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Guardian critic Rowan Moore on London’s coming underground colossus

2022-03-14T21:46:00-04:00

This megalopolis of engineering currently lies there, pristine, unspotted by gum or pigeon, with its 319-tonne trains gliding quietly through every few minutes, empty, so that those operating the system can familiarise themselves with the choreography of all that heavy metal. Electronic indicator boards announce their coming with white digits, a notch classier than the orange ones on the old tube.

Moore described the nearly empty £18.33 billion ($23.84 billion) project as an “alternative universe” before likening the transition between the new Elizabeth line and older Central Underground to a scene from (attempted architecture critic) Lewis Caroll’s Alice in Wonderland.

The full line is expected to be complete by 2023. Hopes were for the originally planned construction to end in 2018, before being pushed back three separate times owing to the pandemic and a variety of other causes. The expansion will eventually feature a motley slate of new stations from Hawkins\Brown and other big-name firms, but Moore doesn’t expect the enormous feat to be repeated any time soon, given the rise of certain ascendant technologies in the role of city planning.

“It can take a generation, in other words, to make something such as this happen. Since we are in a climate emergency, whatever environmental benefits may come from further such splurges on public transport – which incur upfront carbon ...

Europe's first fully autonomous bus is set to carry passengers in Toulouse

2021-12-02T19:47:00-05:00

French start-up EasyMile is to be the first transport provider to run a fully autonomous vehicle on a public road in Europe. The company has been authorised to run a driverless bus at the Oncopole medical campus in Toulouse, in partnership with French engineer Alstom.

The bus will operate at “Level 4,” meaning no human attendant will be on board. The authorization was granted by France’s Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Ecological Transition, on advice of the Minister of the Interior and local authorities. The bus arrives ahead of the implementation of the final regulatory framework allowing the circulation of autonomous vehicles on public roads in France, scheduled for September 2022.

The company will utilize its EZ10 people mover, an electric vehicle with PV-enhanced charging. It can carry up to 15 passengers. The service at Oncopole has been active since March and is situated on a 600-meter mixed-traffic route that also hosts cyclists, pedestrians, and cars. It will transition to being fully driverless in the coming months.

The project is part of the SAM (Safety and Acceptability of Autonomous Driving and Mobility) project, a French national-scale initiative to develop autonomous vehicles and deploy them on open roads.

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Waymo's self-driving cars have started 3D-mapping Los Angeles

2019-10-17T06:00:00-04:00

Currently, Waymo has started undertaking an extensive mapping activity of having a few of their specially outfitted data-collecting vehicles crisscross the Los Angeles area. These vehicles contain a state-of-the-art barrage of sensory equipment, the idea is to first map out the area and then use those maps to get the self-driving cars ready for hitting our streets.

"The conventional mapping did not go as in-depth as does this specially performed new mapping," writes AI and Autonomous Vehicles expert Lance Eliot for Forbes. "Tons of added data of a 3D nature and including subtle but significant aspects like where the curbs are, and the locations of intersection traffic signals are considered a savvy aspect to have in-hand for their driverless car efforts."

Waymo, the Mountain View-based Google sister company, hasn't unveiled yet if and when it will launch its fleet of driverless robotaxis in LA, but the current mapping efforts signal a strong intent to win early market dominance in the nation's second largest, and likely most sprawling car-centric, metro area.

LAX breaks ground on its new $4.9bn Automated People Mover

2019-03-14T13:42:00-04:00

A groundbreaking ceremony will be held Thursday for the 2.25-mile Automated People Mover at Los Angeles International Airport, which aims to cut down on auto traffic traveling in and out of the airport, officials announced Monday. The project has a targeted opening date of 2023.

Rendering of the people mover train above the terminal loop.

Earlier this morning, LA Mayor Eric Garcetti and other city officials celebrated the kick-off of what will be one of the most significant upgrades to Los Angeles International Airport—an elevated Automated People Mover system that will carry passengers among terminals and finally create an ample connection to the regional light rail system and the brand new consolidated rent-a-car facility.

The nearly $5 billion project is expected to bring much-needed congestion relief now that LAX has taken the title of fourth busiest airport in the world (serving a whopping 87.5 million passengers in 2018) and is projected to welcome even more guests when Los Angeles will host the 2028 Summer Olympics and Paralympics.

Should New York's subway rails be paved over for driverless cars?

2018-07-24T19:03:00-04:00

Visions of the future [autonomous vehicles] will bring have already crept into City Council meetings, political campaigns, state legislation and decisions about what cities should build today. That unnerves some transportation planners and transit advocates, who fear unrealistic hopes for driverless cars — and how soon they’ll get here — could lead cities to mortgage the present for something better they haven’t seen.

With new technologies emerging, cities are debating the most effective transportation systems to fund. Caught in the midst of this struggle is the proposition of paving over the New York subway in order to create an underground highway for autonomous vehicles. Those championing the idea believe this system would move the most people using the least amount of space, when theoretically services like Lyft and Uber no longer have to pay drivers.

Many, however, believe this is an unrealistic faith in new technology to solve all of our cities transportation problems. If everyone uses their own private, self-driving car this could create enormous amounts of traffic. Not to mention the belief that there is something inherently better about everyone traveling together on public transit rather than in their own isolated vehicles. Should cities invest in these new transit models replacing public infrastructure with private systems? Or hold out for unknown future technologies?

