Saturday, July 18, 2009

Simple steps for Traffic Planners

First, keep it simple. Then keep infrastructure costs minimum. Maximize participation.

The battle we fight is Silicon vs Oil on our asphalt roadways. Your most important weapon is the digitally assisted intersection. Your job is to open up the road to increasing levels of automation.

In real dollars, the base cost to digitize an intersection is $20,000 with a pay off period. If you enable both freight and passenger, then you payoff drops to six months, enough to get us out of the recession by early next year.

Use small trials. The cost is so low that a trial period for a few months is no worse than roadwork in its impact. So, get out the green paint buckets and invite in some BRT vehicles. Get some experimentals on the road. Have a parade.

Get involved in the freight side of the hubs and get the green lanes busy with freight in off-peak passenger periods. Get involved with the technology companies. Vision systems will rule this universe. Look to pay $500/camera for object processing cameras over the medium term. Enabled vehicles have object maps from both stationary and mobile visuals, so talk about communications among devices.

Low cost, extremely efficient, but you have to fight for the driving rights of the increasingly robotic.

Don't forget bikes and ultra-lights.

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