JULY/AUGUST 2023 AFTERMARKET 23 www.aftermarketonline.net Former Zenzic CEO Ruiz on self-driving hype Non-executive director at the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), and reviewer of major projects for the Cabinet Office, Dr Daniel Ruiz has had a 40-year career in public transport. We started by asking him about the hype surrounding driverless cars. “Hype can be the enemy of progress,” he said. “I think in connected and autonomous mobility (CAM), it’s certainly the case that hype held things back. People became interested in just driverless cars, and that narrow interest resulted in a focus on the wrong things – not the best outcomes for society, the economy or the environment. “You can easily conclude that driverless technology is expensive, therefore it will only be for multimillionaires. The reality is that much of the technology has been proven on buses and low speed shuttles – public transport services. These are going to proliferate much faster than private autonomous vehicles, not least because the regulations still need to be established. “The driverless car that sits in your own garage is a bit of a distraction because it reflects the current transport paradigm – take one thing out, a driven car, and put something else in, a driverless car. It implies that everything else remains the same. We need to put less emphasis on the mode and think more in terms of getting from A to B in the most efficient and comfortable way. Maybe you'd be happy to walk to a scooter station, get that to the train, then pick up a cab. It’s the dwell times that inject frustration and inefficiency; that lead many to say: “It's too complicated, I'm going to jump in the car. Autonomous vehicles are part of the equation, but the C in CAM, ‘connectivity’, is also vital. The Internet of Transport (IoT) is probably the most important thing to be considering right now. At one point the UK was ahead of the game, certainly amongst the front runners. It isn’t as obvious that we are today, but the prize is still there. Legislation is the blocker. National Highways has completed several major Connected and Automated Vehicle (CAV) studies recently. Here, Malcolm Wilkinson, Head of CAV and Energy, talks intelligent infrastructure and freight platooning. “Our connected corridor project on the A2/M2 was very successful, certainly an important steppingstone,” he said. “It was a joint project with Kent County Council (KCC), Transport for London (TfL), the Department for Transport (DfT) and others. We demonstrated that cellular and WiFi connectivity can be used to put highway information into vehicles, for example, signage, warnings and green lights. We also demonstrated that data can transfer the other way – to us from vehicles. The project informed our Digital Roads vision and Connected Services roadmap, influencing elements of our Digital for Customer programme. “The Connected and Autonomous Vehicles: Infrastructure Appraisal Readiness (CAVIAR) project [hat tip to the acronym] used both simulations and real-world data collection. The number one recommendation was the need for further study to determine how CAVs can best navigate roadworks – that’s the next step. This potentially includes infrastructure-based solutions, such as smart traffic cones, and OEMs developing ‘cautious’ behaviours, to be triggered once a CAV enters a work zone. “The HelmUK freight platooning trial we led, working closely with the DfT, was another really valuable exercise. We demonstrated real-world use of platooning on the M5/M6. Although the fuel savings didn’t replicate what we were seeing on the test tracks, this was largely due to the need to break up the platoon at many of the junctions. It is one of those technologies you can see working brilliantly on long outback roads in Australia, but the advantages of putting it into every cab in the UK are far less obvious. It is important we recognise the challenges and learn from initiatives like the ENSEMBLE multi-brand truck platooning project in Europe. “There has been a lot of talk about the need for the white lines to be readable by automated vehicles. Is that still the case? If so, what does that mean for our maintenance schedules? Can we use the data from vehicles to inform our congestion management? Is there data we can use for asset management purposes? “Particularly over the next few years, with a mixed fleet with different levels of autonomy, that’s going to present new scenarios, new risks. As a highway authority we need to be conscious of those – how they’re going to affect our operations and the safety of the travelling public. It's very exciting times. We want people to embrace CAV technology and enjoy the benefits.” National Highways: Making CAVs work for the UK
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