2014-01-06

2014-01-06

January 6, 2014

Self-Driving Cars Moving into the Industry’s Driver’s Seat

Jan. 2, 2014 “Accident rates will plunge to near zero for SDCs, although other cars will crash into SDCs, but as the market share of SDCs on the highway grows, overall accident rates will decline steadily”. Self-driving cars (SDC) that include driver control are expected to hit highways around the globe before 2025 and self-driving “only” cars are anticipated around 2030, according to an emerging technologies study on Autonomous Cars from IHS Automotive, driven by Polk.

In the study, “Emerging Technologies: Autonomous Cars—Not If, But When,” IHS Automotive forecasts total worldwide sales of self-driving cars will grow from nearly 230 thousand in 2025 to 11.8 million in 2035 – 7 million SDCs with both driver control and autonomous control and 4.8 million that have only autonomous control. In all, there should be nearly 54 million self-driving cars in use globally by 2035. Read more

U.S. misses deadlines on connected vehicle, automatic braking

David Shepardson Jan 2, 2014: “The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration missed two self-imposed deadlines on deciding whether to require future “smart car” technology — requiring next-generation vehicles to be able to talk to one another and automatic braking systems to avoid frontal collisions….

In January 2013, NHTSA Administrator David Strickland said he planned to make a decision by Dec. 31 on whether the agency would seek to require automakers to install equipment in vehicles that will allow them to communicate with each other to avoid collisions…. The National Transportation Safety Board wants NHTSA to require collision-avoidance technologies — including forward-collision and lane-departure warning systems, adaptive cruise control and automatic braking — on every car. But automakers oppose new mandates and say they could add thousands of dollars to the cost of a new car or truck. So far, NHTSA hasn’t imposed any collision-avoidance technologies except electronic stability control, which helps vehicles avoid rollovers or leave a road….” Read more Hmm???? Alain

In planning for highways of 2033, MnDOT should consider driverless cars

Joe Loveland Jan 5, 2014: “… The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) released a new 20-year plan in December 2013 – the Minnesota State Highway Investment Plan (MnSHIP). Spoiler alert: MnSHIP says we need more money to build more road capacity. MnSHIP says much more than that, but adding road capacity is a central theme, as has been the case for many years with such long-range plans. At first blush, the call for increased road capacity seems like the most unassailable part of the plan. After all, Minnesota’s population is expected to increase over the next 20 years.

But the call for additional road capacity could ultimately turn out to be the most flawed part of the plan. Here’s why: One term you won’t see in MnSHIP is “driverless car.” (emphasis added) …” Read more

I agree. MnDoT and most other DoTs MUST begin immediately to take SmartDrivingCars seriously as they look even 10 years into the future. Alain

“The New Killer Apps”

How Large Companies Can Out-Innovate Start-Ups” by Chunka Mui and Paul B. Carroll Now Available Highly Recommended. See also Chunka’s Dec. 23 Forbes article Debate Continues: Driverless Car Safety vs. Jobs – Inevitable or False Choice? Be sure to read comments that follow article. Interesting comment from Michel Sena: “Except for AAA, not a single paper map publishing company among the top ten that existed when I was working in that business (1977-1999) remains.” Read more

Mandatory Consideration of Automated Vehicles…

An ongoing blog in the ITE site “There are many reasons, in my opinion, for the ITE and the wider transportation-related and Civil Engineering Professions to take immediate cognisance of the potential impacts of automated (autonomous, self-driving, driverless) vehicles (AVs). (Read more from bottom up)

Google Teams With GM, Honda, and Audi to Bring Android to Cars

Read more??? Unfortunately, that’s Android, Not SmartDrivingCars and I think that the two are still very far apart. Alain

Calendar of Upcoming Events:

http://orfe.princeton.edu/~alaink/NJ_aTaxiOrf467F13/Orf%20467F13_FinalReport&PresentationProspectus.pdf

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http://orfe.princeton.edu/~alaink/TRB%2714/TRB_SmartDrivingCars_Activities.pdf

Day

Session/Event

Topic

Location

Saturday 9:00am->5:00pm

ATRA Technix

Conference

Applications of Automated Transit Network Systems

U of Maryland

CATT Center

Sunday 9:00am->5:00pm

Workshop

155C

(Ticket Required)

Is the Partially Automated Car Semiautonomous or Semimanual?

