2015 Automated Vehicles and the Built Environment Workshop
Introduction
Welcome to the 2015 Automated Vehicle and the Build Environment Workshop at the TRB
AUVSI Symposium! The purpose of this document is to describe the scenario exercises we have
planned for the workshop. Participants have a wealth of diverse professional expertise on the
topics to be explored and we look forward to working with you!
In the workshops, participants will break out into groups of 8 to 10 people and will be asked to
reimagine a specific local geographic site in the greater Detroit metropolitan area in the year
2040. All participants will be presented with two automation scenarios (an ownership model
and a share-ride model) and asked to apply one or both of the scenarios to their geographic
site. The purpose of these scenarios is not to predict the future but to provide two relatively
extreme contexts in which to re-design the physical sites. See descriptions of automation
scenarios below. All participants will also be provided with economic and demographic trends
that they may wish to consider and incorporate in their reimagined neighborhood. See below.
Each group with their specific geographic site will then:
1.
Specify who will live and work in the local geographic site (for example, age,
education, employment, household size, ethnicity, types of businesses).
2.
Identify the needs, values, and preferences of individuals, households, workers, and
businesses that occupy the site space.
3.
Describe a day in the life of typical individuals, households, and businesses.
4.
Discuss resulting demands made on the neighborhood space.
5.
Redesign the space to meet the needs and preferences of those occupying the space
given the selected automated transportation system and specific economic and
demographic trends.
Alternatively, participants can chose automated freight scenario to explore in the workshop.
One scenario would assume the 2040 time horizon in the context of one or both of the
presented automated vehicle scenario. Participants may also use a nearer term time horizon
(2025) in which trucks are fully automated and some personal vehicles are automated but the
rest of the fleet is not. Participants may select the provided freight oriented and non-freight
oriented sites in the Detroit metropolitan area. Each group will answer the following questions:
1.
What entities supplying and demanding freight? What is the freight?
2.
What are the key origin and destination locations by type for sourcing and delivering
freight?
3.
What are the objectives the entities supplying and demanding freight (e.g., cost
minimization)?
4.
How might automated truck travel be introduced into the regional transportation
network? What are the barriers to implementing truck platoons with passenger
vehicles? How might these barriers be overcome?
5.
What impact will automated truck travel have on the roadway network and the
specific physical sites?
Again, participants will identify the selected automated transportation system and specific
economic and demographic trends.
Description of Current Conditions in Geographic Sites
1. Downtown Ann Arbor
Downtown Ann Arbor is representative of downtowns throughout Michigan. Most cities in
Michigan are around Ann Arbor's size (about 100,000 people) and vintage (late 19th century
followed by a 1920s building boom). These downtowns, especially Ann Arbor, are becoming the
restaurant and entertainment districts for the region. Suburban residents pour in by car to park
and walk around evenings and weekends. Ann Arbor is developing dense high-rise housing and
there is significant demand for office space, but the downtown is too physically constrained to
accommodate all of the demand. Downtown Ann Arbor benefits from the presence of the
University of Michigan, both directly and indirectly. The main commercial streets are East
Washington Street and South Main Street, but many of the surrounding streets are popular for
both entertainment and business incubators. The neighborhood is home to several innovative
businesses thriving in the New Economy, but visitors will be struck by the abrupt contrasts, as
between lovingly restored single-family residences and skyscrapers – sometimes just across the
street. Downtown is also an important cultural center, from students’ favorite Post Office
Theater at Liberty and South 4th Avenue to the old Network Theater at West Huon Street and
South Main Street. In speculating about downtown's future, it would be good to be cognizant of
the many overlapping historic districts. Not that supposed historic protection has prevented
many 19th century houses from being torn down and replaced by high-rises.
Sloan Plaza
Liberty and Main Streets
Skyline
Historic Movie Theatres
Huron Towers
2. Burns Park, Ann Arbor
Burns Park represents a fairly dense traditional urban neighborhood with a mix houses and
apartments, as well as a neighborhood commercial corridor. It is a large, popular, and lively
neighborhood. It is also diverse, including students and professional. Households are typically
dual income. It is desirable because it is close to the university and is highly walkable and has
vintage 1920s housing stock. Housing prices are high and new faculty have been priced outs.
Many residents take on lodgers or subdivide houses for co-ops and co-housing, following Ann
Arbor’s density minimums. These minimums are designed to promote sociable density.
Although the neighborhood is primarily residential, it has a small commercial area for in-person
shopping and entertainment around Hill Street and Packard Street. This gives way to a “social
zone” for social experimentation further south along Packard, with a few high-touch shopfronts
ranging from the well-meaning to the innovative. Socially, Burns Park prides itself on its social
mix, and the park itself hosts several international days celebrating the ethnic pride of students
and faculty who came for education and housing, but now provide a micro-cosmopolitan, but
neighborly and relaxed feel.
