The city of Gothenburg hosts two use cases, demonstrating both microscopic and macroscopic tools. The demonstrations will help to answer two main questions:
1- Can CAV last mile vehicles operate in shared spaces without decreasing the level of service for walking and cycling?
The first use case site (micro) is located in the city-centre of Gothenburg. It is a shared-space area with a high pedestrian modal share and the presence of other types of road users: cyclists, cars and urban freight vehicles.
The use case is focused on determining the traffic effects on shared spaces when an automated last mile service is introduced. Shared space environment may be problematic for CAVs to operate without significant delays due to the large volumes of pedestrians and cyclists as well as the lack of traffic control.
Questions to investigate in this use case are:
- What effects does the introduction of automated vehicles have on the quality of service for all users of the shared space?
- Will there be significant congestion for motorised traffic leading to further problems upstream of the shared space?
Complementary to these questions, solutions for structuring the pedestrian flows in shared spaces will be tested with the aim of maintaining the quality of service for pedestrians and cyclists.
2- How can CAVs be used to increase the accessibility of the city centre during long-term construction?
The second use case site (macro) include both the central part of Gothenburg and the surrounding region. There are several construction projects in the central part of the city which will last for several years. The city of Gothenburg has the ambition to decrease the negative traffic effects of the long term construction works, especially
the accessibility to the city centre.
The focus of the use case is to investigate the impact of the introduction of CAVs during long-term construction works. The introduction of CAVs itself might have some effects on the traffic conditions during long-term construction works. However, the introduction of CAVs might enable new types of measures which will improve the accessibility to the city-centre. This could for example include bi-directional traffic lanes in tunnel for the exclusive use of CAVs or allowing CAVs to pass construction areas on narrow temporary lanes or links.
For more information about Gothenburg and its use cases, visit this page.