MAPUA UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF CIVIL, ENVIRONMENTAL AND GEOLOGICAL ENGINEERING

CE123 - TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING

APPLICATION OF SELF – DRIVING CARS:

PROBLEMS FACED WHEN IN MANILA

MEMBERS:
NAPALAN, RED ALDRAY C.
ROBLES, EMM GABRIEL

ENGR. JOCELYN BULURAN

PROFESSOR

OCTOBER 2019
 ABSTRACT

The future of better driving like autonomous driving is expected to transform the

road traffic in order to reduce the current externalities, especially the traffic congestion and

road accidents. There are many people who have been working on autonomous driving for

years such as researchers and carmakers and significant progress has been made. However,

there are doubts and challenges regarding the application and implementation of

autonomous driving. This implementation includes many aspects not only its complicated

technological aspect, but also human behavior, ethics, traffic management strategies,

policies, liability, etc. In this paper, we have researched the main challenges regarding in

technology, environment, politics, moral and ethics and the possible scenarios of

deploying the autonomous vehicles. This paper also provides an overview of the current

state of the art in the key aspects of autonomous driving. Based on the information received

in situ from top research centers in the field and on a literature review.

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 1. INTRODUCTION

1.1.Background of the Study

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are closer and closer to become a reality. As time goes by

and in parallel to technological advances, research on AVs is bringing to light the huge

impacts that they might imply for different fields. Autonomous vehicles are “such vehicles

that are able to perceive their environment and to move on without any intervention of a

human driver" (Varga I and Tettamanti T 2015), (Gehrig S K and Stein F J 1999). These

vehicles are also known as driverless, self-driving, unmanned or robotic vehicles (Varga I

and Tettamanti T 2015). And they play a vital role when it comes to transportation.

Transportation system is very important in any country. Its sole purpose is to transport

or move goods and the people to their desired destinations, which is on a daily basis. It is

an ever-developing aspect of a country to improve its transportation system. As

aforementioned, it aims to transport the people and goods, which is vital to the growth of

an economy. Hence, if a country is to improve, its transportation system must also improve

to cope up with the ever-rising demand for the need for transport. But generally,

transportation system in the country is underdeveloped.

Manila city is one of the most highly urbanized cities here in the Philippines. It plays

a huge role to the economy of our country for it is a major center for commerce, banking

and finance, retailing, transportation, tourism, real estate, new media as well as traditional

media, advertising, legal services, accounting, insurance, theater, fashion, and the arts in

the Philippines. Around 60,000 establishments operate in the city. We can find almost all

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the major shopping malls, markets, supermarkets and bazaars thrive within the city of

Manila.

As early as 1960’s traffic congestion is already common in Metro Manila. Before then,

Manila was a business district and a city. After decades of progress and development, and

also oppositions, it is now a very important residential, commercial, and industrial centre.

On the 405th anniversary of the city's foundation on June 24, 1976, Manila was reinstated

by President Marcos as the capital of the Philippines for its historical significance as the

seat of government since the Spanish Period. As the history tells us, major infrastructure

developments were still in the time of the Marcos administration.

1.2.Statement of the Problem

On a typical day, Manila experiences moderate to heavy congestion on its streets. The

transportation system of the country is modelled after USA. After that, major departments

failed to update the transportation system in the country or political leaders put small

emphasis on our transportation system. Now, even major roads cannot accommodate the

travel demand. Though there have been improvements, it is still not enough to ease the

traffic congestion. Existing roads can still deliver or transport people and goods but with

extreme delays. Filipinos nowadays spend more time in traveling.

To improve the transportation system in Manila or even Metro Manila, it is of great

importance to trace back the roots of the problem to come up with logical solutions or to

adapt to the current situation. Major departments always have the master plans for the

improvement of the country in terms of transportation system. These departments now

always update these plans to cope up with the rising demand. Tracing back to history may

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raise the questions today such as; should the responsible agencies or departments be

blamed for the current situation or our elected leaders themselves? Even then Filipinos are

good in innovating things especially when it comes to their daily lives, through this we can

find solutions to the problems and at the same time adapt to the situation.

1.3.Objective

The researchers will conduct a research study about the application of the autonomous

vehicles in Manila City. The researchers aim to address the problems that the autonomous

vehicles will face regarding its application for the improvement of the Transportation

System of Manila City.

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 2. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

2.1 Level of Automation

From driver assistance to fully autonomous cars, there are five generally accepted

levels of self-driving vehicles. They have been developed by the Society of Automotive

Engineers (SAE) and vary depending on the degree of human involvement into driving.

Actually, there are six levels in their classification, however level zero implies no

automation but a complete human control of vehicles.

L1: Driver Assistance

A human driver is responsible for all car-operating tasks, including accelerating,

steering, braking, and monitoring of the surrounding environment. There is a

driving automation system in a car that helps in either steering or accelerating, not

both.

L2: Partial Automation

At this level, a car can assist with both steering and acceleration, while a driver is

still responsible for most safety-critical functions and environment monitoring.

Currently, the autonomous vehicles of level 2 are most common on the roads.

L3: Conditional Automation

Starting from level 3 onwards, a car itself monitors the environment using

autonomous vehicle sensors and performs other dynamic driving tasks, such as

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 braking. A human driver has to be prepared to intervene if a system failure occurs

or other unexpected conditions happen.

L4: High Automation

Level 4 implies a high level of automation, where a car is capable of completing

an entire journey without driver intervention, even in extreme cases. However,

there are some restrictions: a driver can switch the vehicle into this mode only when

the system detects that the traffic conditions are safe and there is no traffic jam.

L5: Full Automation

Fully automated cars do not yet exist, but automakers strive to achieve level 5 of

autonomous driving, where drivers simply specify their destination and a vehicle

takes complete responsibility for all driving modes. Therefore, level 5 cars have no

provisions for human control, like steering wheels or pedals.

Although the level of automation on each cars seems to be enticing to its

consumers, vehicles are expected to enter the world in 2020-2021, patial autonomous level

systems are demanded on the market.

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Figure 2.1 Autonomous Vehivles Shipments by SAE level [itransition.com, 2018]

2.2. Types of Automated Vehicles

Autonomous vehicles are impossible without sensors: they allow the vehicle

to see and sense everything on the road, as well as to collect information needed

to drive safely. Further, this information is processed and analyzed in order to

build a path from point A to point B and send appropriate instructions to the car’s

controls, such as steering, acceleration, and braking. Moreover, the information

collected with sensors, including the actual path, traffic jams, and obstacles on

the road, can be shared between IoT connected cars. This is called vehicle-to-

vehicle communication and helps to improve driving automation.

The majority of today’s automotive manufacturers commonly use the

following three types of autonomous vehicle sensors: cameras, radars, and lidars.

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 Figure 2.2 Autonomous Vehicle Components [itransition.com, 2018]
1. Camera sensors

Autonomous cars may have video cameras to see and interpret objects on a

road just as human drivers do with their eyes. By equipping cars with cameras at

all angles, the vehicles are able to maintain a 360° view of the external

environment and provide a broader picture of traffic conditions around. Today,

3D cameras are available to display highly detailed realistic images. Image

sensors automatically detect objects, classify them, and determine the distance to

them. For example, the cameras can identify other cars, pedestrians, cyclists,

traffic signs and signals, road markings, bridges, and guardrails.

Unfortunately, camera sensors are far from perfect. Poor weather conditions

such as rain, fog or snow prevent cameras from seeing clearly the things on the

road, thereby increasing the chances of accidents. Additionally, there are often

situations where camera images simply aren’t good enough for a computer to

make a good decision about what to do. For example, in situations when object

colors are similar to the background or contrast is low, the driving algorithm can

fail.

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2. Radar sensors

Radar (Radio Detection and Ranging) sensors make a crucial contribution to

the overall function of autonomous driving: they send out radio waves that detect

objects and gauge their distance and speed in real time. Short- and long-range

radar sensors are usually deployed all around the car and have different functions.

While short-range (24 GHz) radar applications enable blind spot monitoring,

lane-keeping assistance, and parking aids, the role of long-range (77 GHz) radar

sensors includes automatic distance control and brake assistance. Unlike cameras,

radar systems typically have no trouble identifying objects during fog or rain.

The pedestrian recognition algorithm definitely needs to be improved, as

current automotive radar sensors identify correctly only 95% of pedestrians,

which is not enough to ensure safety. Also, widely-used 2D radars are not able to

determine an object’s height as they only scan horizontally, which can cause

problems when driving under the bridge. 3D radars currently being developed

promise to solve that issue.

3. Lidar sensors

Lidar (Light Detection and Ranging) sensors work similar to radar systems,

with the only difference being that they use lasers instead of radio waves. Apart

from measuring the distances to various objects on the road, lidar allows creating

3D images of the detected objects and mapping the surroundings. Moreover, lidar

can be configured to create a full 360-degree map around the vehicle rather than

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 relying on a narrow field of view. These two advantages make autonomous

vehicle manufacturers such as Google, Uber, and Toyota choose lidar systems.

Since rare earth metals are needed to produce lidar sensors, they are much

more expensive than radar sensors. The systems needed for autonomous driving

can be well beyond $10,000, while the top sensor being used by Google and Uber

costs up to $80,000. Yet another problem is that snow or fog may block lidar

sensors and negatively affect their ability to detect objects.

2.3.Aspects of Self-Driving Cars

It’s fun to ponder a future filled with self-driving cars, a world with breezy

commutes where robot navigators have made deadly crashes a thing of the past. But how

far off is that future, really?

What Google has suggested is that this driverless utopia may actually be much

further away than many people may realize. In a speech at South by Southwest (SXSW or

South By) in Austin, Google’s car project director Chris Urmson explained that the day

when fully autonomous vehicles are widely available, going anywhere that regular cars

can, might be as much as 30 years away. There are still serious technical and safety

challenges to overcome. In the near term, self-driving cars may be limited to more narrow

situations and clearer weather.

As Lee Gomes pointed out at IEEE Spectrum, this was the most conservative

roadmap yet offered by Google, which has been operating and tweaking autonomous cars

for years on private and public roads. If they’re saying it’s hard, we ought to listen.

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1. Technological Aspects

 Creating and maintaining maps for self – driving cars is a difficult work.

According to Google, their self-driving cars work by relying on a

combination of detailed pre-made maps as well as sensors that “see” obstacles

on the road in real time. Both systems are crucial and they work in tandem. They

also said that they are confident in accomplishing this “mapping” problem, after

all, it is something the company is extremely good at. As more and more self-

driving cars hit the road, they will constantly be encountering new objects and

obstacles that they can relay to the mapping team and update other cars. Still,

it’s an incredibly daunting and potentially costly undertaking.

 Driving requires many complex social interactions which are still tough for robots.

A far more difficult hurdle, meanwhile, is the fact that driving is an intensely

social process that frequently involves intricate interactions with other drivers,

cyclists, and pedestrians. In many of those situations, humans rely on

generalized intelligence and common sense that robots still very much lack.

Much of the testing that Google has been doing over the years has involved

“training” the cars’ software to recognize various thorny situations that pop up

on the roads. For example, the company says its cars can now recognize cyclists

and interpret their hand signals — slowing down, say, if the cyclist intends to

turn. This explains that fully self-driving cars will ultimately need to be adept at

four key tasks: 1) understanding the environment around

them; 2) understanding why the people they encounter on the road are behaving

the way they are; 3) deciding how to respond (it’s tough to come up with a rule

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 of thumb for four-way stop signs that works every single time); and 4)

communicating with other people.

2. Environmental Aspects

 Bad weather affects everything.

Compounding these challenges is the fact that weather still poses a major

challenge for self-driving vehicles. Much like our eyes, car sensors don’t work

as well in fog or rain.

This is a real, but lesser, hurdle. Weather adds to the difficulty, but it’s not

a fundamental challenge. Also, even if we had a car that only worked in fair

weather, that’s still enormously valuable. It might take longer to overcome

weather challenges, but this won’t derail the technology.”

 New technologies can significantly reduce vehicle emissions by reducing fuel

consumption (Learner H 2016).

 Because of the advanced navigation system which uses car to car

communication, further reductions in fuel consumption can be obtained by

avoiding congestion zones, particularly in crowded urban traffic.

 According to the opinion of several experts, by optimizing the acceleration

and braking actions of the driverless vehicle the fuel consumption can be

drastically reduced, by up to 60%.

 As autonomous vehicles are able to communicate with each other and with
their environment, they can be organized into platoons with controlled

speed; this may result in a reduction of fuel consumption by 5-20%.

3. Moral and Ethical Aspects

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 The self-driven vehicles must make good decisions even in extreme

emergency situations. Is this always possible? Imagine that a vehicle is

approaching a pedestrian crossing, the traffic light is green for the car, but suddenly

a pedestrian crosses the road. Although it is the rule that the designated pedestrian

crossing place should be approached with extreme caution and the speed of the

vehicle must be sufficiently low to be able to stop before the pedestrian crossing,

if necessary, but the pedestrians can only cross the road if they are convinced that

there is no risk. What is the right decision in this case?

Does the car swerve into the traffic from the opposite lane or in the roadside

electric pylon, exposing the car owner to unforeseeable consequences? Is it a duty

of the car to protect its owner at any cost? Would the dilemma change if not one

but two people stepped on the road? Who is responsible for the consequences: the

owner, the user or the computer programmer, who stays in his ergonomic chair

some thousands of miles away and has no idea what happened? There is, however,

a strong need to develop moral algorithms that can solve such situations according

to acceptable moral norms.

4. Legal and Political Aspects

 In the pursuit to accomplish the fully automated driving, several technical

issues have to be solved and the automotive industry seems to be up to this task

(Bertoncello M and Wee D 2015).

As all revolutionary innovations, the technical developments in driverless

vehicles are more advanced than the regulatory processes. Worldwide, the

regulations regarding all aspects of the road traffic have as the main objective

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 to provide the best road safety, so the autonomous cars must prove that they

are safer or at least as safe as their predecessors. Consequently, the legal

challenges are among the most critical issues, including the public policies,

traffic code, technical standards, and tort law (Bertoncello M and Wee D 2015).

