit. The operating speed is not to exceed 15 MPH, and it cannot operate on multilane roads or with posted speeds above 35 mph. Our project will have an onboard operator to ensure safe operation and to override control due to random impediments to the route, like a delivery truck or other incident on the path. The onboard operator can use a remote handheld controller to override control and then steer and operate the vehicle. We are deploying the shuttle at a variety of venues with dif- ferent use cases. Some of these include a college campus, a hospital, a business park, and entertainment and shopping venues. At each of these venues, we will learn about rid- ership needs and experiences with ambassadors who will engage the public and ask them to answer survey questions. Figure 1. Shuttle Stop at the Station Park Shops, Farmington Figure 2. Levels of Vehicle Automation, Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Figure 3. Business Park Route, 1950 W in Salt Lake City