Michigan CAVnue?

An exciting proposal with decent momentum has been loudly announced [Whitmer, Bill Ford, Duggan] to convert the 40 miles of Michigan Avenue between Downtown Detroit and Ann Arbor into a test roadway for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles [hence CAVnue]. It is a fitting continuation for Ford's conversion of the Michigan Central station into a campus for its edge technologies of such vehicles.

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“The mobility corridor will serve as a proving ground to test and innovate,” Ford Motor executive chairman Bill Ford said, standing nearly in the shadow of the Michigan Central train station his company is turning into the hub of a $750-million investment in autonomous, electric and connected vehicles. His vision for the center included autonomous shuttles carrying people up and down Michigan Avenue from Ford HQ and engineering centers in Dearborn to Michigan Central on the western edge of Detroit's downtown.

“No place in the world is more important to transportation's past, present and future than Detroit and Michigan,” Ford said.

Autonomous vehicles can operate partially or completely without a driver. Connected vehicles are a larger group that include vehicles that communicate with each other and infrastructure like traffic lights.
https://freep-mi.newsmemory.com?publ...c65aad_1343792

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There's no timetable for CAVNUE's completion, but the first construction should begin within 24 months.
Attachment 40698

I'd rather see center-run BRT with dedicated right of way in major corridors .

Be careful what you wish for...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=X3hrKnv0dPQ

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Originally Posted by 48307

I'd rather see center-run BRT with dedicated right of way in major corridors .

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idk how any of this will actually pan out, but if they actually do have automated public transit like it says they will, it could very well end up being a better option than BRT.

It seems like the only vehicles that will be in this lane are vehicles which they have set up to operate in it, so shuttles, "taxis", and buses. There should be so little traffic in the lane that it should effectively be a bus lane, and even if eventually the lanes were used by private vehicles, ideally the automation would keep traffic running smoothly.

And the automation should allow for very high frequencies, which we'd never be able to afford across the length of the corridor.

And with automation I think it would be logistically easier to use electric buses, which are more comfortable for passengers, and make less noise and air pollution. They have lower lifecycle costs too.

There are also some other side benefits to this. To make things easier for the automation software, they're going to simplify the roads. So less curb cuts, and fewer funky intersections, and barriers to limit intrusions into the lanes.


That all depends on all of this actually happening. I don't really know how seriously to take the announcement.

I don't know how seriously to take this announcement either tbh. It would be 2 years before anything would materialize from a somewhat new company and working with the state. The only thing that gives me hope on this is that Ford is backing the whole thing and they seem to really be trying to create a more attractive place to work and compete for talent, unlike GM and Chrysler.

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Originally Posted by 48307

I'd rather see center-run BRT with dedicated right of way in major corridors .

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Isn't this basically BRT though? Just self driving BRT.

What I like best is that this edge mobility technology is happening here in Detroit and Ford, the company with the least shareholder influence, can take the long vision required to allow for this.

The move to autonomous, electric-powered, and vehicle connectivity transformation is here to stay and I'm happy to see us in the front row. We have come a long way from the snooze-fest days of the seventies where about the only innovation the automakers were making was in exterior design place on top of the same old engine and chassis and we watched external automakers come in and eat our lunch.

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Originally Posted by Satiricalivory

Isn't this basically BRT though? Just self driving BRT.

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It's like BRT, but only for people who can afford the cars that sync with any technology that they install.

All you have to do is pay several thousand dollars to modify your car.

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Originally Posted by Lowell

What I like best is that this edge mobility technology is happening here in Detroit and Ford, the company with the least shareholder influence, can take the long vision required to allow for this.

The move to autonomous, electric-powered, and vehicle connectivity transformation is here to stay and I'm happy to see us in the front row. We have come a long way from the snooze-fest days of the seventies where about the only innovation the automakers were making was in exterior design place on top of the same old engine and chassis and we watched external automakers come in and eat our lunch.

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Unfortunately the pandemic has eaten away almost all of the cash stockpile that had been built up. Combine that with Ford's low share price and it has to hurt the ability to invest in this type of project in the near term.