For example, steer-by-wire technologies have been available for a long

time, but could not be integrated into the vehicles because the Convention on

Road Traffic signed in Vienna in 1968 stated that, in order to determine the

path of the vehicle the steering system should contain a mechanical constraint

between the steering wheel and the wheels.

 Design regulations before we know how safe self – driving cars are.

Another big obstacle for self-driving cars isn’t technical — it’s political.

Before self-driving cars can hit the roads, regulators are going to have to

approve them for use. One thing they’re going to want to ask is: How safe are

these things, anyway? Regulators could come up with alternative testing

procedures — such as modeling or simulations or even pilot programs in

volunteer cities. We might also look to other technologies that get approved

even when their safety is uncertain, such as personalized medicine. But this is

going to be something to think hard about.

Apart from this, there are separate legal questions too, such as how these

cars will be insured and who exactly will be liable — the driver or the

manufacturer — in the event of a crash.

 Another issue is cybersecurity.

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 How do we make sure these cars can’t be hacked? As vehicles get smarter

and more connected, there are more ways to get into them and disrupt what

they’re doing.

This shouldn’t be impossible to fix since software companies have been

dealing with this issue for a long time. It will likely require a culture change in

the auto industry, which hasn’t traditionally worried much about cybersecurity

issues.

This could be a particular challenge if the auto industry tries to develop

systems that enable different vehicles to talk to each other on the road. The

whole premise of using vehicle-to-vehicle communication for safety is that if

you get a message to slam on the brakes, you better be able to trust that message.

But securing that system could be extremely difficult. Again, not fatal. But

something to consider.

5. Market Aspects

There is no doubt that the interest for driverless cars is increasing.

According to a survey conducted by the Boston Consulting Group in 2015, 55% of

potential car buyers said they would consider buying a semi-autonomous vehicle,

while 44% said that they would consider buying a fully autonomous car. Almost

all the major automotive manufacturers are working on meeting this demand.

According to the IHS, an international market research company, in 2020 the

market share of the 4th and 5th level autonomous vehicles will be 0.004% (4,200

cars), which will increase in 2025 up to 0.5% (578,000 cars) and in 2030 it will

reach 3.8% (4,503,000 cars).

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 Autonomous vehicles are marketed following three scenarios: 1) traditional

carmakers are integrating more and more automatic components into their products

until the vehicle becomes fully autonomous, 2) new market players brake into the

market with new concepts, 3) co-operation of traditional car manufacturers with

new market players delivering a technology that allows the production of 3rd or

4th cars (Varga I and Tettamanti T 2015).

The optimistic scenario takes account of less restrictive safety regulation,

more pork-barrels, appearance of new market players, the conservative one

considers that the present condition will not change.

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 3. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

Autonomous vehicle sensors play an essential role in automated driving: they allow

cars to monitor their surroundings, detect oncoming obstacles, and plan the path. In

combination with automotive software and computers, they will allow the system to take

over the full control of the vehicle, saving people a significant amount of time for doing

tasks that are more efficient. Given the fact that the average driver spends

approximately 50 minutes in a car daily, just imagine how valuable autonomous vehicles

can be for the fast-paced world we live in.

There are different aspects to consider when choosing automated vehicles such as

technological, environmental, moral, political, and market aspects. These aspects affect

the usage of drivers on their automotive vehicles. There are also different types of

automotive vehicles that depends on the preference of the user. These are camera, radar,

and lidar sensors.

In the Philippines, it is not recommended to use automotive vehicles because the streets

are not suitable for programming. Some roads are not located on the map, and some are

not up to date. It is recommended to update the maps before implementing automotive

vehicles.

Also, there is a huge population in the country. Implementing the use of automotive

vehicles might not work since there will road congestions experienced all over the road. It

is recommended to fix the urban planning first here in the Philippines before applying

automotive vehicles to avoid errors when using it.

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 4. REFERENCES

 Varga I and Tettamanti T 2015 A jövô intelligens jármûvei és az infokommunikáció hatása.

Magyar-Jövô Internet Konferencia, Híradástechnika, LXXI 59 63

 Revolution in the Driver’s Seat: The Road to Autonomous Vehicles, Boston Consulting Group

(BCG), 2015.

 Bertoncello M and Wee D 2015 Ten ways autonomous driving could redefine the

automotive world. McKinsey&Company http://www.mckinsey.com/industries/automotive-

andassembly/our-insights/ten-ways-autonomous-driving-could-redefine-the-automotive-

world

 Economic Commission for Europe, Inland Transport Committee, Convention on Road Traffic,

Vienna, 1968.

 Learner H 2016 Autonomous Vehicles: Ways to Improve Safety and Accelerate

Environmental Progress Together. Entelligent http://elpc.org/tag/autonomous-vehicles/

 https://medium.com/@ritidass29/5-key-challenges-faced-by-self-driving-cars-

ed04e969301e

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