What is Modular Automated Individual Transport ?

Modular Automated Individual Transport (MAIT ) is a system that provides individual transportation without a human driver. Due to its modular concept, this system can be adapted to meet a wider range of transportation needs than has ever been possible before.

General characteristics

The core of the MAIT concept is its integration of various types of individual automated transportation systems by means of its modularization at a minimum of additional costs (see Section 3.2). MAIT can therefore provide the following fundamental features:

• Fully automated vehicles capable of operation without human drivers.
• Small vehicles available for exclusive use by an individual or a small group, (at maximum 4 adults and two children), traveling together by choice.
• Small guideways that can be located elevated, ground-level or underground.
• Direct origin to destination service, without a necessity to transfer or stop at intervening stations.
• On demand service and available 24 hours a day, eliminating fixed timetables.
• Door-to-door service: the modular structure allows cost effective transportation solutions in high and low traffic density areas (see Section 1.3).

  The economic viability of any new transport system strongly depends on the portion of people that change from their car to this new system [1]. The more the features of the new transportation system resemble the conveniences of the private car, the more people will use it. For economic considerations, see Section 3.2.

• Automated freight delivery service: MAIT can automatically deliver light freight (up to a certain size and weight) to customers who install an automated parcel box beside the MAIT guideway (see Section 1.4). The system can provide fast, low-cost delivery of goods that have been previously ordered, for example by the Internet. Everyday items could be conveniently delivered and picked up. Automated freight delivery could optimize the just-in-time production in manufacturing  ¹. Furthermore, MAIT can have track extensions inside a factory so parts could be routed directly to where they are needed.

• Unique operation and transport: MAIT 's implementation of automated transport utilizes a variety of propulsion and guiding techniques (see Section 1.3) but the passengers do not have to be concerned with that; The operation of MAIT is everywhere the same and they stay in the same cabin from departure to destination. See trip examples in Section 2.

A more complete list of possible MAIT services is given in Section 1.4, after the description of some MAIT essentials.

General concept of MAIT: cabins, carriers and tracks

Transportation systems are usually composed of vehicles (the moving parts of the system) and its rails, roads, or guideways (the fixed part of the system). However, the overall performance of an automated transportation network can be considerably higher if a third component is added: the carrier. This is indeed the most significant characteristic of MAIT . The physical and logistic division of Cabins, Carriers and Tracks is sketched in Fig. 1:

Figure 1: Example to illustrate the modular structure of MAIT . (a) Cabins: Cabin for freight (top,left), Cabin for passengers (top, right). Carriers: Carrier with specialized wheels for ordinary roads (middle,left), Carrier specialized for elevated guideways (middle,right). Tracks: Ordinary street (bottom, left), elevated guideway where the wheels of the carrier roll inside the guideway body (bottom, right). Both cabins on the top can be mounted on all carrier types but the carriers are specialized and can only move on tracks for which they are designed. (b) All possible cabin-carrier-track combinations composed by the example modules shown in (a).

(a)	(b)

Cabins

A cabin provides the space in which the passengers or freight reside during a trip. They are essentially rigid cases with an aerodynamic shape and are approximately the size of a small van. The cabin dimensions are approximately 3.2m length, 1.5m height, 1.6m width. Depending on their purpose, cabins can be equipped with seats, air conditioning, or configured to carry industrial pallets, small containers or bikes. The empty cabin itself has a weight of 100kg to 200kg. The total charge (passengers with luggage or freight) should not exceed 500kg. Cabins for passenger transport contain a computer terminal to communicate with the MAIT system, an emergency break and emergency button. They can be hooked onto all types of carriers, using a standardized mechanical, electrical, and data interface, see Section 4 for more details.

Carrier

The carrier is responsible for the propulsion. There are different types of carriers and each is designed to run on a specific track. Carriers can automatically ``pick up'' cabins, and serve as the ``mechanical interface'' between cabins and track. The basic components of carriers are:

• A gliding system that allows the carrier to move on the track. A gliding system can consist of either wheels, magnets, or pressurized air that keeps it elevated over the track.
• A guiding system that allows the carrier to move along the track and to diverge into another branch of the network when necessary.
• An engine for propulsion. This is usually an electric motor.
• Braking and other emergency systems.
• An air conditioning system.

Tracks

All fixed components necessary to guide carriers to a desired point of the network are considered track. The functional elements of tracks are:

• Uni- or bidirectional guideways or ``roadways'' that guide and control the carrier.
• Diverges, where one line splits into multiple lines.
• Merges, where multiple lines merge into one line.
• Stops, where people enter and leave the cabins. The platform of all stops are flush with the floor of the cabin.
• Carrier exchangers, where cabins are automatically moved from one carrier type to another.
• Carrier and cabin stores, where unused cabins or carriers are temporarily parked.

