FIRST COAST COMMUTER RAIL TOD STUDY | EXISTING CONDITIONS
FIRST COAST COMMUTER RAIL TOD STUDY | EXISTING CONDITIONS
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EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES
CONSIDERATIONS FOR AV STATION INTEGRATION
Smart Mobility Initiatives and Opportunities The range of CV and eventual AV technology application spans all motor vehicle modes. For transit, this includes various Transportation Network Companies (TNCs), such as Uber and Lyft, to fixed-route and demand- response bus and van service. For station areas, first-mile and last-mile service through scheduled local shuttle or Mobility on Demand (MoD) service might be particularly applicable for AV integration given the short distances involved and thus more confined interaction with other vehicles and roadside infrastructure. BENEFITS AND OPPORTUNITIES OF AV INTEGRATION AT STATION AREAS AV’s can shape TOD patterns in station areas by requiring less roadway space (narrower lanes, absence of medians), more compact parking patterns (as AVs can more easily maneuver into tighter spaces), and provision for passenger loading areas built into new development. AVs can also increase capacity for a roadway due to the closer vehicle spacing allowed with the enhanced safety features. This could eliminate the need for future roadway widening to increase capacity in the transitional way. As the JTA continues to develop its AV/CV program, through the initial phases of the Ultimate Urban Circulator (U2C) program, various strategies to integrate AV/CVs into TOD will be reviewed for implementation.
OVERVIEW
With the focus on advancing TOD and multimodal access along existing and new premium transit services, there is an opportunity to integrate automated and connected vehicle (AV/CV) technology into local access and circulation modes to and from station areas. This discussion includes an overview assessment of how application of AV/CV technology can shape the type and form of development around station areas and impact the configuration of roadway and parking facilities serving station areas. WHAT IS AV/CV TECHNOLOGY In today’s world, there are rapid advances in CV technology, where electronic technology is applied to provide communication between vehicles and roadside systems to provide for more efficient and safer vehicle operation. This has started with basic automation of safety features in cars and other vehicles such as blind spot monitoring, collision warning systems, and lane keeping applications. The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) developed a five-level system of the degree of automation integrated into vehicle operation, as shown in Figure 3-26. Moving from Level 1 to Level 5 requires an increased application of automation and removing driver actions in operating the vehicle. A Level 5 is fully automated with no driver. For station areas, and urban areas in general, CV technology integration into vehicles and facilities is already occurring and will grow over time, as will AV operations of vehicles and services.
Dedicated Lanes AVs in the foreseeable future will need to operate in dedicated lanes if on the surface street system serving station areas, given the predominance of general traffic having limited or no CV features. This might require lane repurposing on a street to provide a lane for exclusive AV operation over time. Such lane repurposing would be most effective for shorter distance connections (first- and-last-mile services) for different mobility options. Roadway Space Allocation With the advent of AVs, there will be an opportunity over time to develop more “complete street” treatments in station areas. This is because narrower lane widths, with no or limited median separation will be possible with AV operation, allowing more space for bike lanes, sidewalks, landscaping, and other amenities. At first, narrower traffic lanes may only be possible in dedicated AV lanes, but as AVs are adopted on a wide scale, all roadways may be designed with narrower lanes. Access/Accessibility At stations, access for AVs should be separated from other traffic to avoid vehicle conflicts. This includes dedicated driveways and unloading/loading areas for AV traffic, away from bus bays, kiss-n-ride, and park-n- ride areas. At signalized intersections, roadside units capable of CV interface with the signal operation will be important as the level of AV application increases, particularly for buses which could benefit from transit signal priority (TSP). Pick-up/Drop-off Areas AVs eliminate the need for passengers to be with the vehicle when it parks, enabling passengers to be dropped off, instead of having to exit the vehicle wherever parking is available. Users will want to be dropped off and picked up as close to their destinations within station areas as possible. Thus, AVs will shift the priority to drop-off areas at specific developments, and thus a given treatment in the design of TOD areas. Space previously used for onsite parking could be transformed into drop-off areas. Drop-off areas can have different shapes and sizes and can be incorporated into TOD in different ways. This could include pull-offs, cul-de-sacs, and local
service roads, but in all cases drop-off areas need to be separated from general traffic lanes to ensure the safety of entering and exiting vehicles. With a clustered development pattern, a drop-off area could be shared with different developments. Regardless of the design of the drop-off/pick up roadway space, enhanced passenger waiting areas could be integrated into new development, as riders will want safe and comfortable spaces to wait for their vehicles. The design of these areas could borrow design guidelines from existing best practices of bus stop design including the need for shade and covered spaces to sit. Parking Without the need for a human driver to park a vehicle, the application of AVs will lead to a significant change in the location and design of parking in station areas. As AVs can drop passengers off at a destination and drive elsewhere to park, parking will not need to be provided on-site for every business, office, or residence. As a result, in station areas, parking could be consolidated outside of the core area. Larger-scale, AV-only parking garages or lots could be located on the periphery where land values are less premium. This would also further TOD and densification of development in the core of a station area. Additionally, it is probable that on-street parking will not be needed as passengers will no longer require parking at or near their destination. The space once utilized for parking could then be repurposed to accommodate drop-off lanes, bike lanes, sidewalks, or even AV/CV corridors. The shift from on-site to periphery parking at TODs will not occur all at once, as human-driven vehicles will need to be accommodated on-site or nearby until the entire vehicle fleet is automated. In this interim period, automated and human-driven vehicles may need separated parking facilities to ensure AV efficiencies can be realized. AVs are expected to be able to park closer together, as vehicle doors will not need to be opened after the car parks itself. Thus, efficiencies in terms of the size and number of parking facilities can be achieved within a particular parking structure or lot footprint. AVs are also expected to significantly reduce the amount of parking required to meet the demand for parking in TOD areas. This could be accomplished in two ways: 1) make more efficient use of existing parking and 2) reduce the demand for parking. Vehicle to Infrastructure (V2I) communication could enable a
Figure 3-26: SOCIETY OF AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERS (SAE) AUTOMATION LEVELS
FCCR TOD
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