City Transport: Beyond Jams And Smoke

Part 4 of the series on urban transportation examines an ensemble of ideas on mobility over golden distance (seeearlier parts), turning this challenge as ‘skilling’ opportunity and identifying how this is a never before opportunity to do giant catch-up.

Road based transit

Road based transits vis-à-vis rail based transit presents a diametrically opposite view of simplicity. But when one notices the immense environmental impact and its inability to serve urban regions one notices the need of radical inputs- not just in physical increase in width and length of roads but also of clever road vehicle platforms (like those for railways as discussed in part 2 and 3).

It would help to take a look of fig#1 again.

As discussed in Part 1 of the series, there is scope of more scientific way of freight movement in to and within cities. This calls for aggregation and fleet which is truly differentiated in form and functionality. So there is a need of small trucks, vans, motorbikes, cycles, carts, with the caveat: they ought to be zero-emission platforms. This is something which is possible with bit of planning and resolve using battery swapping service and hydrogen in not so distant future. Former is mature for ready adoption.

Trolley Buses:

The key issue with electric road vehicles is that of range, unless one looks at trolley buses.

Good old trolley buses are around since ages and are well tried platforms. Several European cities have extensive network of trolley buses. They do suffer from the need of laying of overhead conductor system for conveying power to the bus.

For India, trolley buses are excellent option for BRT corridors. In fact, their freight versions can as well be planned for where a part-battery drive can enable them to reach the doorstep from a electrified trunk corridor. ABB demonstrated a technology where the electric bus charges in less than 20 seconds and is able to continue its journey. Such technology along with trolley arrangement can enable fast movement on wired trunk corridors and have zero-emission last mile connectivity not only for passenger, but also for freight.

The unique experience of adoption of CNG or LPG for automotive use presents interesting thoughts. That an amenable platform existed, permitted use of LPG/CNG. Similarly, use of hybrid vehicles are eminently suitable candidates for retro fitment with CNG and Hydrogen-with CNG catering to the  internal combustion part and hydrogen based power generation entering in to niche hitherto served by batteries.

This gives a compelling justification for introduction of hybrid platforms for city’s passenger and freight mobility needs.

As a matter of policy, feasible BRT corridors can be considered on trolley buses and suitably engineered systems can be, as described above, be used for last mile connectivity.

Range Anxiety

Vehicles with on board battery storage have an issue of the range it can travel on a single charge. This is seen as a major impediment in their adoption and is widely referred as range anxiety. A conventional vehicle with topped up tank can get a refill on any of the fueling station (a petrol pump), a network of which is widespread and took several decades to come about. Further, the entrenched network of supplies to these fueling station, the network of refineries and their supply chains came about with very heavy and sustained investments. With regards to alternatives, we are nowhere close to even a small fraction of time, effort and money that we invested in fossil fuels and internal combustion engines.

Battery operated vehicles are apt for limited, predictable distances-typically fleet operation within a city. Battery swapping technology, where drained batteries are drawn out like a cartridge and charged batteries are mounted back, has matured and can be deployed for meeting needs of buses, vans and e-carts, the process is as quick as topping up of fuel tank. This, of course needs a site specific engineered solution. Battery based road vehicles for fleet operations is ideal for urban transportation needs, however, they need support from the government as they need funding models, inputs to battery swapping centres by way of grid strengthening etc. However, on the other side such centres can be used to offer grid services like reactive power support, community UPS etc. Battery swapping centres and charging infrastructure has to be seen as a service which city administration can provide for to keep the city habitable.

Use of hydrogen is yet another way, which is likely to be available in mid-term. However, statutory changes to create hydrogen economy are required. California has taken lead in creating hydrogen based mobility and can be cue to the planners.

Electric Vans and Carts

Studying the need of transportation over golden distances can fundamentally alter the road based transportation in the cities. Sub 50 km distances can be served by the e-vans and mini trucks in addition to the metro networks. Trolley vehicles can give trunk connectivity and can be used for last mile unwired reach with clever engineering. Further, using a corridor planning approach, use of standard size shipment can take majority of freight to E-Trucks, rolling highways (trucks being carried on trains). Battery swapping technology can also cater to long distance trucks and buses on identified routes. In fact use of standard size of packaging can mitigate the issues of freight transport to a great extent. It may be noted that even the trucks, vans, rail wagons come in standard size.

There is need to design e-karts more scientifically for last mile street level movement of smalls (garbage collection comes readily to mind-today in most of the cities door-to-door collection of garbage is served by manually pedalled rickshaws).

Great Opportunity

As vehicles go electric, the drive of the vehicles would be extremely simplified compared to the conventional engine and drive of fossil fuel engines. With this simplification comes advantage of upgrading the vehicle by upgrading the software-a paradigm shift. Moreover, entry barrier to manufacture and design an electric drive is fairly low and can spur SME in to not just fabrication and assembly but also top notch design. National Mission on Electric Mobility aims at introduction of E-Vehicles in India.

