[V.Narayan]

Autonomous Rail Rapid Transit (ART) is a LiDAR guided articulated bus system for urban passenger transport. Developed by CRRC Zhuzhou Institute Co Ltd, China it was unveiled in Zhuzhou in Hunan province in June 2017 and is operational at 5 lines in China totalling 46 kms. LiDAR stands for light detection and ranging a sort of cross between a laser and a radar. the device is used to 'see' and 'follow' the virtual track painted on the road.

The product has been described as a crossover between a bus and a tram and is commonly called a "trackless tram". Its external appearance, composed of individual, fixed sections joined by articulated gangways, resembles a rubber-tyred tram, although it combines the flexibility of a multi-articulated bus with the capacity of light rail. Although the system is labelled as "autonomous" in English, all the models produced so far feature a driving position with a steering wheel and all the systems in operation have a driver.

The ART is equipped with various optical and other sensors to allow the vehicle to automatically follow a route defined by a virtual track of markings on the roadway that look like a road divider painted on the road. This is a virtual track without the disruption of laying a real steel track. It also has the flexibility of building new tracks by simply painting them or similarly removing old ones. A steering wheel also allows the driver to manually guide the vehicle, including around detours. A Lane Departure Warning System helps to keep the vehicle in its lane and automatically warns, if it drifts away from the lane. A Collision Warning System supports the driver on keeping a safe distance with other vehicles on the road and if the proximity reduces below a given level, it alerts the driver by a warning sign. The Route Change Authorization is a navigation device, which analyzes the traffic conditions on the chosen route and can recommend a detour to avoid traffic congestion. The Electronic Rearview Mirrors work with remotely adjustable cameras and provide a clearer view than conventional mirrors including an auto dimming device to reduce the glare.

Trackless Trams - like ART – could offer a solution to replace both light-rail and bus rapid transit due to their ability to mimic the best qualities of each (low cost and ease of installation of bus, low emission and high capacity of light-rail) while avoiding their respective defects (pollution and noise of buses, high installation costs and disruption during construction of light-rail). Despite these apparent advantages, as of July 2021 there are only a limited number of planned systems.

Having no permanent track enables flexible operations according to traffic conditions, e.g. by suggesting detours in the case of road traffic accidents or ongoing construction work. The vehicle based system interacts with an intelligent signal communication feature enabling priority pass at traffic lights. The railless system provides low construction and maintenance cost, because there are no railway tracks to maintain. Using quick charge batteries reduces the need for overhead lines en route between the stations and produces no exhaust gases within urban areas. Specifications in the box below.

One cannot help but be impressed by the technology integration this represents and the innovation of the Chinese. when I observe the colossal traffic disruption for years on end in Bangalore and Mumbai caused by the metro project I wonder if at least in part this is a better solution.

Specifications

Train length: 3 carriages: 32 m
Width :2.65 m
Maximum speed: 70 km/h
Power supply: Lithium–titanate batteries
Wheels: Rubber wheels on a plastic core
Multi-axle steering system
Minimum turning radius: 15 m
Passengers: 170-300 in 3 carriages
278-500 in 5 carriages
Max. distance at full charge: 40 km
Charging time: 30 sec for 3 to 5 km
or 10 min for 25 km

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[V.Narayan]

A ~1-minute video to explain the concept.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3smIxjkCmk0

The double broken orange lines are the track. It is investment in mass rapid transit, by whatever means, that our cities need. There is no one solution only a bouquet of solutions complimenting each other can deliver. 34% of India's population lives in urban areas and that number is growing at 2.4% per year and is expected to reach 50% before 2040. Cars are simply not the solution.

[ajayc123]

I can see electric buses being run by Delhi Transport Corporation, which addresses concerns of pollution to some extent.

But, having surface transport with road shared with other modes of transport limits the average speed. It would easily take twice the time to reach a distance in cities versus a metro train on a dedicated track.

Autonomous features are still evolving, and adoption has policy dependencies, but worth trying out in a controlled way.

[One]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

When I observe the colossal traffic disruption for years on end in Bangalore and Mumbai caused by the metro project I wonder if at least in part this is a better solution.

This looks good indeed and am assuming not very difficult to implement in terms of either sticking to the "tracks" or even if needed, a level of autonomy.

Not sure if this would work in Bombay :
1. The road surface area is restricted (in that sense, Metros are atleast above or below existing roads)

2. Very few parts of Bombay have the width to accommodate larger vehicles with a large turning radius. I remember these buses tried by BEST which were essentially twice the length of a regular bus and connected the two coaches by a vestibule. Not sure why that didn't work but do remember it was a task to navigate it in even the major roads here.

3. These would have to essentially ply on the larger roads i.e. Eastern and Western highways which anyways have parallel train tracks running (and soon parallel Metro tracks). Replacing existing BEST buses might be an option, though the buses do have the advantage of acting in feeder routes as well

Perhaps a hybrid approach of guided tracks and buses instead of larger vehicles might be apt in Bombay (wonder if retrofitting would also be an option)

Overall, looks like a great solution medium term using existing tech and will have excellent use cases.

