Organizers
Carol Schweiger, President, Schweiger Consulting
Aybike Ongel, Principal Investigator, TUMCREATE
Jean Ruestman, Administrator, Michigan DOT Office of Passenger Transportation
Peyvand Hajian, Civil Designer, Stantec
Matt Lesh, Principal, Comet Mobility
Session Description
This session is intended to not only to continue the discussions that were started in last year’s breakout entitled “A Call to Action” (Breakout #21), but also to cover some additional topics that help to examine how automation can deliver on its promise to alleviate congestion, address equity issues, enhance accessibility and improve service quality in our communities. We know from last year’s discussion that we need to be mindful of a wide variety of factors when we envision a transportation future that includes automation. This session will discuss the current demonstrations of automated vehicles in a number of different settings, and current efforts that are focused on the equity, accessibility, inclusivity, acceptance and service quality of automated mobility solutions. These discussions will encourage the development of an action plan that can be used by public and private mobility stakeholders to ensure that all automated mobility solutions are accepted by and available to all travelers irrespective of their demographics.
Goals/Objectives/Outputs
- Understand current demonstrations, and efforts in the development and deployment of innovative mobility systems leveraging automation.
- Communicate and document the needs of travelers and communities regarding the acceptance and adoption of automated mobility solutions.
- Encourage participants to contribute to the requirements (based on the needs identified above) for public and private entities to provide inclusive automated mobility services.
Agenda
1:30 PM – 1:45 PM Where we Left Off and Where we Need to Go
Description: Review of Last Year’s Breakout Session, and Goals and Objectives to this Year’s Breakout Session
- Matt Lesh, Principal, Comet Mobility
- Carol Schweiger, President, Schweiger Consulting
1:45 PM – 1:55 PM Status of Activities: USDOT Strategic Transit Automation Research (STAR) Plan
Description: Update on the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) STAR Plan and Current STAR Plan Activities
- Steve Mortensen, Senior ITS Engineer, Federal Transit Administration (FTA)
1:55 PM – 2:35 PM Automation Mobility Challenges and Demonstrations
Description: Automated vehicles are being tested and piloted around the world as part of research into their use in shared mobility (e.g., first- and last-mile access to/from public transit). This session will address the challenges associated with introducing and demonstrating automated vehicles, and discuss lessons learned from trials by public transit operators and mobility service providers.
- Jean Ruestman, Administrator, Michigan DOT Office of Passenger Transportation, Michigan DOT Mobility Challenge
- Dr. Aybike Ongel, Principal Investigator, TUMCREATE, Individual Mobility Vehicles and Services
- Matt Lesh, Principal, Comet Mobility
- Dr. Young-Jun Moon, Senior Research Fellow, The Korea Transport Institute (KOTI)
2:35 PM – 3:15 PM Addressing Equity, Accessibility, Inclusivity, Acceptance and Service Quality of Automated Mobility Solutions
Description: Automated mobility services have the potential to address equity, accessibility and inclusivity challenges in public transit. However, benefits cannot be realized without the public acceptance of the automated vehicles. This session will discuss how automated vehicles and mobility services may help address current mobility challenges, and integration of automated mobility services into existing public transit systems.
- Tongbin (Teresa) Qu, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, School of Planning, Design, and Construction, Michigan State University
- Bernard Schmidt, Vice President of Automation, Jacksonville Transit Authority
- Jack Hall, ITS CV/AV Program Manager, Contra Costa Transportation Authority
- Timo Woopen, Project Manager of UNICARagil, RWTH Aachen University
3:15 PM – 3:30 PM Break
3:30 PM – 4:30 PM Facilitated Group Discussion: Needs of Travelers and Communities Regarding Automated Mobility Acceptance and Adoption
Description: Automated vehicles will potentially bring many benefits including improved traffic safety, improved mobility, and reduced environmental impact. However, public acceptance of automated vehicles still needs to be addressed for large scale adoption of automated mobility. In this session, the needs of travelers and communities with respect to the acceptance and adoption of automated mobility will be discussed.
- Facilitator: Jean Ruestman, Administrator, Michigan DOT Office of Passenger Transportation
4:30 PM – 5:15 PM Facilitated Group Discussion: Turning Needs into Requirements for Inclusive Automated Mobility Services
Description: We have learned through the application of systems engineering principles that in order for systems to be successful, they must be developed based on user needs. Part of the process includes translating those needs into system requirements. In this session, we will identify the system requirements for automated mobility that ensures that vehicles and services are accessible, equitable and inclusive.
- Facilitator: Carol Schweiger, President, Schweiger Consulting
5:15 PM – 5:30 PM Next Steps and Conclusion
Description: This session will summarize the facilitated sessions to develop a roadmap describing the next steps that need to be taken to ensure accessible, equitable and inclusive automated mobility
- Facilitators: Matt Lesh, Principal, Comet Mobility and Peyvand Hajian, Civil Designer, Stantec