Overview of NLR Automated Mobility District Implementation Research - Phases I, II, and III. The Convergence of Automation, Electrification, and On-Demand Services: Enabling Resilient Automated Mobility Districts

A research program by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory has been investigating the implementation prospects for fully automated passenger transport systems that are deployed to operate within dense urban settings, referred to as Automated Mobility Districts (AMDs). An AMD emphasizes the deployment of automated vehicles (AV) passenger transport services within a dense urban setting and other major activity centers with intense passenger origin-destination demand patterns, such as those found in large business districts, airports, and university and medical campuses. Phase I and II surveyed 10 early deployment sites and subsequently collected and evaluated the lessons learned from these early deployment sites, with particular attention to fleet operations, impacts of service reliability, and vehicle technology evolution as the field of companies was being progressively winnowed by the challenges of full automation. Phase III research assesses the implications of the simultaneous transformations of automation, electrification, and on-demand services for AVs operating as a "multimodal" transportation system within a large AMD. Topics investigated include the comparisons and contrasts between traditional fixed-route transit services with those of on-demand transit (ODT) services. The investigations also address the trade-offs between battery electric vehicle range (specifically battery capacity and the ability to add additional charge during service activity), charging parameters, power availability, and operations predictability with respect to policy and infrastructure configurations. Phase III also examines the criticality of station operations, also referred to as curb management depending on the reference context. Lessons and insights from simulations of automated transit network studies inform principles of design for boarding and alighting areas (referred to as stations in traditional transit, but often called pickup and drop-off zones in the context of modern on-demand mobility) for robust AMD operation. The benefits of integration of electrification (both opportunity and deep charging) into stations and the use of infrastructure intelligence both at intersections as well as at boarding and alighting zones is also examined. Lastly, due to the complexity of the tradeoffs between multiple sub-systems within an AMD, a systems engineering methodology is proposed to adequately simulate all the interplay in order to maximize the resilience and performance of large-scale AMD implementations that are anticipated to occur over the next 5-10 years. This report provides an overview of the findings that span phases I, II and III AMD research, and outlines critical areas of continued AMD development that will be the focus of phase IV research activities.