Commercial Operations

Certain driving assistance and active safety applications would benefit from lane level vehicle positioning. This applies both to autonomous and cooperative systems. Such positioning requires a combination of accurate abolute positioning and accurate digital maps of sufficient resolution and with adequate information concerning lane level details. The paper addresses the requirements for both positioning and digital maps, and especially assesses if the requirements for the digital map can be met in the future, and which impacts this may have on map databases in terms of specification, capturing and maitenance cost, and map database file size and compilation.

NAVTEQ

Presented at the 15th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems, November 16-20, 2008, New York, New York

Leading map providers integrate information from a wide variety of sources to produce their
digital database which support a variety of in-vehicle Advanced Driver Assistance functions.
By including customer feedback, adopting high end data collection and processing
technologies, and conducting traditional field survey, these seamless pan European map
databases are kept up to date. A new initiative launched early 2008 will address a so far
missing link in this map maintenance process. The EC-funded FP7 project “ROSATTE” aims
to develop the enabling infrastructure and supporting tools that will ensure European access to
road safety attributes (with a distinct focus on speed limits and traffic signs) maintained by
Road Authorities, including incremental updates. This particular paper addresses a
preliminary view on technical and organisational aspects related to the aggregation and
integration of supplied safety attributes in existing maps (“WP4”). Input data will reflect
(incremental) updates of safety attributes according to an appropriate exchange format which
will be available from application to application using web services and open protocols.
Aspects to be considered in the integration phase are the location reference of the attributes,
quality aspects, etc. Software components will be developed for testing, validation, and
qualification. Several candidate test sites in Europe have been identified for testing and
validating the complete data provision chain, foreseen for 2009.

Tele Atlas

Universität Stuttgart

Presented at the 15th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems, November 16-20, 2008, New York, New York

Vehicle Assist and Automation (VAA) provides the rail-like service quality by improving
lateral ride smoothness, particularly at higher speeds, and by making it possible for buses
to dock precisely at stations, so that wheelchair-bound riders can roll on or off the buses
with a small gap between the bus floor and the loading platform at the station. Accurate
automatic steering can also help reduce right-of-way and busway construction costs by
making it possible for buses to operate in lanes that are only slightly wider than the buses
are themselves, making it possible for them to fit into currently already congested urban
highways or former rail rights of way in high-density urban locations where no other
rights of way may be available. Longitudinal control is also very beneficial for BRT
buses to be able to stop at bus stop at predetermined location, to travel along the
dedicated bus with desired speed profile, and to couple electronically with each other to
form a bus platoon (convoy). California PATH has pioneered magnetic guidance system
and has implemented this technology on conventional transit buses. This paper reports a
recent field testing of magnetic guidance technology along AC Transit’s service route.

California Department of Transportation

University of California at Berkeley

AC Transit

Presented at the 15th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems, November 16-20, 2008, New York, New York

In June 2008, Greater Stockholm Public Transport Authority (SL) as the authority responsible
for public transport in greater Stockholm, organized a Pilot trial of a communications platform
that enabled real-time wireless broadband services to and from a couple of highway commuter
buses. The solution offered location specific digital services to both passengers and the transport
operators alike. The wireless capacity that was surplus to SLs operational requirements was
made available to passengers through commercial operator collaboration. The uniqueness in the
trial was first a very broad approach, to the demand of services offered in four different service
packages, and secondly the establishing of seamless switching between WiMAX, UMTS and
CDMA.

Capgemini Sweden

Greater Stockholm Public Transportation Authority

Presented at the 15th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems, November 16-20, 2008, New York, New York

A “bus location system” is a system to transmit information on bus status collected through
GPS and on-board equipment of buses to personal computers and cellular phones via a center
server. Such a system can help improve efficiency of bus operations and be used for
operation management by processing operation data statistically. It has been installed for
bus routes throughout the country.
In Toyota City, a bus location system has been in operation for two bus routes. With the
reorganization of bus routes, the city decided to introduce a unified system. Called “Toyota
City Bus Status Information System,” it went into operation in November 2001. In addition
to the above-mentioned functions, the system sends to users e-mails on approaching buses and
emergency information like traffic accidents and disasters.

Urban Maintenance Department, Toyota City

Presented at the 15th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems, November 16-20, 2008, New York, New York