The new age of mobility in Smart Cities

Leave a comment / Connectivity, Mobility, Urban Planning, Smartcities, Sustainability

The human factor is the main cause of car accidents around the world, figures from various international organizations such as the Mapfreo Slim Foundation, estimate that between 70 and 80% of the time the driver’s state of mind and attention is the main cause of car crashes[1], which is why the automotive industry, hand in hand with smart cities, intends in the coming years to ensure greater automation in the driving of vehicles, improving safety and mobility in cities.

How vehicle automation can change mobility in cities?

By: Gabriel E. Levy B.

www.galevy.com

Although we perceive ourselves as reliable when operating machines, the reality is that our subjectivity influences the performance and quality in the operation of any type of motorized device and when it comes to transportation vehicles, statistics show that humans not only make mistakes permanently, but we are a danger to our fellow humans, animals and even ourselves.

Since the 1980s, a study conducted at the University of Granada in Spain and led by Jaime Vila, identified the relationship between the human emotional factor and traffic accidents.

According to the study, 83% of the time emotions are responsible for crashes, a factor that the study attributed at the time to driver biological rhythms, suggesting that, through knowledge and management of these rhythms, accidents could be prevented.

The study at the time suggested that life is determined by the physical rhythm of 23 days; the emotional, 28, and the intellectual, 33. Each rhythm has its positive and negative phases, and its critical days occur when several cycles in negative phase coincide.

According to the research:

“It would be a matter of being able to warn the roadside professional in what phase he is in to know when things might go wrong for him, highlighting the usual cycles of night and day, activity and rest” [2].

The study identified at the time that the risk of driving between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m., a time when psychological activity is at a minimum, is a critical factor for accidents, as is diet, which can affect every part of the cycle[3].

“Consuming carbohydrate food incites sleep. In contrast, protein food awakens” [4].

Although Vila’s studies and research were revealing and encouraging at the time, as were many other studies and methodologies developed in the 20th century, so far all attempts to improve safety by focusing on the human factor have been insufficient and only technological improvements in vehicles, from airbags to structural design and automation, have reduced crashes.

Current figures from the World Health Organization[5], show that traffic accidents each year cause the death of approximately 1.3 million people, while between 20 and 50 million people suffer severe injuries and although vehicles increasingly incorporate more safety and technology, in countries such as Colombia, Mexico, Ecuador and Brazil, it is between the fifth and seventh cause of death in adults and the leading cause of death in children between 5 and 14 years of age[6].

The worrying numbers of deaths due to traffic accidents have accelerated the processes of vehicle automation as a hopeful palliative to significantly reduce the numbers, while at the same time, by discarding the human factor, mobility can be improved.

In other words, total safety in automotive mobility will only be achieved when we remove humans from the steering wheel.

Vehicle Automation in Smartcities

One of the main bets of Smart Cities, to strengthen mobility, is the automation of vehicles and the strengthening of public transportation systems.

Mexico’s National Commission for the Efficient Use of Energy CONUEE concluded in a 2017 report that the private vehicle is one of the main causes of mobility problems in cities:

“The extensive use of the private motorized automobile has strong limitations as a means of urban transportation. Among its main problems is the low occupancy rate, since in most cases, cars carry only one person, which causes a large number of cars on the roads generating traffic jams, in addition to the polluting emissions of their engines and the amount of time a car is used per day. In most cases, cars are used for a short period of time and remain parked, occupying public space for most of the day”[7].

In this regard, the same report highlights how the different SmartCitys initiatives around the world present automation as a way to make luxury vehicles, in an urban context, much more efficient.

How is automation achieved?

The automation process of the vehicle fleet in a Smartcity is achieved through a comprehensive technological system, based on communication technologies between the vehicles themselves and the centralized urban infrastructure, through a robust network connectivity system, which requires an adequate deployment of fiber optic and wireless communication systems, such as 5G networks, as well as the incorporation of high-precision sensors in traffic lights, intersections, delineation of tracks, smart screens, platforms, etc.

“This information system allows cars to know at all times how other vehicles are going to behave and to receive information from the city (traffic lights, available parking spaces, among other things) in order to establish routes, speeds and movements in each vehicle that make the transfer faster and more efficient, reducing the emission of pollutants and the use of energy[8].”

Type of Automation

While the ideal of a smart city is the total automation of all vehicle processes, to achieve this purpose, in addition to a colossal economic investment, it requires a lot of technology that is not yet available, 5G networks that are just beginning their testing processes in developed countries and a lot of political will, which is generally scarce, being a very appropriate intermediate strategy, the automation of vehicles in stages, until a significant number of units is reached and the possibility of a fully automated vehicle fleet materializes.

Currently, the automotive industry, hand in hand with governments, has advanced in the automation processes, trying to overcome Level 0 and seeking to advance together to reach Level 5.

These are the levels of Automation and the advances we have achieved and those projected for the coming years:

Level 0: Non-automated. The driver is responsible for all aspects of dynamic driving, despite certain warnings and system intervention.

Available in all the vehicle fleet in the world.

It does not require sensors in the cities or specialized wireless and high-speed networks.

Level 1: Assisted driving. A driving assistance system performs the work of acceleration and braking or steering using information from the environment; the driver is responsible for the rest of the dynamic driving.

Available in mid and high range vehicles from the FIRST decade of the 21st century.

It does not require sensors in the City or specialized wireless and high-speed networks.

Level 2: Partial automation. The system performs acceleration, braking and steering tasks using information from the environment; the driver is responsible for the rest of the dynamic driving.

Requiere sensores en las Ciudades no requiere de Redes especializadas inalámbricas y de alta velocidad.

Available on high-end vehicles from the SECOND decade of the 21st century.

Level 3: Conditional automated driving. An automation system performs all dynamic driving tasks; the driver is expected to intervene if the system requires it.

Available in high-end vehicles from the THIRD decade of the 21st century.

It requires sensors in the cities and requires specialized wireless and high-speed networks.

Level 4: Highly automated driving An automation system performs all dynamic driving tasks, even when the driver does not respond to a system request to intervene.

It requires sensors in the cities and requires specialized wireless and high-speed networks.

Available in test mode on high-end vehicles from the THIRD decade of the 21st century.

Level 5: Fully automated driving. The vehicle operates in automated mode at all times, the automation system performs all dynamic driving tasks under all road and environmental conditions.

It requires sensors in the cities and requires specialized wireless and high-speed networks.

Available on mid- and high-end vehicles from the FOURTH decade of the 21st century.

In conclusion, the automation of motor vehicles in cities is one of the most ambitious projects promoted by Smartcities, betting on safe and sustainable urban mobility, which will reduce traffic accidents by eliminating human error in driving, while at the same time, through state-of-the-art technology, there will be greater resource efficiency. In any case, safety in urban mobility will only be achieved at optimal levels if humans are no longer at the wheel.

[1] Report of the Mapfre Foundation

[2] Publication of País de España of 1984 on Vila’s studies.

[3] Publication of País de España of 1984 on Vila’s studies.

[4] Publication of País de España of 1984 on Vila’s studies.

[5] WHO data on traffic accidents.

[6] Report on mortality in traffic accidents by Fasecolda of Colombia.

[7] Report on mobility in smart cities by the National Commission for the Efficient Use of Energy CONUEE of Mexico.

[8] Report on mobility in smart cities by the National Commission for the Efficient Use of Energy CONUEE of Mexico.