Changes in the Urban Infrastructure for Autonomous Vehicles

The big question around self-driving cars, for many people, is: When will the technology be ready? In other words, when will autonomous vehicles be safe enough to operate on their own? But there has been far less attention paid to two equally important questions: When will the driving environment be ready to accommodate self-driving cars? And where will this technology work best?

Self-driving cars are the most challenging automation project ever undertaken. Driving requires a great deal of processing and decision making, which must be automated. On top of that, there are many unpredictable external factors that must be accounted for, and therefore many ways in which the driving environment must change.

Factors effecting takeoff of Autonomous Vehicles

1. Adaption to the legal framework. Having streets and roads full of vehicles without no humans behind the wheel will require the creation of new laws. For example, regulating responsibility in the event of an accident is necessary (car manufacturers are taking initiative, with Volvo in the lead in 2015, given that this manufacturer was willing to assume all responsibilities in the event of accidents). According to S&P, it is expected that China and the United States will take the first steps in this direction, while new legislation could be slower in Europe. Regulation is currently the major hurdle in the development of self-driving vehicles. Authorities aren’t going to give out permits until they are convinced that they do not compromise road safety.
2. The consumer’s acceptance and adaption. In the beginning, self-driving cars and conventional ones will run the roads side by side. This will probably cause higher traffic on these roadways. At the same time, it’s difficult to predict the behavior of others who use the streets and roads and how consumers will overcome the psychological barrier to getting in a vehicle with no driver. It’s important to stress that self-driving vehicles can only be operated as such when the car itself meets certain requirements (that it is equipped and has requisite sensors), as does the environment in which it is traveling (geographical zone or infrastructure equipped for autonomous use) and weather conditions. When these requirements are not met, the car can be driven in the conventional way.
3. Public opinion on safety. In the long run, the use of self-driving vehicles will reduce the number of accidents and victims. Nevertheless, the incidents that arise during the first phases of the rollout for unmanned cars will shape public opinion and discourse in the media.
4. Economy and infrastructure. Self-driving cars will have long-term impacts on the economic model. They will also require the creation of new infrastructure, like roads equipped with communications systems for connected vehicles. On the other hand, one of the most immediate economic impacts will be the revaluation of the occupants’ time. The driver will become just another traveler, and they will be able to use the trip to get other things done, for business or for pleasure.

IEEE P2846

One of the biggest barriers to the rollout of AVs in cities is risk, as driving is a multi-agent problem, involving a variety of decisions and counter-decisions, manoeuvres and counter-manoeuvres by all the road users involved. In the city context, these road users include not only other vehicles but also vulnerable pedestrians and cyclists, moving in multiple directions in scenarios involving various occlusions, etc. It is vital that cities move beyond na?ve sentiments of AVs ending all collisions—a distortion sometimes persisted by robotaxi technology developers—and work with AV deployers to develop deterministic safety models.

Such deterministic safety models depend on a number of assumptions and variables, and by working with AV developers to define what these variables should be in their city, city governments can have their own say in defining the trade-off between efficiency and risk in the rollout of AVs. The IEEE P2846 working group builds upon the responsibility-sensitive safety (RSS) model originally developed by Mobileye, and provides city governments with the best opportunity to shape the risk-reward balance of AVs in their own cities without requiring them to become too deeply involved in dictating hardware architectures, software architectures, or any of the other remaining ‘nuts and bolts’ of each AV system that may ultimately end up being deployed in their city.

The Autonomous Vehicle Infrastructure

We’d not be able to go fully autonomous without the right infrastructure. We can’t just switch to self-driving cars. The shift will also require enhanced manufacturing processes and new kinds of supply chains. Most importantly, the infrastructure must be prepared for it. Once all that is ready we will start seeing autonomous cars on urban streets.

We’re getting closer to the time when mobility freedom will finally be available to everyone. In fact, to measure that, KPMG has made an Automotive Vehicle Readiness Index, which shows how prepared different countries are for autonomous driving. According to their research, the country that is most prepared for the new infrastructure is the Netherlands. It could serve as a model for other countries to follow to accelerate the global adoption of the technology.

Right behind in 2nd and 3rd places follow Singapore and the United States. However, none of those countries has a total score of over 30, which means that even the most prepared at the moment still has a long way to go.