LAX announces consortium to build its new $4.9bn monorail system

2018-06-13T14:03:00-04:00

Bombardier Rail Technologies, ACS Infrastructure Development, Balfour Beatty, Fluor Enterprises and HOCHTIEF PPP Solutions North America have all been chosen to deliver a $4.9bn project to design, build and install an automated people mover system at Los Angeles International Airport. [...] The system will run on a 3.6km elevated dual-lane guideway and will serve six newly-built stations, creating connections between the airport, public and private transportation, and a new car rental facility.

Driverless technology is about to reshape the real estate industry

2018-02-16T18:06:00-05:00

The link between property and transport has been perhaps the most durable in human history. Since the ancients, few things have delivered higher land values with more certainty than advances in transport, from roads to canals, railways to highways. [...] But now, the dawn of the driverless car—promising a utopia of stress-free commutes, urban playgrounds and the end of parking hassles—threatens to complicate the calculus for anyone buying property.

Bloomberg Technology explains how the real estate industry is already preparing for all that sweet, sweet valuable space to open up for development once the widespread arrival of driverless vehicles makes parked cars — and the blocked square footage they occupy — a thing of the past.

China tests driverless bus guided by sensor tracks in the road

2017-11-07T17:33:00-05:00

The Hunan city of Zhuzhou is currently testing out an unmanned train that doesn't run on rails. You know, like a bus. The Autonomous Rail Rapid Transit (ART) is being dubbed by Chinese state media the "world's first smart rapid rail bus," whatever that means. The train/bus (trus?) was first shown off in June this year. It uses sensors to determine the dimensions of the road and make a virtual track for itself to ride along.

At first glance, Zhuzhou's Autonomous Rail Rapid Transit system that's currently being tested promises to enjoy a brighter future (and less ridicule) than the Traffic Elevated "car-eating" Bus that the City of Qinhuangdao announced to much fanfare last summer — only to find it stalled and eventually discontinued just a few months later.

How should cities prepare for a driverless car future? Here are six tips

2017-03-14T20:47:00-04:00

The days of driving your own car are coming to a close: as many as seven million driverless cars could be making their self-directed way around major urban hubs across the U.S. within the next few decades. So what should cities do to keep up with these changes? This white paper by Arcadis gives six tips for city planners to prepare for the automated onslaught:

A study by transportation, economics and urban planning experts has found that ridesharing and ridesourcing services using autonomous vehicles (AV) could shift millions of drivers away from personal cars in major U.S. cities.

“Driverless Future: A Policy Roadmap for City Leaders,” the study prepared by Arcadis, HR&A Advisors and Sam Schwartz Consulting, shows that the move to ridesharing and ridesourcing services that don’t have a driver could cause a shift of up to 60 percent (3.6 million cars) from traditional to autonomous vehicles in the New York metro area alone over the next 15-20 years.

The Los Angeles metro area could see...

DRIVERLESS FUTURE: A challenge to shape the impact of autonomous transportation

2017-02-23T17:33:00-05:00

This post is brought to you by Blank Space.

The Driverless Future challenge seeks proposals that actively shape NYC’s response to driverless technology - will offer resources to help finalists transform their proposals into real companies and products.

Blank Space is proud to announce the Driverless Future challenge, a global competition to shape the impact of autonomous transportation in NYC, with a prize purse worth over $60,000 for the 4 top teams. The focus of the challenge is not on the cars themselves, but everything else: from parking solutions, to mass transit, accessibility, shipping, logistics, software, services, and new uses of roadways, intersections, and sidewalks. The primary goal is to create a launchpad for entrepreneurs, innovators, designers, engineers, architects and futurists to enact real change in New York City.

Blank Space is proud to partner with the NYC Mayor’s Office, New Lab, Fast Company, and AIA New York to host the challenge and support winning entries b...

Driverless cars hit the streets of Milton Keynes

2016-10-11T20:49:00-04:00

Driverless cars will trundle around the UK in their first public trials today. The demonstration of the autonomous electric vehicles is going to take place on the pavements of Milton Keynes. These tests will be the culmination of an 18-month research project which involved virtually mapping the town and updating regulations for driverless vehicles.

For the latest on advances in self-driving cars:

Japan gunning for Tokyo to take on driverless vehicles by 2020 Olympic Games

2016-09-13T13:12:00-04:00

Tokyo-based Dynamic Map Planning will undertake the task of mapping out roadways in the highest detail to date (featuring such useful insights as curb location, lane height, and limits on turning), intended to be 20 times as precise as current maps [...] The company will also lead the effort to equip Tokyo with digital infrastructure that will allow self-driving vehicles to pick up on factors that can change or appear in their surroundings as often as every few minutes or even seconds

More autonomous driving news from around the world:

Germany's railway sees future in harmony with driverless cars

2016-05-13T12:46:00-04:00

Deutsche Bahn, a German-based railway and logistics company that transports about seven million train passengers every day ... plans to operate fleets of autonomous vehicles that could be ordered via an app, much people already do when they order a ride-hailing service like Uber. These driverless cars would be used to pick people up and bring them to public transit stations, solving the so-called “last mile” problem.

More news on automated vehicles and public transit: