Designing innovative transport systems, electric and automated on priority corridors

This study focuses on two great technologies improvements, they are vehicle automation and newest fast charging methods that could enable new and innovative transport systems. Automated and electric vehicles could will enable first/last mile efficient transport services, economically and environmentally sustainable that could be useful to improve transportation services in rural sprawled areas with a low density of transport demand. It is proposed an innovative system concerning electric and automated vehicles in specific paths called priority corridors, it is described a methodology of designing leaving the detailed analysis and impacts analysis to future studies. Automation, Internet of Things and smartphones are revolutionising mobility and with it the economy. With such mobility revolution all aspects of our life, economic, social and environmental will be impacted. Automated vehicles can be deployed as personal vehicles or as shared vehicles; while personal vehicles are not yet ready for deployment shared vehicles are. This work aims to propose an innovative transport system with off the shelf technologies and a methodology of design dealing with vehicle automation, current designing methods and environmental impacts. The methodology foresees six steps, they could be repeated with an iterative change of parameters in order to compare different results. These steps are: Parameters and input data, Itinerary analysis and corridors identification, Corridor choice and speed profile generation, Vehicle choice and fleet dimensioning, Electric traction needs and specifications, Results evaluation. Four categories of results are considered: vehicles and operators needed, energy consumption, transportation and socio-economic evaluation. After the results calculation, it is required an evaluation of them. Methodology is applied to Mentana, a little town in the outskirts of Rome. Mentana has only one corridor that links city centre to train station be distant eight kilometres. Economic results are positive, revenues cover operative costs and the whole system doesn’t require subsides.