Driverless Shuttle Corridors - Vancouver & Surrey

[lokyin]

Vancouver & Surrey submitted a joint partnership to Infrastructure Canada's Smart Cities Challenge, proposing to create Canada’s first two collision-free multimodal corridors with driverless vehicles.

Vancouver's corridor will be 2 km along the south shore of False Creek from Granville Island to Science World, w connections to Olympic Village Station & Main Street-Science World Station. It will utilize the right-of-way from the former Olympic Line streetcar.

Surrey's corridor is a a 3.4-km-long route connecting Surrey Memorial Hospital & King George Station.

They're doing a free demonstration driverless shuttle in Feb:
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-surrey-free-driverless-shuttle-rides-2019

Their website: https://www.smartertogether.ca/

Their Submission Document: https://www.smartertogether.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/smart-cities-challenge-application.pdf

Couldn't Vancouver have gone ahead alone with this? Gastown/Hastings/Chinatown could've been a great 2nd choice instead of Surrey Memorial... Even north van makes more sense!

So does that mean the arbutus corridor streetcar won't be envisioned to connect all the way to Granville Island, Olympic Village, Science World eventually?

[Migrant_Coconut]

Wishful thinking, but perhaps this is the testbed? Might have some engineer in 2030 saying "as you can see, there's X amount of daily riders on the rideshare, so X amount of streetcars make sense."

At least it's not going to be an ad hoc Mobi/taxi stall for the next few decades...

[logan5]

As a full blown transit line, a system like this would be far cheaper to build than lrt. And because it’s driverless, you could have a high frequency service. Surrey has all sorts of corridors that could be used for driverless shuttles.

[Galaxy]

Originally Posted by lokyin

Vancouver & Surrey submitted a joint partnership to Infrastructure Canada's Smart Cities Challenge, proposing to create Canada’s first two collision-free multimodal corridors with driverless vehicles.

Vancouver's corridor will be 2 km along the south shore of False Creek from Granville Island to Science World, w connections to Olympic Village Station & Main Street-Science World Station. It will utilize the right-of-way from the former Olympic Line streetcar.

Surrey's corridor is a a 3.4-km-long route connecting Surrey Memorial Hospital & King George Station.

They're doing a free demonstration driverless shuttle in Feb:
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-surrey-free-driverless-shuttle-rides-2019

Their website: https://www.smartertogether.ca/

Their Submission Document: https://www.smartertogether.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/smart-cities-challenge-application.pdf

Couldn't Vancouver have gone ahead alone with this? Gastown/Hastings/Chinatown could've been a great 2nd choice instead of Surrey Memorial... Even north van makes more sense!

So does that mean the arbutus corridor streetcar won't be envisioned to connect all the way to Granville Island, Olympic Village, Science World eventually?

Maybe they will use LRT trains with driverless tech integrated with the train. I think both cities just want to leverage funding to help along pet projects that also benefit residents in being better connected.

[djmk]

It takes 15 minutes to do a 2km run...

would that be a brisk walking pace?

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by djmk

It takes 15 minutes to do a 2km run...

would that be a brisk walking pace?

Damn, just noticed that. 12 klicks an hour? John Connor was right - I can literally get out and run faster!

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by lokyin

Couldn't Vancouver have gone ahead alone with this? Gastown/Hastings/Chinatown could've been a great 2nd choice instead of Surrey Memorial... Even north van makes more sense!

This is just a demonstration project in the same sense that the Olympic LRT was. I wouldn't expect it to go anywhere, other than to gather data for what might at some point in the future turn into a real route somewhere.

Keep in mind that the technology being showcased here requires its own right of way with no conflicting traffic. So you can't just plop it down anywhere without removing some traffic lanes from other drivers.

[ilikeredheads]

feels like a glorified PR stunt more than anything as I don't see much practical use due to the need for it's own ROW.

Its maximum travelling speed is 40 km/h, but during the traffic-separated demonstration, its speed will be limited to about 12 km/h.

So it's intentionally being slowed down to a crawl, which means either it's sensor system isn't very smart or it can't afford the liability insurance lol. Will it pass the Vancouver jaywalker test?

[casper]

Originally Posted by aberdeen5698

This is just a demonstration project in the same sense that the Olympic LRT was. I wouldn't expect it to go anywhere, other than to gather data for what might at some point in the future turn into a real route somewhere.

