Revolutionizing Urban Mobility: How ART and BRT Lead the Way in Clean, Smart Transit?
ITS Indonesia
The development of transportation modes today is extremely rapid, encompassing technology, models, and the use of environmentally friendly fuels. Regarding renewable fuel usage, electrical energy has become one of the commonly chosen alternatives. From the supply side, electrical energy proves to be quite superior compared to other energy sources. Electrical energy can be generated from various renewable energy sources (solar, wind, water, geothermal), fossil fuels, and even nuclear power. Therefore, many automotive companies are now racing to produce electric vehicles. Electric vehicles are not only for private use but have also expanded to mass public transportation, including buses.
History of Development
In urban areas, buses have commonly been chosen as an efficient public transportation mode to accommodate urban mobility. Besides having a more flexible operational system and requiring more affordable investment costs due to not needing special infrastructure like rails, buses also have significant passenger capacity in each fleet. Several cities worldwide have made buses their primary choice for public transportation. Curitiba (Brazil) was the first city in the world to implement a bus rapid transit (BRT) scheme in 1974. The BRT there evolved, and by 2013, intelligent transport systems were implemented to improve management and operational systems (see here). According to data presented by brtdata.org regarding daily BRT users, other cities that have successfully adopted BRT as a road transportation scheme include Bogota (1.84 million passengers/day), Guangzhou (0.85 million passengers/day), and Quito (0.74 million passengers/day), as well as the newest addition, Peshawar (0.35 million passengers/day).
BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) is a transportation system that uses buses as its fleet. According to the BRT Standard issued by the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, 2024, a road-based public transportation system can be classified as BRT when it has dedicated lanes that are not interrupted by other vehicle traffic with a minimum corridor length of 3 km. The BRT model in Indonesia exists in Jakarta with the Transjakarta service.
Although Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) has become an efficient transportation mode and has proven capable of improving mobility in many cities, technological developments in the transportation sector continue to advance rapidly. One innovation worth noting is Autonomous Rapid Transit (ART).
ART (Autonomous Rail Rapid Transit) is a futuristic transportation scheme that utilizes autonomous wheeled vehicles with flexible pavement (asphalt) tracks for its transportation mode. Although it is called 'rail', this ART scheme doesn't use rails like conventional trains. The system uses asphalt lanes equipped with line markings; simply put, the vehicle follows these visible road markings with the help of cameras, similar to how trains follow rails. This is what led to the inclusion of the word 'rail' in this transportation system. This transportation system was first initiated by China and implemented in Zhuzhou city in 2017. This transportation mode is an application of intelligent transport systems as it can operate autonomously, with a larger passenger capacity than conventional bus transportation modes.
ART: the Future Transport
Source: Jianghua, F., Yunqing, H., Xiwen, Y., Ruipeng, H., Lei, X., & Chenlin, Z. (2024). Autonomous-rail Rapid Transit Tram: System Architecture, Design and Applications. Green Energy and Intelligent Transportation, 100161
The ART (Autonomous Rail Transit) transportation mode offers several attractive advantages. First, ART is an environmentally friendly transportation mode with low exhaust emissions because it uses electric vehicles. Second, in its construction, the ART mode's track doesn't require rails like trains, so it's considered to be lower in cost. Third, ART has a smaller turning radius because it uses a bogey system like a bus, unlike trains or trams that require a large turning radius and consume more land in the construction of their tracks. Lastly, although the shape of the ART vehicle resembles a bus, its passenger carrying capacity is much larger, making it more efficient in transporting many passengers at once.
Source: Jianghua, F., Yunqing, H., Xiwen, Y., Ruipeng, H., Lei, X., & Chenlin, Z. (2024). Autonomous-rail Rapid Transit Tram: System Architecture, Design and Applications. Green Energy and Intelligent Transportation, 100161
On the other hand, although ART is considered cheaper because it doesn't require rails, it should be noted that the larger carrying capacity than buses results in an increased load on the contact between the wheels and the asphalt. Therefore, the design of the asphalt pavement used cannot be arbitrary. The consideration that the asphalt pavement design cannot be arbitrary, even though this transportation doesn't require rail tracks, has caused ART not to be widely adopted by several countries, despite the system's very promising prospects for achieving zero emissions in urban areas.
(LiDAR in Zuzhou ART, China)
Sumber: Jianghua, F., Yunqing, H., Xiwen, Y., Ruipeng, H., Lei, X., & Chenlin, Z. (2024). Autonomous-rail Rapid Transit Tram: System Architecture, Design and Applications. Green Energy and Intelligent Transportation, 100161
To support the autonomous or automatic system in ART, Intelligent Transport System (ITS) technology becomes a vital component that cannot be separated. One of the main technologies used is LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), an advanced sensor that enables ART to recognize surrounding objects with high precision. LiDAR works by emitting laser pulses to measure distances and create real-time 3D maps of the environment. This allows ART to operate safely on predetermined routes, even in dense urban areas. Besides LiDAR, ART is also equipped with high-resolution cameras and radar sensors that serve as additional "eyes," ensuring safety is maintained even if one system experiences a malfunction. This complex ITS system contributes to ART procurement costs, but it is still more economical compared to building conventional rail systems. Interestingly, this ITS technology also helps optimize ART movement, thereby reducing wear on the asphalt pavement, which is one of the main concerns in implementing this system.
ART (Autonomous Rail Transit) is an innovative solution that can realize a low-emission transportation system in Indonesia's urban areas. This vehicle has the advantage of being operable from both ends as driver cabins are located at each end of its carriage series, and it can be operated either with a driver or autonomously. With impressive carrying capacity, ART can accommodate up to 300 passengers for a three-car configuration. Its maximum operational speed can reach 70 km/hour. However, this large carrying capacity also results in heavier vehicle load on the road surface, necessitating more detailed pavement design. Interestingly, Indonesia's first ART will be implemented in the Nusantara capital city, marking a significant step in developing future transportation in the country.
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Written By: Mikhael Stefanus Filemon Simatupang
Reference:
- Cervero, R. (2013). Bus Rapid Transit (BRT): An Efficient and Competitive Mode of Public Transport. UC Berkeley: Institute of Urban and Regional Development. Retrieved from https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4sn2f5wc
- Jianghua, F., Yunqing, H., Xiwen, Y., Ruipeng, H., Lei, X., & Chenlin, Z. (2024). Autonomous-rail Rapid Transit Tram: System Architecture, Design and Applications. Green Energy and Intelligent Transportation, 100161