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Originally Posted by 401don

Unfortunately the pandemic has eaten away almost all of the cash stockpile that had been built up. Combine that with Ford's low share price and it has to hurt the ability to invest in this type of project in the near term.

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Why would they announce it right now if they had no ability to invest in it?

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Originally Posted by 401don

Unfortunately the pandemic has eaten away almost all of the cash stockpile that had been built up. Combine that with Ford's low share price and it has to hurt the ability to invest in this type of project in the near term.

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Uhh no it hasn't. This is a total lie, they're nowhere near having eaten up their billions. Ford even posted a profit last quarter.

Why totally make things up?

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Originally Posted by Detroitnerd

It's like BRT, but only for people who can afford the cars that sync with any technology that they install.

All you have to do is pay several thousand dollars to modify your car.

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The render shows shuttles and buses, they've had electric shuttles in Detroit for awhile now so it's safe to assume this isn't just for private cars.

does this mean the maglev train proposals are all dead? :o
https://www.wired.com/2009/03/give-the-bruise/

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Originally Posted by hybridy

does this mean the maglev train proposals are all dead? :o
https://www.wired.com/2009/03/give-the-bruise/

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That's got to be one of the dumbest ideas I've seen, maybe worse than Coleman Young II's skyTran...

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Originally Posted by Satiricalivory

Uhh no it hasn't. This is a total lie, they're nowhere near having eaten up their billions. Ford even posted a profit last quarter.

Why totally make things up?

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Okay maybe they have a few billion left but to say the pandemic hasn't hurt their cash or their stock price is nonsense:

https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/ford...urn-2020-06-02

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Originally Posted by 401don

Okay maybe they have a few billion left but to say the pandemic hasn't hurt their cash or their stock price is nonsense:

https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/ford...urn-2020-06-02

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Nobody said their cash flow hasn't been impacted [[it's a world-wide pandemic who's cash flow isn't?) but you claimed their 30 billion+ dollar reserves were gone and that couldn't be further from the truth.

I hope and expect the plan is these vehicles will be electrified, and we resume our transition to less toxic sources of electric energy. It'd be interesting if the cars have a battery component that allows them to travel off grid the last mile [[and back).

Otherwise it'd be a shame to devote two lanes for what could otherwise be a low-emissions railway.

Ford, I want to be on your side. Detroit, Dearborn, and etc., you too.

Looking forward to more details.

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Originally Posted by Satiricalivory

The render shows shuttles and buses, they've had electric shuttles in Detroit for awhile now so it's safe to assume this isn't just for private cars.

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Oh, the rendering showed shuttle buses? Oh, OK then. I'm sure that since the picture showed something, it's bound to become a reality. I take all my skeptical doubts back.

It's not for private cars because all the vehicles have to connect to their infrastructure and be compatible with their standards.

So the only vehicles that will use this are shuttles, buses, and taxis that they set up to run on it.

The only scenario where private cars will use it is if the standards become widely adopted by autonomous vehicles. From what I can tell, this company is related to google, so maybe that will happen, who knows. Either way it wouldn't be happening for a while though.

A Cavunue! filled with Johnny Cabs driving down Michigan Ave. This I got to see.

I can't see anyone building a separate set of lanes for automated cars. The whole purpose of this is to get automated and nonautomated cars to play nicely with each other. The world can't afford to build another set of roads just for automated vehicles.

Most of the work will be in upgrading road infrastructure to assist in the control of the automated vehicles. Adding things like Vehicle to Vehicle [[V2V) and Vehicle to infrastructure [[V2X) communications using 5g and WIFI to the traffic lights. This will allow adding functions such as platooning vehicles so they move as a block. This increases traffic lane throughput by reducing the spacing needed between vehicles. It would allow a central station to move cars out of the way for high priority vehicles such as police and fire.

There are international standards being developed for all this stuff.

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Originally Posted by scottathew

i'd rather see center-run brt with dedicated right of way in major corridors .

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^^this.