The first “B” vehicle, with a fully representative passenger compartment and automatic door system, was completed in February 2002 and has undergone extensive testing on the Cardiff test track. Total test time to date is over 1000 hours during which the vehicles have traveled a test distance of over 2000 km.
In July 2003, the ATS developed navigation software and hardware was installed in the “B” vehicle, and testing of this vehicle was carried out between that time and the end of September 2004. During this period, the “B” vehicle was tested over 294 hours and traveled the equivalent of over 3000 journeys with no equipment or operational failures being recorded.
Further vehicle system and debris testing has been carried out at Cardiff using the “A” vehicle fitted with upgraded sensors and debris deflectors. This vehicle has also been used to develop the berthing techniques, equipment settings and improved algorithms for the control software.
The track is in continuous use for development work and for demonstrations. Demonstration to a wide range of technical and customer teams has provided over 500 people with direct experience of the ULTra system, with unanimously positive response.
ULTra is an innovative form of Personal Rapid Transit (“PRT”). ULTra (Urban Light Transport) emerged from a fundamental reappraisal of the transport needs of a city. It is designed to meet the expectations of passengers – convenient, inexpensive, reliable, safe and easy to use, while also satisfying public demands for value for money, ease of construction and environmental benefit.
Conventional forms of public transit require passengers to collect in groups until a large vehicle is scheduled to travel on predetermined routes. In contrast, ULTra offers personal transport with no waiting, and takes passengers non-stop to their chosen destination. This is a transport system which is as convenient as, or in congested environments more convenient than, the car, but with minimal environmental impact.
Basic Characteristics of ULTra
The ULTra system exploits modern computing and information technologies to provide a new approach to transport. Off-the-shelf technology, mostly from the automotive industry, provides mature, well proven and reliable systems and components.
Principal vehicle characteristics:
- Four seats
- 500 kg payload
- 40 kph (25 mph)
The ULTra system uses a fleet of low power, electrically driven vehicles on a dedicated guideway network of routes. The operation of the system and movement of the vehicles on the network is managed by software and systems developed by ATS.
The innovative design of the ULTra system provides unique advantages, notably considerable flexibility in application
ULTra can operate at-grade or elevated either within or external to buildings, offering the opportunity for significant benefits to the passenger. Low loading footprint means that the system can be carried by conventional building structure with no need for structural strengthening.
The vehicle has a small (3.8 m) turning radius and readily copes with grades of 20%, although operating routes are limited to 10% to ensure passenger comfort.
The ULTra system is highly adaptable. Modular design and construction techniques makes addition of further routes straightforward.
Vehicle design of ULTra
SkyWeb Express
EzzzE Travel™ Design specification
EzzzE Travel™ Basic Operation
The passenger uses the system by going to the nearest station on the network. Stations are distributed around the Medway area served like bus stops or cab ranks. At each station there are a series of berths at each of which the passenger can select their desired destination. This is done via a smart card process. Because each passenger can be identified by their smart card the service can be personalised to respond to any special requirements of the passenger. The passenger destination selection is passed to central control which provides movement instructions to the vehicle assigned to the berth.
The passenger boards the programmed vehicle which takes them to their desired destination automatically, non-stop and by the best available route. At the destination the passenger leaves the vehicle, which may either wait there for the next fare or, alternatively, be redirected by central control to places with known demand.
The central control system responds to the passengers request by allocating a vehicle for the journey and instructing the vehicle on the required path and timing for that journey. The central control system also controls the empty vehicle management process which ensures that vehicles are sent to where they are needed.
The vehicles are controlled autonomously. Once the vehicle has received its instructions from central control it will continue to its destination without any need for further central control input. Extensive tests have been done of various forms of vehicle control. EzzzE Travel™ has undergone full scale system evaluations tests on various test sites to examine control methods based on wire guidance, optical and radar sensing, embedded track magnets and local sensors based on ultrasonics or lasers. The last two of these approaches were found to be significantly more reliable and robust. A combination of these approaches will be used in the final system.
The ultimate protection on the EzzzE Travel™ system is provided by an independent Automatic vehicle Protection (AVP) system. This is based on a fixed block signalling system parallel to that used on railways. The fixed blocks are defined by inductive loops set into the track which interact with sensing circuits on the vehicle. The overall approach to automatic vehicle control has been approved by HM Rail Inspectorate, who have provided their consent to the carriage of passengers on the prototype system. This followed on a full hazard analysis and failure modes and effect analysis undertaken in conjunction with industry safety specialists. The documentation resulting from these analyses provided the basis for the HMRI evaluation and consent.
Benefits of EzzzE Travel™ to the consumer
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EzzzE Travel™ offers immediate service, Passengers rarely need to wait for a vehicle, since the empty vehicle management system ensures that one will already be at the station. Simulations demonstrate that average waiting times, even in peak periods, average around 10 seconds.
- Non stop travel due to off-line stations, the journey is non stop from start to destination, anywhere on the network. No need to plan trips, consider schedules, or transfer between vehicles.
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EzzzE Travel™ is faster than other urban transport, typically by a factor of two or three. Although maximum speeds are modest (25 mph), non-stop service ensures short trip times.
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EzzzE Travel™ is reliable, predictable and congestion free affording passengers greater certainty in their journeys.
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EzzzE Travel™ is safe: EzzzE Travels™ target is safety levels at least as good as trains, approximately 10 times higher than automotive safety. Also segregation implies less conflict with non-users.
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Accessibility: The EzzzE Travel™ system is available to all, including the young, the old, and those with disabilities.
Benefits of EzzzE Travel™ for the Environment and Community
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EzzzE Travel™ is energy efficient: Light, small, efficient vehicles traveling non-stop and only on demand result in significant energy savings. EzzzE Travel™ saves 2/3rds of automotive energy requirements, and is substantially more energy efficient than conventional public transport.
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EzzzE Travel™ meets Kyoto sustainability targets; providing the required 60% reduction in carbon emissions over the car now, rather than by the 2050 target date of the Kyoto agreement – 35 years ahead.
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EzzzE Travel™ is exceptionally quiet: measurements on the prototype vehicle running at 6m/s give 35dBA at 10 m, around 30 dB less than cars.
- Lightweight vehicles permit ultra-light infrastructure: Automated control allows high utilization. Small vehicles and guideways imply less land take and less visual intrusion.
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EzzzE Travel™ reduces congestion: Studies indicate significant modal shifts away from the car, freeing up both road capacity and parking space.
EzzzE Travel™ Track Dimensions
Overall Steel/Concrete Elevated Track Width (m.) 2.1
Overall Concrete At-Grade Track Width (m.) 1.75
Internal Track Width (m.) 1.6
Internal Track Height (m.) 0.25
Typical Elevated Track Headroom for main road crossings (m.) 5.7
Typical Elevated Track Headroom for pedestrian crossings (m.) 2.5
Approaches to ice and snow control have also been prepared for applications in cold climates.
The Route
The proposed route for EzzzE Travel™ is quite simple and includes all the main attractions and popular ‘stop-offs’ in the Medway Towns for example Dockside Outlet, Rochester Castle, Gillingham football ground, the Historic Dockyard and museums, Fort Amherst, Royal Enginners Museum and of course the high streets of Rochester, Chatham and Gillingham. The new housing development that is taking place alongside the river Medway in Rochester will also be included. This will be ideal, as part of the route can run alongside the river Medway from Strood (Medway City Estate).
The map on the next page shows the proposed route.
EzzzE Travel™ will begin and end at the Medway City Estate in Strood, it will follow the river Medway until it reaches the Parallel road and train bridges that pass over the river Medway between Strood and Rochester it will run alongside these bridges through Rochester following the route of the train line, then up towards the City Way College campus. EzzzE Travel™ will then journey towards Chatham alongside New Road (A2) and around Chatham High Street, on towards Dockside Outlet via Fort Amherst. EzzzE Travel™ will pass behind the new mid-kent college and Kent Police Department and towards Gillingham where EzzzE Travel™ will loop round and begin to ascend via Luton up towards Horstead Retail Park, ASDA and the Horstead College campus, it will then run parallel with the M2 towards the Medway Bridge it will run alongside the bridge across the River Medway and descend to the original start point at Medway City Estate.
Proposed ‘Stations’
EzzzE Travel™ ‘Stations’ are to be developed at the following sites:
Medway City Estate Strood Main Terminal Station.
Access to Amadeus
Nightclub, Cinemas and
Health Spa.
Knight Road Strood Access to Strood High St
and Town.
Corporation Street (opposite Library) Rochester Access to Rochester
Town, new housing estate,
Museum and Castle.
New Road (opposite KIAD) Rochester Access to KIAD Mid-Kent
College (City Way) and
Fort Pitt Grammar School.
Globe Lane (opposite Library) Chatham Access to Chatham High St
Fort Amherst and Kitchener
Army Barracks.
Maritime Way Chatham Access to Historic
Dockyard, Dockside Outlet
and New Mid-Kent College
Medway Road (Behind New Kent Police) Gillingham Access to New Kent Police
Station.