A vehicle, the moving part of MAIT , is defined as one cabin attached to one carrier. A MAIT network consists of interconnected track clusters, where each cluster usually employs a different carrier-track technology; one that is well suited to the local transportation requirements. The carriers are designed for a particular track technology and cannot migrate from one cluster to another. For this reason, the various track clusters are connected via carrier exchangers. Carrier exchangers are specialized elements of the track, where cabins are automatically unmounted from one carrier type and mounted onto another. Of course, during the carrier exchange, the user or freight remains in the cabin. Clearly, two essential processes are automated with MAIT :

• the control of carriers along a desired path on the track.
• the mounting and unmounting of the cabin from one carrier type to another at carrier exchangers.

Using the carriers as ``mechanical interfaces'', any cabin can run on any track-type in the network, regardless of which technology is being used. The design of the carrier and track can be easily optimized for a specific transportation problem. In Section 1.3, examples of carrier-track technologies are proposed to address some typical transportation problems.

Cabins, carriers and tracks are controlled by a vast computer network via digital communication links. A part of this computer network is owned by user-services. User-services are the interface between MAIT and the MAIT -user, and guarantee easy operation of the system. Section 1.4 explains the role of user-services in more detail.

MAIT implementations

Various carrier-track technologies can solve typical transportation problems such as intercity links, inter-urban connections or local traffic. Below, different carrier-track technologies are proposed for the most typical transportation problems. In fact, most of the technologies have already been developed and tested. Finally, an example of a MAIT network based on two different carrier-track systems is analyzed in more detail.

International and intercity links

International and intercity links are characterized by

• long-distance: greater than 50 km.
• high speed: faster than 200 km/h.
• simple network topology: few stops, merge or diverge points.

An appropriate technology for these connections might be high speed rails or magnetically levitated (MAGLEV) carriers with linear electric motors running on, above, or under-ground as illustrated in Fig. 2. Large MAGLEV trains for 800 persons, have achieved velocities of more than 500km/h [2]. There are even developments that use MAGLEV guideways in underground vacuum tubes [3]. Each vehicle on this track has a constant speed ². Vehicles that enter/leave the high speed track get accelerated/decelerated on a separate lane, similar to an entrance or exit of a motorway.

Figure 2: MAGLEV versions of MAIT . (a) elevated guideways. (b) guideways in underground vacuum tubes (see text).

(a)	(b)

Inter-regional and inter-urban links

Typical characteristics of inter-regional and inter-urban links are

• Travel distances from 5 to 50km.
• Line speeds of approximately 60km/h.
• Stops, merges or diverge points every 1 to 10km.
• High throughput (persons per hour) and little space for guideways in and near city centers.

The track must be designed to minimize visual impact, and to maximize throughput. Various technical solutions have been proposed, developed, and tested over the past 30 years to address this area and almost all of them have incorporated rubber tires and an electric motor for propulsion [4]. There have been developments with supported vehicles  [5,6], as well as suspended vehicles [7,8]. There are many good reasons for both options. This is why interfaces of the MAIT cabin are designed to work with supported (see Fig. 3(a)) and suspended guideway technologies (see Fig. 3(b)).

Figure 3: (a) Example of a supported elevated guideway system with off-line MAIT stop. People can access the stop via elevator. (b) Example of suspended guideway technology.

(a)	(b)

Vehicle control strategies have been developed to ensure safe travel with very small distances between vehicles at speeds up to 60km/h  [1,9]. Reliable electro-mechanical emergency systems have a shorter reaction time than human drivers so they can safely accommodate shorter distances between vehicles than automobiles. A shorter distance between vehicles means more vehicles can pass a point on the guideway in a certain time interval. The system proposed by Anderson et.al. [5] has a maximum line capacity of 10000peopleperhour which is equivalent to the capacity of a four-lane motorway.

The MAIT stops, where people can access the cabins, are usually off-line. This is required to provide non-stop, departure to destination service. On-line stations require that all vehicles approaching the stop either slow down or stop until loading or unloading is completed. MAIT off-line stops on an elevated guideway are shown in Figs. 3(a) and 4(a). The platform of the stop is also elevated and can be accessed by an elevator or escalator.

Most bigger European cities have a dense Metropolitan underground system that could be partly converted to join the MAIT network. One metro line is usually greater than 3m wide and can therefore accommodate two parallel MAIT guideways: the first line is used for acceleration/deceleration and off-line stops while the second line is reserved for through traffic. An underground MAIT stop is shown in Fig. 4(b).

Figure 4: (a) MAIT stop integrated into a building. The floor of the vehicle is, as in all MAIT stops, flush with the floor of the building so wheel chairs (as shown in the picture), child carriages, or shopping carts can easily be rolled into the cabin. (b) Oxford underground station, London, UK, based on a guideway carrier-track system. The left line is reserved for through traffic, the right line for acceleration/deceleration and the off-line stops.

