A guide in the cab
Page 22
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
by Lain Sherriff
IMAGINE sitting at the wheel of your van or truck and having constant advice on choice of route, avoidance of traffic congestion and the likelihood of bad weather being constantly presented to you on a screen in the dash panel. That prospect is not so far away as you might think, to judge from demonstrations which I witnessed in Germany last week.
In an attempt to speed up and regulate traffic flows the German Federal Republic has commissioned a feasibility study to examine the cost-effectiveness of an electronic guidance and information system for drivers. Last week Herr Gunter BoIle, vicepresident of development for Blaupunkt (a subsidiary of the Robert Bosch Group) said at the company's headquarters in Hildesheim: "We confidently expect the report to be favourable and, if so, work on the Dm 700,000,000 (E120m) project will begin in two years." The system, code-named ALI, transmits and receives traffic information at both the vehicle and the computer end of a link. It is the essence of simplicity and if it works as effectively on the highway as it did on the test run at the Hildesheim plant then it should prove a boon to longdistance drivers or even local delivery men who have to negotiate heavy traffic congestion.
The equipment for the vehicle will cost E40 and the road signalling works out at £30,000 per mile of highway.
The vehicle is fitted with an indicator, an aerial and a recorder. Before starting the journey the driver registers on the recorder the map reference of his destination: this is transmitted to the computer and instantaneously the indicator shows, by means of a green arrow, which direction he should take, what is the maximum permitted or recommended speed and whether or not he will encounter fog, ice or heavy traffic along the route.
Initially it is intended that the system should be used on autobahns and major roads only, and electronic loops will be buried under the road surface — one to each traffic lane, 1km from each junction. As vehicles cross the loop their speed and length is measured and fed back to the computer. If the computer calculates that congestion will occur it will build in a diversion from routes which the drivers are following and this will be flashed on to the indicator in the vehicle immediately.
The indicator arrows signal left, right or straight ahead and should the driver pass his chosen destination by mistake all three arrows light at the same time. He then proceeds to the next loop by which time the computer has compiled another route to follow to his destination. When the destination is reached a red light glows on the indicator.
For the purposes of their study the German authorities have divided the Republic into 16 areas. Each of these areas is further sub-divided into 16 sub-areas and they in turn are divided again by 16. This latter 16 are broken down into nine districts and there are seven location points in each district. These points cover one square mile.
Assuming Lancashire to be area A, and Manchester to be a subarea B. and the Containerbase to be in district K1, then a vehicle fitted with ALI could be driven on the direction indicator, provided loops had been installed on motorway and main roads, from any place in the UK to within one square mile of its destination. And all the driver would, require to do before leaving would be to set the recorder at ABK1 and follow the indicator's instructions.
The test track showed the system to be foolproofed. The destination code is fed through the loop to the computer three times in a thousandth of a second and the answer comes to the vehicle three times at the same speed. The direction is flashed on the indicator provided two of the three answers agree.
According to Herr Bragas, head of basic development of Blaupunkt, if only one vehicle in 10 was fitted with the equipment it would almost eliminate traffic jams. "And," he said, "it will show a large reduction in accidents." In these times of energy Crisis, however, its main credit feature surely must be his claim that it will save up to 10 per cent in fuel.
The report of the working party is to be ready in the spring. In the meantime the Germans are endeavouring to cope with traffic problems using a traffic radio broadcasting system, code named ARI, which they introduced on June 1, 1974.
For this purpose they used local radio stations whose frequency is printed on the roadside indicator boards, and traffic information except for emergencies is broadcast regularly every 30 minutes. At 17 motorway restaurants there are ''infotheques" which store traffic announcements and reproduce them for drivers, who have no radio equipment. More than 100 inquiries are received at each infotheque daily.
The police, automobile association patrols and highway authorities are the sources of traffic information. When a driver is tuned to the wavelength he receives only that information which relates to the area containing the section of road over which he is travelling.
Blaupunkt has produced a radio which can be tuned to pick up the area broadcast without any fine tuning on the part of the driver. By using a decoder switch he selects the code letter for the area through which he is moving and the set automatically tunes in. If the driver has to leave the vehicle for any reason he can insert a cassette into his set and this will record traffic information passed in his absence, This he replays before setting off again.
So much for Germany, but where does that leave Britain?
Wisely, I think, we have learned the lessons of the German system, Mr Tony Stoller, of the radio division of the Independent Broadcasting Authority, who are members of the European Broadcasting Union, said that a comprehensive European system was under consideration.
He said the independent companies in Britain were discussing a system similar to the German one with IBA, but pointed out that it was only suited to VHF. "Unfortunately only 2 per cent of vehicle radios in Britain are VHF," he said.
He was convinced that the Blaupunkt system and equipment which I saw working last week was the best available. "And I know that this is the opinion of the independent companies individually and corporately," he added. The tuning aid is an extremely worthwhile piece of equipment, according to Mr Stoller. He also confirmed what I had heard in Germany, that IBA's member companies are experimenting with the system now.
Its introduction is dependent on how soon a sufficient number of VHF sets can he introduced to the UK vehicle radio market.