Thank you Richard.Hugh Waldron also posted a reply to this via Mal Rowe.
On Saturday, 18 May 2019 14:18:08 UTC+10, Richard Youl wrote:
>
> Hey Timmy,
>
> I’ll see if I can find out.
>
> Richard
>
> On 18 May 2019, at 1:26 pm, timmy1041 timm...@... <javascript:>>
> 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)*
>>
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