Sunday 9:00am->noon

Workshop

143

Parking Policy and Urban Mobility: Expanding Our Understanding

Hilton

Columbia

Hall 12

Sunday 1:30pm->4:30pm

Workshop

188

Activity-Travel Behavioral Impacts and Travel Demand Modeling Implications of Driverless Cars

Hilton

Columbia Hall 2

Sunday 8:00pm->9:30pm

ATRA

Board

Meeting

Advance

TRransit Association

Annual

Board Meeting (all welcome)

Hilton

Kalorama

Monday 8:00am->9:45am

AP020(1)

Meeting

Shared-Use Vehicle Public Transport Systems Subcommittee, AP020(1)

Hilton

Morgan

Monday 10:15am->noon

AP020,

AP025, AHB15 Meeting

Emerging Ridesharing Solutions Joint Subcommittee of AP020, AP025, AHB15

Hilton

Morgan

Monday 8:00am->noon

ITS

Committee Meeting

Intelligent Transportation Systems Committee

Marriott Wilson A

Monday 8:00am->noon

AP040

Meeting

Automated Transit Systems Committee

Hilton

Columbia

Hall 9

Monday 3:45pm->5:30pm

Session

388

Data Aspects of Vehicle Automation

Marriott

Maryland

A

Monday 3:45pm->5:30pm

Session

417

Pioneers of Autonomous Driving: Automated Guideway Transit

Hilton

Columbia

Hall 5

Monday 3:45pm->5:30pm

Session

387

Automation in Road Transportation: Government Research Programs from the US, EU, and Japan

Marriott Thurgood Marshall West

Monday 7:30pm->9:30pm

Poster

Session

445

ITS Tech & Connected Vehicles: System Control, Safety, and Evaluation

Marriott Salon 2

Tuesday 1:30pm->3:15pm

Session

610

Impact and Implications of Autonomous Driving on Automated Transit Systems

Hilton

Columbia Hall 8

Tuesday 1:30pm->5:30pm

VHA

Committee Meeting

Vehicle-Highway Automation Committee

Marriott Wilson A

Tuesday 5:30pm->7:30pm

Princeton

Univ. TRB Banquet

42nd Annual Princeton University Transportation Program Reunion Banquet

Lebanese Taverna

Tuesday 7:30pm->9:30pm

Poster

Session

697

Current Research Findings on Vehicle-Highway Automation Systems

Marriott Salon 2

Tuesday 7:30pm->9:30pm

Session

692

ATIS: Celebrating 15 Years of Innovative Research and Technology*

Marriott Marshall West

Wednesday 8:00am->9:45pm

Session

749

Automated Vehicles: Key Technical and Operational Challenges

Hilton Columbia Hall 5

Wednesday 8:00am->9:45pm

Session

759

Something Old Becomes New: Emerging Mobility Pathways in the 21st Century

Hilton Georgetown East

Wednesday 2:30pm->4:00pm

Session

833

Hail! Hail! Where’s My Taxi?

Hilton Jefferson East

Wednesday 4:30pm->6:00pm

Session

845

New

Developments in Vehicle-Highway Automation

Marriott Marshall West

Wednesday 7:30pm->9:30pm

ITS

Committee Meeting

Intelligent Transportation Systems Committee Presentations

Marriott Marshall West

Thursday 9:00am->noon

Session

845

Road Vehicle Automation

(This is the good one)

Marriott Delaware

  • I put CoPilot in the consumer market at J&R Computer World in August 1997. So Innovative Consumer offerings have must have preceded “Innovative Research & technology”. :-) Alain

42nd Annual Princeton University Transportation Program Reunion Banquet

You are Invited!!

January 14, 2014

Washington, DC

Recent Versions of:

December 27, 2013

December 20, 2013

“The New Killer Apps

How Large Companies Can Out-Innovate Start-Ups” by Chunka Mui and Paul B. Carroll Now Available Highly Recommended. See also Chunka’s Dec. 19 Forbes article Will The Google Car Force A Choice Between Lives And Jobs?