Burns Park
North Burns Park
Burns Park Homes
3. Angell, Ann Arbor
Angell represents a leafy, high-end suburban neighborhood with curvilinear streets and
topography. The residents who live here are top tier doctors and university brass. The value of
the neighborhood comes from not only the proximity to the university, but also the adjacency
to Nichols Arboretum, which is owned by the university. The arboretum can only be accessed
on foot. Homes overlooking the river have river views, but they also get to see and listen to
Amtrak going by a few times per day. These tracks are expected to accommodate frequent
commuter rail to Detroit, and high speed rail to Chicago and Toledo in the not too distant
future, which will affect the tranquility of this part of the neighborhood. North Angell, north of
Geddes Avenue and south of the Huron River, offers the largest and most secluded lots in the
area. The focus of social life in Angell is the weekly in-person paseo along Vinewood Boulevard,
between the guardhouse on Washtenaw Avenue and the gathering space at Avon Road.
Furstenburg Park is a public park in the north side of the Huron River’s riparian zone, and is
mirrored on the south by a private green park built on the site of several homes removed
because of occasional flooding. To the east is the Huron Hills Recreation Center, which
combines a golf course with new active sports facilities.
Nichols Arboretum
Angell Home
Huron River
Huron River Drive
4. University of Michigan North Campus, Ann Arbor
This is the North Campus Research Complex (NCRC), where the university's rapidly expanding
research facilities are located. Because the NCRC and the Medical Center are just east of US-23,
Plymouth Road will grow to be home to a lot more professional office space. The
neighborhoods to the north will develop with dense loft-condo housing for the researchers.
Plymouth will become a somewhat more walkable arterial with restaurants and retail on the
north side. The University owns everything on the south side of Plymouth. They will likely
develop this as student apartments with restaurants and retail (no bars). Campuses--both
university and corporate--will be early adopters. North campus is similar to a corporate
campus--especially at the NCRC, which used to be a Pfizer campus, and is solely used for
research. Also it is a larger, more spread-out scale than central campus and not as heavily
pedestrianized.
Student life will also be interesting to speculate. As housing in Ann Arbor commands an ever
greater premium--jobs are growing, but not housing supply due to anti-growth politics--the
university is and will house more and more students on North campus where it has land and
space. These students then have to commute to downtown not only for class, but to party. The
biggest transit crunch is between North campus and central campus at 8pm on a Friday night.
The university buses are packed and will pass later stops by because they are too full. This
transit crunch between campuses (which is also during the day) will be alleviated by the
A2Connector streetcar that is in the works, and being pushed by the university because they
sorely need it.
Shopping Area
5. Arborland, Ann Arbor
Arborland is a high end open-air shopping area that services Angell and Burns Park residents.
The shopping area includes a Whole Foods grocery store and across the street is the Arbor Hills
shopping center, which offers the highest-end shopping in Ann Arbor, stealing traffic from
Briarwood Mall. Washtenaw Avenue is a heavily contested corridor with some of the highest
transit use, heaviest congestion, and demand for cycling infrastructure. A complete streets and
walkability effort called "Reimagine Washtenaw" is in the works, with the first phase recently
built.
Sign on US-23
Shopping Mall
Shopping Mall
Whole Foods
Washtenaw Avenue
Transit Route
6. CPG, Detroit
7. Mid-town, Detroit
“Midtown Detroit is a mixed-use area consisting of a business district, cultural center, a major
research university (Wayne State), and several residential neighborhoods, located along the
east and west side of Woodward Avenue between Downtown Detroit and the New Center. The
community area of neighborhoods is bounded by the Chrysler Freeway (I-75) on the east, the
Lodge Freeway (M-10) on the west, the Edsel Ford Freeway (I-94) on the north, and the Fisher
Freeway (I-75) on the south.[1] The area includes several historic districts, the Detroit Medical
Center, and Wayne State University.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midtown_Detroit,
accessed July 19, 2015).
Mid-Town
West Willis Street
Sheridan Court Apartments
Restored Victorian Home
Shopping
Street
8. Ambassador Bridge Area, Detroit
“The Ambassador Bridge (officially the Ambassador International Bridge) is a suspension
bridge that connects Detroit, Michigan, in the United States, with Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It
is the busiest international border crossing in North America in terms of trade volume: more
than 25 percent of all merchandise trade between the United States and Canada crosses the
toll bridge. A 2004 Border Transportation Partnership study showed that 150,000 jobs in the
region and US$13 billion in annual production depend on the Detroit–Windsor international
border crossing.[3]
The bridge is owned by Grosse Pointe billionaire Manuel "Matty" Moroun through the Detroit
International Bridge Company in the United States[4] and the Canadian Transit Company in
Canada.[5] In 1979, when the previous owners of the bridge put it on the New York Stock
Exchange and shares were traded, Moroun was able to buy shares, eventually acquiring the
bridge.[6] [7] The bridge carries 60 to 70 percent of commercial truck traffic in the region.[8][9]
Moroun also owns the Ammex Detroit Duty Free Stores at both the bridge and the tunnel.[10]
A new bridge, the Gordie Howe International Bridge, proposed by the Detroit River
International Crossing (DRIC) commission,[11] has been approved for construction by the
Canadian and United States governments. The new bridge will be a government-owned and operated crossing further downriver between Detroit and Windsor.”
