Page 24 - ATZ WORLDWIDE

COVER STORY INTERVIEW

© Moritz Reich | Continental

Ralph Lauxmann (right) thinks that driverless cars will gain wide acceptance; otherwise the traffic density in large cities will continue to increase and this will
lead to more congestion and air pollution, which will not be socially acceptable

every situation. In the first few years, the has paved the way for the ongoing devel- I think that driverless cars will gain wide
Cruising Chauffeur may not be able to opment of the systems. I have not seen a acceptance. Otherwise, the traffic
take control along the entire motorway transport minister or the German political density in large cities will continue to
route that the driver has planned. There system respond so quickly before. The increase. This will lead to more conges-
may be sections of road where the team has taken comments and suggestions tion and air pollution, which will not be
necessary intelligent infrastructure is on board immediately and incorporated socially acceptable. There is already a
not yet available. This will mean that them into their work. demand for these systems and public
the Cruising Chauffeur function cannot confidence is growing. For example, a
be approved for use in these areas. full-time underground train system with-
A completely new type of communica- “A gradual approach out drivers has been in operation in
tion between humans and machines is
needed in order to make this transparent from level to level is Nuremberg since 2007.
not a bad idea”
and to implement the function. When will we see large numbers of people
movers on our streets?
Will driver assistance systems gradually be I hope that there will be an intelligent
developed into autonomous systems? Or do Robotaxis, people movers and self-driving transport system of this kind at the
we need to take one big leap forward to SAE vehicles based on SAE level 5 are currently Olympic Games in Japan. Tokyo 2020
level 5? What should politicians be doing? being developed for Uber, Lyft and DiDi to could be the breakthrough. In its
A gradual approach is not a bad idea, provide automated mobility as a service, Self-driving Car project, Continental is
because the big leap forward that many also known as aMaaS. What sort of market testing a similar vehicle that can travel
people want may well prove to be a step acceptance will these vehicles have and not at 10 but at 40 km/h, which allows it
too far. First we need to monitor the usage which areas is your company working on in to cover longer distances quickly.
and acceptance of the systems that will be this respect?
introduced onto the market over the next This type of transport is not new, but Ralph Lauxmann, thank you very much for
few years. On the basis of the resulting existing systems do not exceed speeds of this interesting conversation.
findings, the next steps in the development 10 km/h. They can be found at airports
process can be taken and the necessary and railway stations and in inner city You can read more of the German inter-
legislation can be put in place. I think it is areas all over the world. For example, view on the ATZ online portal at www.
good that Alexander Dobrindt, the German Deutsche Bahn is trialling a system in springerprofessional.de/link/13320478.
Federal Minister of Transport, and his Leipzig and Berlin that takes passengers
team are working flat out. Their new act from the rail platform to the bus station. INTERVIEW: Michael Reichenbach
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