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automated highway systems disadvantages

The Automated Highway System -- An Overview

Automated Highway System diagram.

The demand on our overburdened highway system is increasing every day. Traffic is snarled, drivers are snarling. What should be a routine 20-minute trip can take hours, as traffic congestion multiplies the effects of individual variations in driving performance "as determined by physical abilities, knowledge, experience and, indeed, personality." (1) We lose control over our plans and schedules; we rush because we're late; we cause accidents and create ill will through recklessness and bad temper. This, in turn, makes the highway system even more sluggish, unpredictable, and nonresponsive to driver needs.

A solution is waiting in the wings. The Automated Highway System (AHS) program, stepped up in response to the mandate of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) to "develop an automated highway and vehicle prototype from which future fully automated intelligent vehicle-highway systems can be developed," will provide the vision and technology to make highway driving efficient, safe, and predictable.

In an automated highway system, the car will be guided by the road rather than by the driver. Sensors and communication devices will page link the road and the vehicle to maximize driving performance. Driver error will be reduced and ultimately, with full implementation, eliminated.

"This high-performance highway system, seen as the next major evolutionary stage of surface transportation, is expected to be the focus of major U.S. implementation efforts early in the next century, much like the Interstate Highway System program was the focus of the last half of this century." (2)

Although AHS represents a long-term effort, perhaps the most exciting aspect of it is that the technology is ready now. The technology to automate routine driving functions exists and will be demonstrated in 1997.