Soy that should have read the finish of the B Class at Preston.

On Saturday, 18 May 2019 13:26:49 UTC+10, timmy1041 wrote:
>

> Hey Richard sorry for this being in the wrong spot but i just wanted to

> ask if you have heard of a rough date for the B Class at Preston from your

> contact at the moment it is alternating between 3-4 cars,2058,2109,2119 &

> 2130 and most of the time they are only running 1-2 trips in the peaks only.

>

> On Saturday, 18 May 2019 11:23:49 UTC+10, Richard Youl wrote:

>>

>> With recent discussions about Driverless Trams in street running, this is

>> a letter as penned to the LRTA monthly “Tramways and Urban Transit”. The

>> Editor made some minor changes, and this was forwarded to me for final

>> checking. He was holding it over until an upcoming news story about

>> driverless technology testing in Moscow was published. I could have added

>> that tram drivers have to use ‘Controlled Aggression’.

>>

>> Regards,

>>

>>

>> "The increasing interest in investigating autonomous and driverless trams

>> is something that is sure to attract the attention of many readers. I think

>> it should be progressed, however as a former Melbourne driver, I am

>> particularly interested in how the concept will deal with people on the

>> track.

>> Programming trams to stop before hitting anyone should be simple enough

>> as this technology is already applied to other road vehicles. I just wonder

>> how it would handle some scenarios which confronted me, daily on the Route

>> 96 ‘Light Rail’ between St Kilda Beach and East Brunswick?

>> In the city it runs through the Bourke Street Mall where people may

>> wander anywhere they like. Besides distracted pedestrians, buskers ply

>> their trade at lunchtime each day; the more successful ones draw a good

>> audience which can extend over the tramlines. What would the driverless

>> tram do in such a situation – sit there until the crowd disperses after the

>> busker has finished?

>> On two night-time occasions, I had a large mob totally blocking the

>> street, including the tram tracks. The first was on Swanson Street, just

>> north of the city centre and outside the university where students from

>> that establishment formed the crowd. The second was the Bourke Street Mall,

>> approaching Midnight one New Years’ Eve. How long would a driverless tram

>> sit patiently there? How badly would the service be delayed?

>> In my case, with both groups, I slowed my approach so as to be able to

>> stop the tram very quickly if anybody did not move, but still maintained

>> enough speed to clearly show that I had no intention of stopping. I rang

>> the gong repeatedly and with the *B* class in the Mall I also flashed

>> the high beam headlight on and off every few seconds.

>> On both occasions the crowd dispersed and let me through unobstructed – a

>> truly spectacular sight! I lost maybe 5-10 seconds on each occasion and the

>> same approach works the same with much smaller obstructions.

>> I also wonder what a fully-automated tram would do when faced with a

>> group of young people who, upon realising that the tram is driverless,

>> decide to intentionally bring it to a stop for as long as possible. Such

>> people would not last 5 seconds against the average Melbourne tram driver –

>> and likely any other operator anywhere in the world.

>> *Richard Youl, Gold Coast (Australia)*

>>

>