Out of the box
The Digitized Road
Ilja Radusch heads up the Smart Mobility division of the Fraunhofer Institute for Open Communication Systems (FOKUS) in Berlin. In order to optimize the mixture of conventional and highly automated vehicles that will be on the road in the future, he is conducting research on a hybrid road infrastructure.
Mr. Radusch, what will happen when autonomous and manually operated trucks and cars share the road in the future?
We definitely expect both safety and efficiency to increase as automated systems become more widespread. This has already been proven historically, for example as a result of the introduction of more intelligent adaptive cruise control systems. In addition, humans are currently the primary cause of road accidents, and the general population has come to realize that driving at high speeds doesn’t mean you’ll arrive at your destination any sooner.
In order to handle mixed traffic, you contrast today’s passive roads with the concept of the hybrid road. What can a hybrid road do specifically to increase the flow of traffic and reduce the number of accidents?
Just like in other areas, digitization is also having an impact on roadways. This begins with the digital twin of light signal systems such as traffic lights, which in addition to light, also communicate their current – and just as impor tantly, future – signal phase via data communication. In addition to ultra-precise positioning, especially near intersections, we are also working on a smartphonebased hazard warning system designed to prevent accidents involving both vehicles and vulnerable road users caused by inattentiveness. The next step would be a more dynamic division of the roadways. It would make sense, for example, to use LED markings in the ground to widen bicy cle paths when the weather is nice, or to help bikers maintain a greater distance from vehicles in the rain.
Is it even possible to use the road as efficiently as possible as long as all of the vehicles aren’t autonomous and connected?
It will be extremely difficult, to say the least. Particularly in the context of freight transport, for example, connecting trucks to each other is a helpful step, but their digital integration with upstream and downstream parties is even more important. One-third of the trucks on the road are empty, for example when returning from a delivery. In this respect, we need to become much better at making effective use of these transport capacities via interconnected logistics.
Would hybrid roads with a lane reserved for autonomous trucks, for example, be a good way of introducing us to the world of “coexisting” manually operated and autonomous vehicles?
A dedicated lane – similar to high-occupancy vehicle lanes in the United States – would, of course, help. Especially if we can ensure that the legal, structural, and, if necessary, technical conditions such as obstacle-free access are met. Then it would also be conceivable for transport operators to reserve certain times and sections in order to be able to guarantee arrival times.
If the hybrid road increases the capacity of this traffic area, won’t the traffic density there continue to grow at the expense of the more sustainable rail?
Interconnected transportation doesn’t only refer to the road. Rail traffic must also be included. Freight trains are running into bottlenecks on main lines. Mass freight such as coal is on the decline, and freight is becoming more fragmented. These challenges are best met by using a mix of transpor tation methods. For example, the goods can initially be transported by rail. An automated electric truck is then used for the last mile to bring the cargo to the factory gate. Digitization also improves the ability to forecast and plan – and therefore ensures that the different methods of transportation interact efficiently.