[shancz]

Fabulous concept, very impressive.
I cannot comprehend how such a simple but brilliant idea never occurred to us. Kudos to the Chinese

Logically similar to the autonomous room cleaners but technology might be different.

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

when I observe the colossal traffic disruption for years on end in Bangalore and Mumbai caused by the metro project I wonder if at least in part this is a better solution.

Absolutely, a life saver and IMO economical too.
Biggest issue in our case would be our unruly traffic and keeping them in check.
This isn't a big issue for the Chinese though given their monitoring and enforcement.
Although keeping metro tracks away from our traffic mess gives it a guaranteed time of operation.
But this can be a highly popular and efficient city tram.

Even after all things are considered, it's a must have on our roads. The ease of integration and flexibility makes it suitable for any city of any size.
Side benefits include better road maintenance and markings in its areas of operation.

[sandeepmohan]

There was something similar in use at the Tokyo Olympics. Toyota's e-Palette. The technology is similar, if not exactly the same. I don't recall seeing a marker line of sorts on the pathway. However; it too uses Lidar, cameras, 3D Mapping to get around and for object detection. There was one minor accident involving a visually impaired person, even with an operator behind the wheel. For the most part, it did what it was designed to do, that is, get people around the large Olympics complex.

The main problem with implementing something like this in our country will be, how to get people out of the way and not occupy the vehicle path.

[Contrapunto]

This can be commerically viable from Day 1 on elevated, circular routes with known traffic patterns. e.g. Mumbai CST -> Churchgate -> Cuff Parade -> Backbay. Similarly Bandra Station <-> Bandra Kurla Complex.

It can run 24x7 with high utilization. I hope we see this realized in the next few years

[AGupta]

We have a few BRTS corridors in many cities, this concept compliments it further. In the dedicated BRTS corridor, such trams could have solved a lot of congestion problems.

[shadow59]

It's definitely going to be more economical than building a metro, since it can use our extensive and established road network, and higher capacity than a BRTS... I can definitely see these running especially in Tier-2 cities, where a full fledged metro is economically not viable.

[Unstuck]

This system having a common usage area as the regular road users would lead to accidents, more so in our country. Having an access restricted and exclusive path for tram / train systems would be safer and better. I think metro is good for us.

Idea wise, this innovation is brilliant. It is very cost effective.

[Dry Ice]

I think China has already tried a low-tech version of this concept. They built it for our neighbour.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=U9jadlhU7ZE

Another concept China was touting as revolutionary -

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=O7BTbHWyp40

[landcruiser123]

Steel wheels rolling on a rail will be the most efficient. There is literally no reason to re-invent the wheel. :P Besides inclement weather, dirt, etc can make an autonomous systems malfunction. Simple streetcars worked perfectly in the worst snowstorms of Minneapolis.

Also, streetcars are more suited to low-density urban areas i.e. - as a feeder to metro stations. The space behind the train can be used by automobiles as an additional lane of traffic too

[kiku007]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

The product has been described as a crossover between a bus and a tram and is commonly called a "trackless tram". Its external appearance, composed of individual, fixed sections joined by articulated gangways, resembles a rubber-tyred tram, although it combines the flexibility of a multi-articulated bus with the capacity of light rail. Although the system is labelled as "autonomous" in English, all the models produced so far feature a driving position with a steering wheel and all the systems in operation have a driver.

They are an interesting product indeed. The city of Brisbane has ordered about 60 of these from HESS, a Swiss based manufacturer. These aren't autonomous though.

The first Metro is on trial and I've seen it. It looks like a really long articulated/vestibule bus.



The six minute flash charging thing sounds awesome.

"The trackless trams charge at the end of each route using a “flash” charging system that charges the buses in less than six minutes, using a roof-mounted charging system for electric buses that can send up to 450kW of power to the bus."

Links:
https://thedriven.io/2022/04/22

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tx69yUhWjUQ

[ads11]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

It is investment in mass rapid transit, by whatever means, that our cities need. There is no one solution only a bouquet of solutions complimenting each other can deliver.

I think the point of yours in bold gets lost quite a lot - folks intrinsically love a silver bullet and we end up slave to one solution only. This is for sure an interesting concept but like others have said - I think the problem is that in our road conditions, you lose out on the benefits of mass transit, the rapid part. While the pain at the start to build the dedicated elevated roadways/tracks for metro systems, once they're activated, their ability to shift masses of people from point to point is unparalleled. Plus the idea then is to alleviate pressure on the road network at the same time. Granted all of this is easier said than done.

I wonder if as a few others have suggested this system serves as an acceptable compromise in say Tier 2 cities (I just can't imagine this working in metros unless they're able to legitimately enforce dedicated bus lanes along which these systems can travel). There will be certain routes maybe in metros where you could have these systems running along a dedicated corridor (might alleviate the chances of it crashing with our already dynamic road situation).