Conference Papers 2020

Seminar
Day 1 (9 Sep 2020), Session 1, Connected and Autonomous Vehicles, 10:00 - 12:00

Status
Accepted, documents submitted

Submitted by / Abstract owner
Tom Assmann

Authors
Tom Assmann
Ellen Matthies
Franziska Gehlmann
Stephan Schmidt

Short abstract
We present the concept of next generation bike sharing with autonomous (cargo) bikes. We will furthermore discuss how and why it can better improve sustainability of urban transportation then shared autonomous car fleets.

Abstract
The societal mission of mitigating air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions are forcing urban agglomerations worldwide strongly greening their urban transportation systems. The global megatrend of urbanization aggravates those challenges by steadily increasing the demand for urban movements of people and goods.
Shared autonomous fleets of predominantly electrical powered cars are heavily discussed and put forward as promising solution. On the one hand, they shall reduce emissions through the electric powertrain and reduce congestions by allowing more efficient use of each car and on the other hand strongly improve traffic flows through better management and enhanced communication between cars.
Although the promise of shared autonomous car fleets seems very straightforward, the positive effects are challenged by recent studies. Fraedrich et al. (2017) and Hörl et al. (2019) clearly show, that such mobility services increase the mileage travelled in urban agglomerations. This may lead to increased congestions and energy consumption. Street designs are likely to reinforce the functional separation of traffic flows to facilitate efficiency gains of autonomous driving (Millard-Ball, 2016). By doing so, multi-usage of streets, which is a prerequisite of urban liveability, is mitigated.
Taking those backsides of shared autonomous car fleets, this paper is proposing the new approach of shared autonomous cargo bike fleets integrated into public transport systems. Firstly, the concept of next generation bike sharing and its special on-demand function in organizational and technical detail is outlined. Following the paper will elaborate on the advantages and disadvantages of the vehicles, vehicle safety, operation principles, mobility patterns addressed and perceived effects on traffic in contrast to shared autonomous car fleets. Further we investigated possible factors relevant for the acceptability of an autonomous bike system, by means of structured focus group discussions and experiments with possible users and passer-by s.
The results clearly demonstrate that shared autonomous cargo bike fleets are a vital alternative to shared autonomous car fleets in terms of emissions, space occupancy and public acceptability. However, some barriers in vehicle design, autonomous driving behaviour and mobility service need to be addressed in future work.

Bibliography
Fraedrich E, Kröger L, Bahamonde-Birke F, et al. (2017) Automatisiertes Fahren Im Personen- Und Güterverkehr. Stuttgart: e-mobil BW GmbH; Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. Institut für Verkehrsforschung; Ministerium für Verkehr Baden-Württemberg.
Hörl S, Becker F, Dubernet T, et al. (2019) Induzierter Verkehr Durch Autonome Fahrzeuge: Eine Abschätzung. Institut für Verkehrsplanung und Transportsysteme, ETH Zürich
Millard-Ball A (2016) Pedestrians, Autonomous Vehicles, and Cities. Journal of Planning Education and Research 38(1): 6–12. DOI: 10.1177/0739456X16675674.

Programme committee
Intelligent Mobility - Management and Operation

Topic
Autonomous Vehicles