INTERNATIONAL Traffic planning Internationales Verkehrswesen (73) 3 | 2021 58 Assessment of autonomous moving vehicles From theoretical approaches to practical test procedures Car-inherent capabilities, Conditioning driving style, Traffic presence, Complexity handling, Testing arrangements Irrespective of deployment strategies of the automotive sector a consistent procedure of testing and proving automatization technologies is required. System adaptions in technical respect and coexistence strategies with view on traffic practice will be necessary. The multitude of motorized road users and their physical capabilities to pass interactions frictionless is challenging. That consideration leads to questions of two kinds, firstly what knowledge is needed for developing the automat system and secondly how transparent the algorithmic conditioning will be handled by the car suppliers. Heinz Doerr, Andreas Romstorfer F irst of all, irrespective of market deployment strategies of the automotive sector a chained up procedure of testing and proving automatization technologies is required. One can assume that these innovations would not change our mobility needs and the existent transport systems completely. But then mutual system adaptions in technical respect and coexistence strategies with view on traffic practice will be necessary for an utmost frictionless implementation of different automated vehicles onto the road-network. Research in view of the multitude of motorized road users and their technical capabilities to pass interactions without any conflict with others is challenging. It claims a decisive control mastering hidden in the backend of the car-inherent automatic chain. That consideration leads to questions of two kinds, firstly what knowledge is required for developing, testing and proving as well as secondly how transparent the algorithmic conditioning will be handled by the car suppliers. It concerns car-holders and other groups of road users as well as bearers of public road infrastructure. If one surveys relevant literature a certain lack of knowledge about trivial but complex traffic phenomena seems to be manifest. Such clarifications will be needed for anticipating future scenarios of mobility using road-net. An inquiring and reflecting discourse may deal with topics as follows: •• Theoretical fundamentals to understand relevant phenomena of daily traffic operations •• Monitoring of interactions between road user groups onto road and in public spaces •• Methodical approaches finding crucial points of development in respect of technology assessment •• Multidisciplinary view on consequences of automatization of vehicles in respect of utility •• Testing steps to prove technological functionality and to estimate effects on other road users •• Implementation strategies into mobility system and road network as political process Gaining knowledge about traffic events With the view to future automated traffic operations systematic observations of interrelations between traffic-participants using our road network nowadays could deepen such an understanding. To this end to put up a framework of systematic orders describing and classifying the manifold mobility groups might help. Each of them - motorized or not - are characterized in respect of their specific range of traffic behavior due to its movement capabilities. In such a way logical procedures for developing and testing of automatic functionalities could be established. It facilitates probably licensing by authorities and makes implementation onto road network more transparent for political decision makers. Finally the degree of acceptance in public could be fostered if a spatial zoning of regulations will be ordered by municipalities ensuring traffic safety in pedestrian´s or residential zones of our habitat. At first the behavior of traffic participants observed as physical moving bodies onto road spaces serves as resource of knowledge aiming at an implementation of automated road traffic in a consensual way. Such observations generate pictures of incidental scenes which can be communicated well 1 . Furthermore a permanent traffic monitoring delivers data about frequencies and variations of road users interacting on the scenery. A systematic categorization of phenotypical sceneries, interaction-scenes and involved actor-groups depicted within a framework of orders and matrices makes complex interrelations crosswise visible and traceable. In that way scenarios for testing arrangements and for settings to realize them can be prepared. To this end a comprehensive “Vademecum” (a kind of informal manual) has been prepared, which contains methodical help to cope with the complexity of the topic in a multidisciplinary view. Advices are given in form of an alphabetic ordered terminology which is practical oriented to address practitioners. Test procedure as a chain To set up test arrangements (in responsibility of the automotive branch framed as blue field) some steps are essential: •• Finding of sceneries resp. testing grounds •• Identifying exogenous boundary conditions of the surroundings and roadway conditions •• Defining of interaction-scenes to stage •• Selecting test objects and human actors Traffic