(a)	(b)

Local traffic

This transport category stands for short distance transport; for example, from a residence to the local shopping center, or to the nearest interregional or intercity MAIT connection. Its characteristics are:

• Travel distances up to 5km.
• Maximum speeds of 25km/h.
• Short distances between stops, merges, or diverge points.
• High traffic density in city centers, in most European cities also few space.
• Low traffic density in residential and rural areas.

Track for such local traffic must be small and flexible in cities where space is limited yet inexpensive so that it can be cost effective where ridership is lower, such as in rural areas.

The technology for automated vehicles with wheels that can roll on ordinary roads is already availlable [10,11]. The MAIT road carriers with cabins are illustrated in Fig. 5. The carrier is guided by small induction loops inside the road and its propulsion is performed by a battery driven electric motor. If trips are short and the carrier can frequently enter service points to re-charge, the size and weight of its battery can be kept small.

In busy town centers, road-carriers are able to share the road with pedestrians. In this application the vehicles move at walking speed and a redundant set of sensors ensures that the vehicles slow down and stop if obstacles are in their way. Where there are grade separated lanes available that are inaccessible to pedestrians the vehicles can run at speeds up to 25km/h.

Figure 5: (a)  Road-carrier with wheels and tires in Camden, UK. Here, people share the road with MAIT vehicles. Even though it only travels at walking speed the road-carrier must be equipped with infra-red and ultra-sonic sensors to detect obstacles. Slow speeds are not a drawback since the trips with this carrier type are usually short. (b) Road-carrier vehicle is passing by an off-line stop with shelter on a low traffic density street in London.

(a)	(b)

Example layout of a MAIT network

By means of this example layout one should get an idea on how a complete network may look like when implemented in a real city. This case study considers a possible MAIT network around Victoria station, London, UK. The aim is to replace the present traffic solution with a MAIT system that can handle equivalent capacity. This place has been chosen because the traffic around Victoria station is extremely dense and there is few space in this historically grown quarter of London. The implementation of MAIT is simpler if there is more space between buildings, as it is the case with most America cities.

Victoria station is located in central London and is presently one of the traffic hot spots in England's capital. Victoria station itself is a railway station. The interregional trains leaving from there mainly serve the suburbs of south-west London. Around Victoria station there is a bus terminal for the double-decker London busses, a terminal for inter-city busses, and a London Underground station at the intersection of two metro-lines.

The transformation of the present metro-bus-car-train transportation to a MAIT network has the following features:

• Equivalent or greater throughput of people.
• Greater safety standards as compared to the metro system.
• Standards of service and comfort similar to the automobile.
• Minimization of visual impact.
• Minimization of traffic on the ground level.

Two types of carrier-track technologies are chosen to meet the desired objectives: the road-carrier to provide door-to-door service even in small streets (see Section 1.3.3), and a high capacity guideway-carrier that is handling the main traffic flows (see Section 1.3.2). If necessary, cabins are moved from road- to guideway-carrier, or vice versa, at carrier exchangers as shown in Fig. 6(a).

Figure 6: (a) Some of the platforms at Victoria Station have been transformed into carrier exchangers. Here, cabins are automatically unmounted from a road carrier (see Section 1.3.3) and mounted onto a guideway carrier (see Section 1.3.2). (b) The faster high-capacity guideway carriers take cabins to more remote, predominantly suburban destinations. After the introduction of MAIT traffic congestion (in grey) below the guideway may be a thing of the past .

(a)	(b)

A possible MAIT network layout, as shown in Fig 7, has been designed with the following criteria:

• the road carrier system (blue) serves local traffic. A road-carrier stop, which is simply a space on the street that is reserved for one road-carrier vehicle, is placed in front of each door. Longer distance traffic and through traffic use high capacity underground (red), on-ground (green), and elevated (bold green) guideway-carrier systems.
• main installations, including carrier exchangers, are either inside Victoria Station or underground.

• minimized elevated guideway infrastructure. The main part of the guideway-carrier system is either underground and a replacement for the metropolitan lines (see also Fig. 4(b)), or on the surface where the railway runs now. Neighborhoods south east of Victoria Station need to be served by a high capacity bidirectional elevated guideway since they do not have an underground.
• because there is few space on surface level, the road-carrier network is a one-way system so that MAIT occupies just one lane per street with the addition of some off-line stops (see Fig. 5). The width of a road-carrier lane is approximately 1.60m so on most streets MAIT leaves room for at least one free lane which can be used for large and heavy loads, for emergency vehicles, or during the transition, automobile traffic.

Figure 7: Case study of a MAIT network around Victoria Station, London, UK. Two carrier-track technologies are used to provide a complete car-like transportation service: The road-carrier and the guideway-carrier. The cabins are moved from one type of carrier to another at carrier exchangers.