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambassador_Bridge, accessed July 19, 2015)
Agreement Paves Way for Large Expansion of Detroits Riverside Park and Room for Maroun’s
Bridge, Daily Detoit, Ardelia Lee April 29, 2015
The City of Detroit and the Ambassador Bridge Company have struck and agreement that would
enable expansion and improvements to Riverside Park and the exterior of Michigan Central
Depot.
If the agreement is approved by Detroit City Council, the Ambassador Bridge Co. would transfer
4.8 acres of waterfront property to the city. This transfer will allow the city to expand Riverside
Park to the west. The Bridge Co. would also pay the city $3 million to be invested in Riverside
Park improvements.
“This agreement gives the city the land and funding it needs to create a marquee park at
Riverside and give Detroiters even greater access to our riverfront,” Mayor Mike Duggan said.
“At the same time, it provides a dramatic improvement in the appearance of the Michigan
Central Depot, making the future redevelopment of that landmark more likely.”
The City of Detroit and the Ambassador Bridge Company have struck and agreement that would
enable expansion and improvements to Riverside Park and the exterior of Michigan Central
Depot.
If the agreement is approved by Detroit City Council, the Ambassador Bridge Co. would transfer
4.8 acres of waterfront property to the city. This transfer will allow the city to expand Riverside
Park to the west. The Bridge Co. would also pay the city $3 million to be invested in Riverside
Park improvements.
“This agreement gives the city the land and funding it needs to create a marquee park at
Riverside and give Detroiters even greater access to our riverfront,” Mayor Mike Duggan said.
“At the same time, it provides a dramatic improvement in the appearance of the Michigan
Central Depot, making the future redevelopment of that landmark more likely.”
If the Ambassador Bridge Company gets the necessary approvals, the company intends to use
the three acre parcel for a planned second span of the Ambassador Bridge. They say this would
facilitate additional development and create more jobs in Detroit and Windsor, however, this
plan is met with fierce opposition on the Canadian side who is fully behind a second, $2.1 Billion
span further down the river that the Canadian Federal government is basically footing the
entire bill for.
Phase two improvements are expected to begin in 2018, after the lease expires for the
warehouse on the 4.8-acre western parcel. Planned improvements for phase two include:




Seawall improvements
Extended promenade
New benches
New sidewalk
9. Blue Water Bridge – I-69
The Blue Water Bridge is a twin-span international bridge across the St. Clair River that links Port
Huron, Michigan, United States, and Point Edward, Ontario, Canada. The Blue Water Bridge
connects Highway 402 in Ontario with both Interstate 69 (I-69) and I-94 in Michigan.
Together, the two bridges are the second-busiest crossing between the United States and Canada,
after the Ambassador Bridge at Detroit-Windsor ($38 billion in trade per year). They also provide one
of the four shortest routes of land travel between the Northeastern United States (particularly New
England) and the central United States. The Blue Water Bridges are jointly owned and maintained
by Canada and the United States: Blue Water Bridge Canada, a Crown corporation of
the Government of Canada, is in charge of the Canadian side, and the Michigan Department of
Transportation (MDOT) is in charge of the U.S. side. A toll is charged to cross the bridges, which is
used to pay for maintenance and operations.
Interstate 69 (I-69) is an Interstate Highway in the United States consisting of seven disjointed parts
with an original continuous segment from Indianapolis, Indiana, northeast to the Canadian
border in Port Huron, Michigan, at 355.8 miles (572.6 km). The remaining separated parts are
variously completed and posted or unposted parts of a long-distance extension southwest to
the Mexican border in Texas. Of this extension—nicknamed the NAFTA Superhighway because it
would help trade with Canada and Mexico spurred by the North American Free Trade Agreement—
five pieces near Corpus Christi, Houston, northwestern Mississippi, Memphis, and Evansville have
been newly built or upgraded and signposted as I-69. A sixth segment of I-69 through Kentucky
utilizing that state's existing parkway system and a section of I-24, was established by federal
legislation in 2008 but is not yet signposted. A section of the previously existing Western Kentucky
Parkway from Eddyville to Nortonville was approved and signposted in late 2011.[2] This brings the
total length to about 625 miles (1,006 km).
In August 2007, I-69 was selected by the United States Department of Transportation as one of six
Corridors of the Future, making it eligible for additional federal funding and streamlined planning and
review. This funding has since been withheld causing some states to suspend construction
indefinitely.
I-69 is interesting to automated trucking applications in that is has:
Simple Geometric Design
Low Density of Interchanges
Low Traffic Volume
Staging Location
Expansion Opportunities
Proximity to Southeast Michigan