Infrastructure Changes

Autonomous vehicles require excellent roads, harmonized regulations, and standards for the construction and renovation of roads. But that’s not enough. On-road telematics, lanes, signage, crash barriers, sidewalks, and curbs need to become smarter or completely change their appearance. Even though it sounds expensive, the following changes will take place when autonomous vehicles become a reality.

• Lane Marking: Poor road markings are challenging even for the already existing connected vehicles. It’s something that has to be worked on for the effective adoption of AVs. The road markings should not only be reflective but machine-readable.
• Roadside Sensors: To be prepared for the driverless future roadside sensors should be included on sidewalks, curbs, and lanes. They will allow vehicles to keep track of their surroundings and foresee potentially dangerous situations.
• Smart Signage: Current autonomous vehicles use image recognition for reading road signs. However, a much more reliable approach would be machine-readable signs. They will include an embedded code that could be transmitted. They’ll send messages detectable by computers.

Cities of the future

Cities of the future will be transformed into actual digital hubs. And we know technology today is mostly human-centered, which means that cities will become better places to live. The adoption of connected autonomous vehicles will increase road capacity and reduce congestion even in most densely populated areas.

In one of the possible scenarios, cities can get to a point where traffic lights are no longer needed. Traffic lights were designed for humans, but now they could be replaced by protocols designed for machines that determine driving priority. By using on-road telematics, autonomous vehicles could communicate with each other and act according to programmed priorities. Cars could also form groups that drive together and share all sorts of information on road conditions, speed, braking, and so on.

On top of that, smart roads with signage, lining, and sensors could provide more descriptive information to vehicles, letting them know when to stop or move and what type of obstacle is in front of them.

The Impact Of Connectivity & 5G

Autonomous driving infrastructure – from traffic signs to traffic cones – is all about connectivity. For autonomous vehicles, connectivity means even more than gasoline. Infrastructure needed for autonomous vehicles will pack cities with fiber and sensor networks, IoT devices, facilities for safe public Wi-Fi, and superspeed 5G. Fleets of autonomous vehicles will receive and transmit enormous amounts of data all the time.

5G technology might be the missing piece of the puzzle to make efficient autonomous vehicles. It will help AV reduce emissions by 90%, cut travel time by 40% and save thousands of lives annually The network claims to be a hundred times faster than the current 4G. It’s expected that it would serve 40% of the world by 2024.

5G wireless technology would require extensive infrastructure. New fiber-optic cables will have to be placed throughout this new infrastructure. This will be helpful for future infrastructure changes for self-driving cars. The promise of this next-generation network to bring safer driverless cars could lead to a revolutionary development of smart cities.

Potential electric charging of AVs can bring about a revolution in renewable energy production

By 2050, the likely net increase in electricity demand from converting the light-duty vehicle fleet to 85% electric and autonomous vehicles will be between 13% to 26% of today’s total electricity demand.- BU’s Institute for Sustainable Energy

Whether autonomous vehicles will rely on electrical technology only or if there will still be gasoline-powered AVs remains a hotly debated topic. Even so, worldwide initiatives are promoting a massive shift from fossil fuels to electricity.

What does this mean in terms of autonomous vehicles’ effects on urban infrastructure? Charging points are one of the most obvious physical changes that will happen if the majority of AVs are electric. Investigators are working on determining where to place the required charging points. Figures predicting the required number are mind-blowing.

According to the National Plug-In Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Analysis, electrifying 15 million electric vehicles (EVs) by 2030 would require nearly 5,000 fast charging and 500,000 slow charging stations. For these reasons, other methods of efficient charging of EVs, like in-motion charging, may become popular.

With adequate state-level support and demand, massive adoption of electric vehicles can actually disrupt the production of renewable energy. In the ideal future, the need for wind and solar energy will provide an increase in manufacturing, installing, and maintaining capacities. And all that will lead to positive economic and ecological results.

A New Era

Automotive vehicles won’t just change the way we travel, they will generally change the look of current infrastructure, not only in cities but on highways as well. The AV revolution might bring us to a future of smooth and predictable traffic and more efficient public transportation.

City residents will have more free space to make use of. Moreover, there will be fewer risks for pedestrians and bicyclists as they have many concerns about urban areas. All of the benefits that autonomous vehicles together with smart cities could bring will improve millions of people’s quality of life while taking next-level care for the environment.