MAIT transport services

How to profit of MAIT services ?

If a customer wants MAIT to perform a particular transportation service, they need to contact one of the MAIT user services. User services are similar to travel agencies. They take an order from the customer and plan the trip by giving the appropriate instructions to a vast computer network which is controlling the vehicle traffic on the MAIT system. The tasks of user services include: planning, optimal routing, booking, and charging the customer's bank account after the successful completion of the ordered transport service.

Before using MAIT for the first time one needs to get an account with one of the user services. A new passenger or freight customer receives a MAIT card with a user-ID number from the user service. From now on they can order MAIT services through the user service by Internet³, by phone or from one of the MAIT terminals that are installed near each MAIT stop.

Communicating or making transactions with user services is quite simple:

1. authentification: the customer communicates his user-ID by inserting his MAIT card into the slot of a MAIT terminal or by typing the user-ID when ordering via Internet or phone.

2. transaction: the user selects the desired destination station of the next trip, one of the option listed in Section 1.4.2, or other services that are offered by the user service. The selection of the action is done via user-friendly, menu driven, graphically supported displays.

Usually the transaction contains the desired destination station of the next trip. The customer may than insert their travel card into the card-slot of an empty MAIT vehicle and enter. Thereafter the vehicle will bring him fully automated, and non stop to the desired destination station. Section 2 gives detailed descriptions of trips with the MAIT system. Below, we sketch a part of the spectrum of possible options and services that MAIT can offer with its modular structure and the concept of user-services. Note that different user-services may offer a different choice of options and services.

Customizing the behavior of MAIT

The customer can significantly influence the overall behavior of MAIT by providing user-services with the appropriate travel options. The user may select

• a default destination: this will be the destination for each trip unless the customer specifies a different one (see Section 2.1).

• cabin type: where possible, user-services will book a cabin of the selected type. Here are some examples of (non-standard) passenger cabin types:
  • cabins with fewer seats but more space for luggage, bikes, e.t.c.
  • cabins with special equipment like phone, computer with Internet-access, baby-seats, e.t.c.

• operation: user-system interaction can be modified. The list below shows that even little features, that are easy to implement, can be of considerable help; in particular for people with limited abilities.
  • persons with wheel-chairs or with child carriages the seats fold back automatically when passengers enter the cabin.

  • visually impaired all system messages, such as destination station, door closing, come from loud speakers in addition to displays or visual signals. Special messages could be added to help improve the journey.

  • the physically disabled and elderly people, cabin doors would not close too quickly to allow them extra time.
• route selection. One has the option to:
  • select the path that minimizes travel-costs.
  • select the path that minimizes travel-time.
  • select the path with a scenic view.
  • select the path that does not use carriers with suspend cabins (see Fig. 3). This is an option for people with hight sickness.
  • select path that never uses underground lines (see Fig. 4(b)). This is an option for claustrophobic people.

• language selection: all system information are displayed or spoken in the selected language.

• defining alias names for destinations: the customer can define alias names instead of numbers for frequently used MAIT stops.

All the above mentioned settings can be changed at any time at MAIT terminals, via Internet, by phone, or directly at the offices of MAIT user-services.

Automated freight delivery services

It is apparent that a true automated transport system must be able to transport freight without a human driver. Freight plays an important roll in the MAIT concept: the same carrier can be used to transport people during the day (when mounted with a passenger cabin) and freight during the night (when mounted with a freight cabin), as illustrated in Fig. 8(a). Tracks and carriers are in use during day and night which increases the overall efficiency of the system (see Section 3.2).

Figure 8: (a) after peak times in the evening, freight-cabins (shown here in brown color) are loaded on carriers that move passenger-cabins during the day. (b) Automated delivery of goods at night using specialized freight delivery cabins. The freight is inserted into automated parcel boxes (shown in blue) that can be automatically accessed by the freight delivering cabins.

(a)	(b)

The essential element of MAIT 's automated freight delivery is the automated parcel box. The automated parcel box is installed beside MAIT tracks and is automatically filled or emptied by specialized freight cabins.

In order to use the MAIT automated freight delivery service one has to purchase an automated parcel box and install it beside the MAIT track. Goods can be ordered (for example over the Internet) and automatically received by the MAIT network, or one can send parcels to another person or business if they also have an automated parcel box. MAIT vehicles with freight cabins that deliver parcels are shown in Fig. 8(b).

Automated freight delivery service may also play an important role in manufacturing. The flexible structure and small dimensions of the MAIT system allow it to extend into factories. The automated parcel boxes that charge and discharge freight cabins can be designed to serve as input or output queues for machine tools. The output queue of one machine tool can be connected via MAIT with the input queue of another machine tool located in a distant factory. MAIT could therefore optimize just-in-time manufacturing and decentralized production.