Driven by InNoVation - 11.25.19 Edition

Innovative Transportation Technologies

Source: AUVSI News

Virginia is for innovation. Virginia is a hotbed for unmanned innovation, according to speakers during the recent Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC) Autonomous Technology Summit held in Fairfax. For example, the Center for Innovative Technology in Fairfax funded a company that does aerial data collection; Wing partnered with FedEx to complete the first scheduled e-commerce delivery via drone in Christiansburg; a three-month long public demonstration of autonomous shuttle technology just concluded in Albemarle County; Daimler Truck and Torc Robotics are now testing automated trucks on highways in southwestern Virginia; and Dominion Energy is working with Fairfax County to develop an autonomous shuttle to a Metro station.

The support and assistance the Commonwealth provides to the companies doing this innovative work has helped establish Virginia as a great place to headquarter, pilot or test new technologies.

“I absolutely believe the potential for autonomous vehicles, whether in air, on land, in sea … could be as much of a revolution as wireless was.”

- Mark Warner, Senator, Virginia, and an early investor in the cellular telephone business and co-founder of the company that would become Nextel

Source: EasyMile

Driverless shuttle vendor selected for Merrifield pilot. Dominion Energy has announced that the autonomous mobility start-up, EasyMile, will be the vendor for a pilot shuttle project coming to the Merrifield area. The company was selected through a competitive bidding process in which they met every criteria and demonstrated an “excellent safety record.” EasyMile's EZ10 shuttle, which can carry 12 people and has a wheelchair access ramp and anchor points, relies on a remote supervisor to monitor data and communicate with passengers.

Source: Pointr

GPS location services coming to Washington, D.C. airports. The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) is working with Pointr to provide GPS location services inside Washington Dulles International (IAD) and Ronald Reagan Washington National (DCA). The service will rely on Bluetooth sensors (to be placed in the airports) to provide directions and gate/cue information to users.

Source: Mario Tama, Getty Images

Navigation apps changed the politics of traffic. Navigation apps like Waze, Google Maps, Apple Maps and others prioritize the needs of individual drivers, over the needs of the system, and there is ongoing debate if this approach saves time for anyone. In fact, an often cited 2001 paper by Cornell computer scientists "found that a network of 'user-optimized' drivers can experience travel times equivalent to what a network of 'system-optimized' drivers would experience with twice as many cars.” However, the app providers insist that they help distribute the load of travel over the entire road network. CityLab's Laura Bliss, co-author of a new book, The Future of Transportation, suggests that it might be best to reframe this entire debate, which centers on the concept of throughput, to instead focus on effectively moving people.

Source: Getty Images

Self-driving tech considered to tackle increasing capacity in the Lincoln Tunnel. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is considering equipping buses with self-driving technologies, in the hopes of increasing capacity on the Lincoln Tunnel bus lane. The 2.5 mile stretch of bus lane in the tunnel carries an average of 1,850 buses per day (or 18.5 million passengers per year), despite operating only four hours each morning. The aspiration of this endeavor into autonomous technologies is to allow those buses to drive more closely together, without incident, and thus increase the capacity of the lane by 30% in the peak hour.

The Port Authority had planned to vote to approve the investment this month, but the item was withdrawn from the agenda to allow for further consultation with potential vendors. The vote is now expected in December.

Emerging Trends

Source: Asset Finance International

In-car connectivity powers new financial ecosystem. New uses are emerging for in-car infotainment and telematics systems, including e-commerce. Vehicle manufactures and third party providers which have been granted access to in-car systems (for both personal and ride sharing use) are providing drivers and passengers platforms to purchase things like parking, reservations, music, services, entertainment, and in some cases, tangible items. This market shows significant opportunity for growth.

Expansion of new technologies and services that allow transactions are expected to accelerate. Researchers predict drivers will more frequently use their cars to search and pay for services and goods, creating a $265 billion connected car e-commerce market by 2023.

Source: Shutterstock

Verizon wants to turn fiber networks into citywide sensors. Verizon is conducting “proof of concept” testing, with technology partner NEC, to determine if their network of fiber infrastructure can pull double duty as a sensor for smart city technologies. Essentially, the existing fiber network is sensitive to vibrations, and when paired with movable sensors, could be used to monitor traffic patterns, speeds and even types of vehicles passing by, as well as other, non-transportation related feedback. This innovation has the potential to use existing infrastructure to collect data, improve monitoring and reduce demand on physical space, in a way that is easily adjustable to the needs of a municipality.