Keep in mind that the technology being showcased here requires its own right of way with no conflicting traffic. So you can't just plop it down anywhere without removing some traffic lanes from other drivers.

Was at CES earlier in the month. Virtually every major auto or tech company has something that can move faster than this and can even work with regular traffic. Not certain what the point of this demo is.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by ilikeredheads

feels like a glorified PR stunt more than anything as I don't see much practical use due to the need for it's own ROW.

From the DailyHive article:

In June 2018, Surrey and Vancouver’s joint bid to build driverless vehicle corridors was shortlisted by the federal government’s urban innovation competition.

...

Final bids from Canadian municipalities are due in March, and the winner will be announced later this spring. Surrey and Vancouver are vying for the top prize of $50 million in funding.

Considering Metro Van is considered blah no-fun land by some here, why are you guys against them trying something new that could net them more than small change for transportation infrastructure.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by casper

Was at CES earlier in the month. Virtually every major auto or tech company has something that can move faster than this and can even work with regular traffic. Not certain what the point of this demo is.

It's all about the money darling...

[ilikeredheads]

Originally Posted by Sheba

From the DailyHive article:


Considering Metro Van is considered blah no-fun land by some here, why are you guys against them trying something new that could net them more than small change for transportation infrastructure.

It has nothing to do with whether the city is a "no fun zone", but what's point of demonstrating it when it's running at 12km/hr, similar speed to a mobility scooter? It just becomes a novelty. It becomes no different than that kid's train at Metrotown.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by ilikeredheads

It has nothing to do with whether the city is a "no fun zone", but what's point of demonstrating it when it's running at 12km/hr, similar speed to a mobility scooter? It just becomes a novelty. It becomes no different than that kid's train at Metrotown.

When you put it that way, TPTB could've waited until spring or summer break and had families lining up to slowly cruise from the Canada Line to Science World. Wasted opportunity.

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by casper

Was at CES earlier in the month. Virtually every major auto or tech company has something that can move faster than this and can even work with regular traffic. Not certain what the point of this demo is.

Those companies are quick to list specs but slow to admit all of the restrictions. For example, weather issues are a huge Achilles heel in autonomous technology right now. There's a very good reason why the Waymo AVs that are available to the public have only rolled out in the southern US desert states. And even they still require safety drivers.

These kinds of demonstration projects are there to showcase technology and gather real-world performance data. The point is to see how the system performs within an operational envelope that the designers feel is safe for the public.

The "I want it now" generation isn't familiar with the concept, but us old-timers recall the phrase, "baby steps", which applies here.

[CanSpice]

Originally Posted by ilikeredheads

It has nothing to do with whether the city is a "no fun zone", but what's point of demonstrating it when it's running at 12km/hr, similar speed to a mobility scooter? It just becomes a novelty. It becomes no different than that kid's train at Metrotown.

Yeah, it's kind of like if they wanted to put ferries in False Creek where the speed limit is 10 km/h. That'd be a complete novelty and nobody would ever use them.

[fredinno]

Originally Posted by CanSpice

Yeah, it's kind of like if they wanted to put ferries in False Creek where the speed limit is 10 km/h. That'd be a complete novelty and nobody would ever use them.

[lokyin]

Photos from DailyHive / Kenneth Chan:



They used the bike lane for this? LMAO

[CanSpice]

Originally Posted by lokyin

They used the bike lane for this? LMAO

No, the first picture is on West 1st and the second is at the parking lot behind Olympic Village Station.

[fredinno]

Originally Posted by aberdeen5698

This is just a demonstration project in the same sense that the Olympic LRT was. I wouldn't expect it to go anywhere, other than to gather data for what might at some point in the future turn into a real route somewhere.

Keep in mind that the technology being showcased here requires its own right of way with no conflicting traffic. So you can't just plop it down anywhere without removing some traffic lanes from other drivers.

I think the small size removes any chance of this becoming a viable transit system in the near future.

Driverless buses are certainly a great opportunity however, so I'm divided on this. Hopefully it produces good data.

[WarrenC12]

I've walked past this "demo" in action a few times.

There are half a dozen cops controlling traffic. It doesn't stop at stop signs or red lights.