planning INTERNATIONAL Internationales Verkehrswesen (73) 3 | 2021 59 •• Constructing test scenarios of automated traffic (inter)actions •• Varying them due to changing traffic conditions and the mixture of different equipped cars For this, “Real World” forms the starting point to attribute future technological features to the vehicles like SAE-Levels and to assume the usage of them if a driver could select a driving mode like downgrading the automated functions. But not only drivers are actors. Road network providers could play a dominating role to manage the traffic via steering each vehicle in designated section of their network assisted by telecomproviders. In this respect different scenarios could be drafted aiming at cutting traffic rush or reducing inflow of vehicles to prevent jams. From the discussed issues an interdisciplinary structured and phased test and implementation procedure is resulted. It will integrate all stakeholders of the automotive manufactures as well as all concerned groups of the mobility system. The test procedure depicted in figure 1 describes a chain which has its beginning at testing grounds within the responsibility of the automobile sector and is terminating in the Real World of our habitat. So one could realize points of transition within the succession of phases where the concerns are changing between the productive automobile sector, the approving authorities, the bearer of infrastructure, the driver´s instructing schools, the interest-groups of mobility participants included motorists, the planning community and other more. Each step depicted as arrow in figure 1 has a specific personnel-configuration according to the tasks to do and the qualification to do it. Some steps are inevitable resp. obligatory to carry out (full arrows) others are successively forced (broken lined arrows) or at least advisably (dotted lined) to be considered. Furthermore it is readable who plays the initiative part as stakeholdergroup and who is acting in practice as a team. Such details to discuss is reserved for a long version. Foresighted public entities providing road infrastructure and being responsible for public spaces might integrate such critical issues in their development plans. Also driving school‘s instruction should receive supplementary contents and could offer training about it. By the way this group of essential concerned professionals is seldom consulted. Résumé for an open discourse Approaches derived from “Real World” do not solve technical problems as that are tasks for automotive research and development. Rather it should help to trace out challenging traffic events and to put up framing conditions which influence traffic flows exogenously. In such a multidisciplinary manner deficiencies untied from pure technical quality requirements and standardization could be revealed. Embedded in a chain of test and implementation procedures all relevant stakeholder and affected groups from the mobility milieu can be addressed. Not at least, because this methodical approaching should enable them to reflect the evoked changes by the arising innovations within the mobility system and to encourage them to contribute their considerations to that in a democratic discourse. ■ The full version of this paper is published online in the October issue “International Transportation - Collection 2021”: www.iv-dok.de/ 2107/ 1 Such scenes have been exemplified in: H. Doerr, A. Romstorfer: Implementation of autonomous vehicle onto roadways. In: Internationales Verkehrswesen (72) 1/ 2020, International Transportation pp 66-70 Heinz Dörr, Dr. Consulting engineer spatial and traffic planning, arp-planning. consulting.research, Vienna (AT) heinz.doerr@arp.co.at Andreas Romstorfer, Dipl.-Ing. (FH), MA arp-planning.consulting.research, Vienna (AT) a.romstorfer@arp.co.at DRAFT OF AN INTERDISCIPLINARY STRATEGIC TEST-PROCEDURE FOR THE AUTOMATIZATION AND AUTONOMIZATION OF VEHICLES ONTO ROADWAYS General Steps phased Phase of Test-Conception Phase of Test-Implementation Phase of Test-Programing Phase of Test-Realization Phase of Test-Result-Evaluation Phase of legal Authorization Phase of Deployment Phase of Traffic Policies Phase of Verification Phase of Adaption Phase of Implementation Restructuring built-up areas Changing of mobility patterns Knowledge-Transfer to related professionals Driving instruction & training Consideration in Roadway Design Addition of traffic statistics Adaption of traffic rules Observing interaction scenes Surveying traffic behavior Monitoring of incidencies Civic inquiry Integration into Mobility Action Plan Local traffic regulations Roadnet organisation Equipped cars emerging onto roadways Public awareness & reflection Product placement / migration on markets Legalization of technological components Proving legal conformity Validation of functionality Lay open the testing result Test-Goals Test-Vicinage Testing Ground Testing-formation Testing-elements Test Purpose Test Objects Evaluation of traffic capability Identification of Insufficiences Test-Recording Stage the interaction-scenes Provision for resources Script of Scenarios Setting the theatre Testing Tasks Figure 1: Phased Test & Implementation Procedure (“TIP”) Graphic by arp