Autonomous vehicles are the way ahead – if we have political will

MAYOR Marvin Rees is, in my opinion, very wrong in his advocacy of an underground urban railway system for Bristol.

In the 19th century the railways evolved from simple track ways and developments of primitive industrial vehicles, with the high pressure steam engine providing the energy to move them.

When large urban areas developed, particularly in London, a need arose for a means of moving a significant number of people about, in an already built-up area, so it was fairly obvious to run these trains beneath the previously builton ground surface. In London this was relatively easy as there are not many hills of significance and the ground was mainly clay and not much rock.

In addition, at the end of the century, the invention of the internal combustion engine and direct current electric motor allowed the introduction of various forms of surface vehicles, using the existing roads developed for pedestrians and horse-powered means of transport.

We are now nearly a quarter of the way through the 21st century and the massive problem of climate change faces us (Bristol has pledged to be carbon-zero by 2030), so it is unlikely that a system from the 19th century will be the answer.

The invention of the semi conductor and the subsequent development of complex electronic devices now makes it possible to satisfy the need for local urban transport in a different way.

Much as I dislike the advent of the electric scooter, it has shown us that it is a relatively simple matter to provide vehicles for general use, to and from random locations.

Consequently I believe the way forward is to develop the Autonomous Urban Transport Vehicle. These would be available in various personal carrying capacities i.e. how many seats and space for goods required.

Unlike the majority of today’s cars with four-plus seats and considerable mass, the weight of vehicle could probably be brought down to something like two or three times its payload. The amount of energy required to move a transport device is determined by its weight and its maximum speed and acceleration, as we have now been accustomed to the 20mph limit within the urban areas and with automatic control there will be little need for overtaking, so the power of the motor incorporated in the AUTV could be very modest, possibly less than one kilowatt.

Also the battery or hydrogen fuel cell, required to provide the power for the vehicle, could also be minimal, something in the order of five kilowatt-hours. The vehicles when not in use could return to charging, cleaning and parking stations to await new users.

The massive development of high density housing on the north of the city with unfriendly facilities for conventional cars, makes Bristol the ideal place for the development of such an innovation. We also have a number of companies in the area who have the design capabilities, but as yet there does not seem the political interest to make it happen.

Brian Blestowe Downend