Autonomous Vehicle Shuttle Pilot: �What We Experienced and What We Learned

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ITS Arizona Annual Conference, October 20, 2022

Presented by

Shuyao Hong, MSc

Emerging Technology Program Manager, MAG

Sanjay Paul, PhD, PE, PTOE, PTP, RSP Desert Southwest Area Traffic Business Leader, HDR

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Autonomous Vehicles

“94% crashes occur due to human errors and autonomous vehicles have the potential to reduce the frequency and severity of these crashes”

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• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
• United States Department of Transportation (USDOT)

• Autonomous vehicle was first developed back in 1980s, by Ernst Dickmanns (Mercedes-Benz)
• TV series Knight Rider was filmed and aired on NBC in 1982/ David Michael Hasselhoff

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Autonomous Vehicles (cont’d)

• Approximately 50 companies are involved in AV activities

• AV Route types in pilot projects
• Hard-coded fixed routes
• Fixed routes but communicates with infrastructure
• Real-time on-demand route assignments

• Several pilot projects with purposes
• Ridesharing
• Transit/circulator
• Shuttle services
• Delivery services
• First and last miles connectivity

• Autonomous Vehicles in Arizona
• Aurora
• Beep
• Cruise
• Embark
• Imagry
• Nuro
• TuSimple
• Udelv
• Waymo

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Levels of Automation

Source: www.rohm.com/blog/-/blog/id/8030373

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Levels of Automation (cont’d)

SAE - Society of Automotive Engineers

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Pilot Background & Objectives

Level 3 Automation + Hard-coded fixed routes

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Schedule:

Spring 2021 thru Spring 2022

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AV Pilot

Location & Land Uses

Freedom Plaza

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Overview

• Free shuttle service
• Focus group: nearby residents
• From independent living and assisted living facilities
• To nearby medical facilities
• Fixed hard coded route
• 13 stops, approximately 2.5 miles
• Low speed shuttle (Level 3)
• Mixed traffic
• Roadway and parking lot

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Housing: Freedom Plaza shaded parking

Charging: 220V and 60 amp

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Branding & Mascot

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Campaign

Marketing

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Insurance

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Route Development

& Validation

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Emergency Responders Training

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Public Outreach/ Community Events

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Testing Environment:

Traffic Signage & Pavement Marking

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Endorsements from Leadership & Launching Event

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• 6 days a week & 6 hours a day
• Fixed schedule with app to track real-time location with AVL technology
• 45 minutes headway
• Designated stops

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RoboRide Rides

• Operations

• Maintenance

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• Number of Trips Operated
• Number of Passengers
• ADA Passengers
• Scheduled hours
• Number of hours operated
• Beginning Time (MST)
• End Time (MST)
• Starting Battery Capacity (%)
• Ending Battery Capacity (%)
• Distance Covered (miles)
• Weather information
• Average speed
• Disengagement and causes

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Operational Data

Data Collection and Evaluation

Survey Data

• Intercept Survey (for riders)
• Verbal administration
• 7 questions, ~5 minutes long
• Survey questions:
• AV and RoboRide familiarity
• Travel patterns and ridehailing service usage
• Willingness to use a permanent AV shuttle service
• Full Survey
• Online (Qualtrics) administration
• 27 questions, ~25 minutes long
• Recruitment:
• Flyer handouts
• Email and adresses from surrounding zip codes
• City of Peoria website

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Survey Key Findings: Overall Positive Riding Experience

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Survey Key Findings:

High-level of AV Awareness

Varying viewpoints on AV safety

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Survey Key Findings: Willingness to switch to AV

“To what extent will you switch to using an autonomous vehicle service for your travel if the service is available on a permanent basis across the entire City of Peoria? (N=258)

10% more respondents with at least one health-related mobility limitation said that they would use a permanent AV service in Peoria for all their travel needs compared to respondents with no limitations

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Operational Findings

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance

• 102 days of pilot
• 1,410 miles of rides
• 550 hours of operations
• 55% of battery for average 5.50 hours of driving
• 8 hours charging needed to gain 100% battery level
• Average speed 5 miles per hour
• Maximum speed 12 miles per hour
• 80% uptime (20% down time)

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Operational Findings (cont’d)

Yield to left-turn vehicles

Yield to through vehicles

Safety First !!

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Operational Findings (cont’d)

Yield to through vehicles

Yield to any vehicles in parking lot

• Disengagement for any objects
• Vegetations
• Pedestrians
• Bicyclists
• Parked vehicles

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• Disengagement by misclassifying the

shadow or branch

• Abrupt acceleration

and deceleration

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Peer Exchange/Technical Tour

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Regional Planning

• Accommodate potential change in travel behavior:
1. Less ownership
2. Ride sharing
3. More trips/more VMT
4. MAG already has a module in ABM

with different scenarios

Recommendations for Future

Advancement of Understanding

• Future testing
1. High-speed roads
2. Communicate with infrastructure
3. Make real-time decisions
4. On-demand services
5. Crosses at least one major road

To be Ready for Future

• Planning for advancing the infrastructure e.g., traffic signals, communications, data hosting, housing and maintenance for CIP projects
• Procurement specifications for autonomous vehicles and supporting infrastructure
• Strategy and perform stakeholder engagement and public outreach for increasing community awareness and interest

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• Strategies for the usage of curb sides for dropping off and picking up activities
• Plan and implementation of vehicle charging stations. MAG is developing EV Readiness Plan

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Collaborative Effort

This project is an ideal example of a collaborative effort which brought together the regional planning organization, local government, innovative private companies, engineering consulting firms, business owners, and local community to advance regional mobility through a cutting-edge technology with the ultimate goal of improving safety and the quality of life for the community.

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Agency’s Feedback

• RoboRide project helped demonstrate this new technology can be used to provide mobility now and in the future.
• On a scale of 1 to 5, how comfortable are you with implementing autonomous vehicle shuttle in your jurisdiction?
• On a scale of 1 to 5, how satisfied are you with the vendor’s (Beep/Navya) performance in terms of team works, technical support, communications, and availability to trouble shoot?
• On a scale of 1 to 5, how satisfied are you with the consultant’s (HDR-RICK Engineering) performance in terms of team works, technical support, communications, and coordination?

Working with a team of technology experts from MAG, HDR, and Rick Engineering improved the pilot project and created a very comprehensive analysis of the program.

5 star

5 star

4 star

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Thanks to the Project Team

Kevin Burke

Jay Davies

Sanjay Paul

Cathy Colbath

Shuyao Hong

Dr. Vladimir Livshits

Stanton Burnton

Mike Barton

Rhonda Humbles

Subhankar Dey

Miranda Sundblom

Marcy McMacken

Special thanks to

Chris Patton

RICK’s Phoenix President

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Contacts:

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Shuyao Hong, MSc

shong@azmag.gov, 602.759.1847

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Sanjay Paul, PhD, PE, PTOE, PTP, RSP

Sanjay.Paul@hdrinc.com, 480.559.2623

Thank you very much!!

Comments and questions are welcome