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Improved Bus Service on Ten Times Less Energy

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Intelligent Transport Systems (INTSYS 2021)

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Abstract

We have designed the MilliPod™, a platoon of electric, fully automated two-person microvehicles following a professionally operated lead vehicle. The MilliPod picks up passengers without stopping and uses an order of magnitude less energy than the transit buses it replaces. To reduce congestion, the pods physically couple to each other, but are all individually powered and steered creating an agile all-wheel drive vehicle.

The MilliPod is designed to move people in the city with minimal energy. It is expected to cost less than a bus but provides faster trips A major technical contribution is a control system that will let the pods drive bumper-to-bumper smoothly.

The MilliPod achieves its efficiency by applying automated vehicle technology to microvehicles weighing less than the riders. It takes advantage of the high energy efficiency required for human-powered vehicles that can break highway speed limits. The passenger pods are fully automated, but are restricted to a limited operational driving domain, and depend on a professional operator to ensure safety. This level of automation can be done with today’s technology.

Because of its high energy efficiency, each pod can be powered by a 20 kg battery, enabling refueling by battery swap and eliminating range anxiety. A bank of discharged batteries can be recharged whenever local renewable energy is available.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The bottom three numbers in Fig. 2 are taken from the table on p. 166 of Wilson, converting kcal/km to kilowatts at 50 km/h. The bicycle energies are taken from the figure on p. 140, reading the power for commuting HPV and utility bicycles at 13.8 m/s.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Washington, Bothell, WA, USA

    Tyler C. Folsom

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  1. Tyler C. Folsom
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Correspondence to Tyler C. Folsom .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Lisbon University Institute, Lisbon, Portugal

    Ana Lúcia Martins

  2. Lisbon University Institute, Lisbon, Portugal

    Joao C Ferreira

  3. University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

    Alexander Kocian

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Folsom, T.C. (2022). Improved Bus Service on Ten Times Less Energy. In: Martins, A.L., Ferreira, J.C., Kocian, A. (eds) Intelligent Transport Systems. INTSYS 2021. Lecture Notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering, vol 426. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-97603-3_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-97603-3_12

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