Road Trains

Autonomous driving abilities are likely to be mainstreamed in the medium term. However, ability to be able to safely follow a leading vehicle is a simpler requirement and can be implemented faster-such a method is called platooning system. European Union funded project (sartre-projec.eu) can be perused. Such a method can lead the convoy of trucks or convoy of vehicles in safe and orderly manner. Driving in heavy fog can be made safer using such technology. Anyway, this permits increasing capacity of highways and enhances safety.

Life in a hyperconnected world, in general and mobility in particular would draw on ‘soft’ skills of software design. We can safely say that all smart infrastructure would be based thus (intelligence and programmable devices exist since 1970s-smartness comes by bringing in ‘hyper connectivity’ to intelligence and programmable platforms).

But are we not teaching Java to our children?

It is amazingly anachronistic that our typical school/college syllabus is still ‘literacy’ oriented. In name of computer ‘literacy’, we still burden children with difficult to learn Java, which lost its sheen and gave way to new platforms for analysing hyperconnected world.

Teaching Java appears teaching stenography or shorthand in an era of voice recognition. If computer language ‘R’ gave the nimbleness to handle big data, straight of the oven and open source language ‘Julia’ represent what our kids should be learning today.

Out of the concern of teaching children, the joy of making and computing, fascinating ideas like Raspberry Pi were born. Sadly a typical Indian school is yet to see even faintest implementation of such breakthrough thoughts which now redefine computing literacy.  Nor is our policy discourse anywhere close to discussing these ideas.

Smart transport, smart electricity, smart cities-what kind of employment or business opportunities would be offered tomorrow? Would we be content with doing ‘implementation’ or ‘customisation’ or we would boldly do dream, design and make in India?

Wireless Power Transfer

This is not something which came about with Samsung’s much talked about mobile phone charger. Wireless power transfer is more than a century old- as old as use of wired alternating currents and was another pioneering thought of Tesla (the man, on whom the car was named). Wireless power transfer has again become interesting simply because the consumer serving electrical loads (e-vehicles) have become mobile and idea of supplying these vehicles with electricity in conventional ways in which a rail vehicle or a trolley bus gets supplied won’t work.

This is red hot area of research where almost all the technology giants are engaged. The interest in this area is evident from the standardization activity in international bodies.

Sadly, there is no Indian representation on the high table.

Taking the Technology Leap: Charter for our Skilling Initiative

With regards to the automotive technology, the options of computer aided driving (platooning or full automated driving), design of power electronic drive, battery management system, traction motor are some of the elements where developments have been fairly recent. Tesla Motors have proven how clever engineering without any major invention has been able to deliver a high performance all electric car. There is hence a never before chance to do a catchup with the world on this.

This is not just a case of business opportunity, its also a case of re-tasking and (re)skilling our teeming millions with relevant skills. We are in hyper connected world (Internet of Things or IoT has arrived already) and there is an increasing convergence of artificial intelligence and power electronics in items of daily use (cars we drive to washing machines we use, how we regulate flow of electricity in our neighbourhoods, how items we use get manufactured).

This new paradigm is already impacting every aspect of our economy as very persuasively argued by Chris Anderson in Makers: The new industrial revolution, which in a sense lays charter for skilling for a new economy. Increasing relevance of specialised skills, the bias in this new economy has increasingly furnished cases where disruptive thoughts and most innovative companies were pushed by those who didn’t complete their college education! Chris Anderson himself talks of hiring in the book referred above, as his CEO of a startup making auto pilot for drones (believe me, it is rocket science) who is a 19 year old young adult without formal college education as he noted this person was one of the most prolific contributor to the open source community he founded to make an accessible auto-pilot for the drones (look for 3D Robotics). Though, anecdotal evidence suggests that many such sterling dropouts used intellectually stimulating climes of their campuses to take their moon shots.

Cross functional research teams can take up such design challenges and adapt developed technology of one domain to another. Some of the engineering institutions in India have fairly well developed power electronic facilities. The National Mission on Power Electronic Technology (NaMPET) attempted at very small investment creation of centres of competence to take on the skill gap. Such approach under able hands can identify such products and technologies which have cross functional applications. To illustrate, autonomous driving shares many elements with autonomous drone guidance. Similarly, the power electronic drive and traction motors for road vehicles share aspects with railway drives, marine drives (ships, submarines, torpedoes). Battery management systems similarly have cross domain applications.

The thought leaders of India need to step out of their conceited and prejudiced views on education (see this), acknowledge the missing links and leverage the money being spent over smart infrastructure to generate ‘real’ bang for the monies spent (which calls for dream, design & make in India). Otherwise hard earned monies of Indian citizens would end up enriching western world!