{"id":527576,"date":"2019-08-28T10:09:50","date_gmt":"2019-08-28T10:09:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.webuildvalue.com\/?p=527576"},"modified":"2020-10-18T18:30:57","modified_gmt":"2020-10-18T18:30:57","slug":"the-growing-popularity-of-driverless-metros","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.webuildvalue.com\/en\/megatrends\/the-growing-popularity-of-driverless-metros.html","title":{"rendered":"The Growing Popularity of Driverless Metros"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"The<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It has taken a while, but the rate of deployment of fully automated metro lines<\/strong> \u2013 having reached a milestone of 1,000 kilometres – is finally set to quicken, especially in Asia<\/strong> where cities are investing heavily in public transport to meet the needs of a growing population.
\nSince the opening of the first line of its kind in the Japanese port city of Kobe in 1981<\/strong>, the proliferation of this technologically advanced service in cities throughout the world has been steady but slow.
\nIt took 30 years for the combined distance covered by these lines in cities like Lille, Vancouver and Sao Paulo<\/strong> to reach 500 kilometres.
\nSince then, the rate of adoption has accelerated considerably.
\nIn a mere eight years, the figure doubled, reaching a milestone of 1,000 kilometres in March 2018 with the opening of the Pujiang Line in Shanghai<\/strong>, China, according to the Observatory of Automated Metros<\/strong>, a permanent body of the International Association of Public Transport (UITP).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exponential Growth<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Ram\u00f3n Malla, the observatory\u2019s chairman, expects the growth rate to be \u201cexponential\u201d in the next decade. \u00abExpansion will continue at a faster rate still in the next decade\u00bb<\/strong>, he said in a UITP statement announcing the milestone.
\nBy 2028, there could be more than 3,800 kilometres of lines in operation\n \u2013 nearly quadruple the combined distance reached in March 2018, \naccording to a Statistics Brief published on May 23 by UITP, the \ninternational network for public transport authorities and operators. \n\u00abMost of this growth corresponds to the expected opening of 87 new lines, or extensions of existing lines<\/strong>\u00bb.
\nThe majority of these lines will be in Asia, with Chinese cities \nexpected to open 37 in the next five years, according to the Statistics \nBrief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"20190731<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Best Option<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

UITP Director Rail Transport Laurent Dauby views the quickening growth rate as a sign of recognition on the part of cities of the benefits of the technology<\/strong>, according to the UITP statement on the 1,000-kilometre milestone. Fully automated metro lines<\/strong> \u2013 whose trains operate without drivers \u2013 are flexible, varying the rate of service throughout the day. They are safer<\/strong>\n because they reduce the chance of human error. They also save on energy\n consumption because they operate more efficiently. These benefits are \nin addition to those offered by traditional lines, such as reducing traffic congestion and air pollution<\/strong>.
\nIn the Statistics Brief<\/strong>, UITP calculates there were 63 \nfully automated lines in 42 cities in 19 countries covering a total of \n1,026 kilometres as of December 2018, a few months after the \n1,000-kilometre milestone was reached. In other terms, nearly a quarter \nof the world\u2019s metro systems have at least one fully automated line.
\nSince then, lines have been opening in various parts of the world, including Sydney Metro North West<\/strong>, the first of its kind in Australia, whose bridge and viaduct were built by Salini Impregilo Group. Later this fall, Copenhagen<\/strong> is to open Cityringen<\/strong>,\n a line entirely built by the Group that encircles the Danish capital\u2019s \nhistoric centre, while in Milan the group is building the M4<\/strong>, the line that will connect Linate airport with the city center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Growth in Asia<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Of the 1,026 kilometres achieved by December 2018, 50% are in Asia<\/strong>, making the region the leader in the sector, according to UITP. This is thanks to the opening of five lines in South Korea, Malaysia and China<\/strong> in the last two years.
\nEurope is second<\/strong> at 30%, with North America and Middle East following at 11% and 8%, respectively. Latin America is last with a mere 1%.
\nAlthough fully automated metro lines<\/strong> might represent \nonly 7% of all lines in operation in the world, it is because they have \nbeen built during the last 37 years – a relatively short period of time \ngiven how metros have been around for 150 years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It has taken a while, but the rate of deployment of fully automated metro lines \u2013 having reached a milestone of 1,000 kilometres – is finally set to quicken, especially in Asia where cities are investing heavily in public transport to meet the needs of a growing population. Since the opening of the first line […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":527572,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[19004,18998,19010,19011,19005],"yst_prominent_words":[376,190,8231,8233,8230,8226,8234,8227,8235,3732,56,8238,5360,8236,8237,8232,8228,8229,187,240],"class_list":["post-527576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-megatrends","tag-development-and-growth","tag-europe","tag-green-transportation","tag-new-technologies","tag-transports"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildvalue.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildvalue.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildvalue.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildvalue.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildvalue.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=527576"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildvalue.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527576\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":541294,"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildvalue.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527576\/revisions\/541294"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildvalue.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/527572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildvalue.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=527576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildvalue.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=527576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildvalue.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=527576"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildvalue.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=527576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}