Pictures of the Future    Fall 2007

Trouble-Free Travel

If only Steven Meyer had consulted his travel assistant earlier. Now he’s stuck in a traffic jam near a construction site. A sales director for energy-saving motors, Steven is en route from a suburb in Nuremberg, Germany, to a trade fair in Paris, France. His travel assistant, an intelligent application in his mobile phone, handled all the planning for his trip, from train and airline tickets to hotel reservations. And it also would have recommended an alternative route in time to avoid the traffic congestion, if Steven hadn’t turned it off. Now he’s about to miss his train to Frankfurt Airport. Steven calls up the software, which quickly informs him he’s going to be on time for his flight after all. "The flight will be delayed two hours," says a voice. "You can take a later train. I have booked it for you."

This scenario, which is entirely feasible using no more than current technology, could make traveling easy and carefree. But, due to the many connections between different forms of transportation, travel is often a journey into uncertainty. "The system transitions have to be designed for maximum fluidity, and networked in an integrated traffic management system for what’s called ‘inter-modal’ traffic," says Friedrich Moninger, head of Innovation Strategy at Siemens Transportation Systems. This would enable the electronic travel assistant of tomorrow to have at its disposal all relevant travel-related information, including arrivals, departures, delays, platform and airport gate numbers, as well as convenience services such as tourism tips or help with bargain-hunting.

Universal Ticket. Steven has arrived at the suburban commuter station, and his travel assistant directs him to the nearest empty parking space. It got this information from a parking management system developed by Siemens, which is already installed in many parking garages—for example in Munich, Toulouse, Oslo, and Singapore. An automated, driverless subway brings him to Nuremberg’s central rail station. Before boarding the high-speed ICE train to Frankfurt, Steven strolls through the station. Suddenly his electronic appointment planner reminds him to buy a birthday present for his wife, so he stops at a boutique. He likes the shop so much that he recommends it to friends by marking the establishment with "digital graffiti," a virtual note that "sticks" to the shop, remaining invisible to other passersby. But if one of Steven’s friends passes the store, his or her travel assistant will convey the original message left behind.

Regardless of how we travel in the future, everyone will find that traveling is much more comfortable and convenient. In the comfort of his or her home or office, anyone with a digital assistant—either in a mobile device or a personal computer—will be able to plan and book trips using all forms of transport. What’s more, a single electronic ticket will cover the entire trip. "Whenever possible, a trip should not require moving from building to building or from one level of terminal or station to another," says Moninger. "Ideally one ticket should suffice and the connections should be on time throughout the trip." Once inter-modal travel becomes available, the safety and security of passengers and freight will be ensured by fully automatic monitoring systems like those in airport and train stations. And in coming years, electronic bills of lading will allow freight not only to be easily transported across borders, but also located and identified any time using GPS. Many of these technologies are already in use today. Others, like the digital travel assistant and digital graffiti and electronic bill of lading have yet to be realized; but a standardized travel ticket might well be available soon.

You Forgot Your Suitcase! "Today’s information systems already do a lot, but problems will always arise if, for example, a train is delayed and essential information isn’t delivered dynamically—in other words, when and where it’s needed," explains Moninger. In terms of technology, navigation devices could be made smarter. But the problem is more a question of legal issues because someone must bear responsibility for the accuracy of the information. That’s the biggest problem with the majority of communication systems on the market today, which are characterized by a multitude of displays, formats and standards.

Steven places his suitcase to one side in the boutique. He is so engrossed with composing his digital graffiti note that he forgets his bag and walks away. Immediately, a smart camera equipped with Railprotect image analysis software from Siemens (already available) automatically detects the unattended luggage and even assigns it to its owner. The software continually compares the distances between people and pieces of luggage. If the maximum permitted distance is exceeded for a certain duration, which can be set as desired, the bag is considered unattended.

The system then sounds an alarm at a security control center and automatically arranges for the luggage to be removed if necessary. Automatic detection by means of software has become so sophisticated, that it can be used even in heavily frequented areas. The software is an element in Railcom Manager, a seamless network of information and monitoring systems with intelligent image recognition and a very high detection rate that has been installed in Hanover, Germany, and other locations. With its alarm management, incident management, and call center, the system enables security personnel to react to crisis situations with maximum speed.

Fortunately, Steven is a member of a travel service, where he has left his personal ID. So the neglected piece of luggage is clearly linked to him. His travel assistant receives a message and it, in turn, reminds Steven to retrieve his bag. Now, although he’s really got to hurry to the platform, Steven quickly finds the shortest route by using a newly developed augmented reality solution, which superimposes arrows in the correct perspective on a live image seen on the travel assistant, pointing to the destination. Such technologies, which can determine locations and perspectives based on a photo, are available now.

Once at the station platform, Steven boards the ICE. A further development of this high-speed train is the Velaro, the world’s fastest mass-produced train. It has been running between Madrid and Barcelona since May of 2007. Even when carrying half of its passenger capacity, the Velaro uses only about 2 l of gasoline per passenger seat and per 100 km, emitting two thirds less CO₂ than a typical airliner.

Steven is able to quickly find his seat with the help of his assistant, which uses WLAN positioning to determine where he is in the train. A friendly voice guides him in the right direction: "Now to the right, please." As soon as he is about three meters from his seat, the seat’s display greets him with the words, "Welcome Steven!" Then a greeting image appears, like those commonly seen in hotels, announcing the films and Internet radio stations that are available. Now Steven can read and sort his e-mails.

Standardized Rail System. Steven’s ticket, although tucked away in his jacket pocket, is automatically "punched" by means of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification). Now Steven can enjoy his trip to the airport at 300 km/h. His train is monitored by Trainguard ETCS (European Train Control System), the standard rail safety system throughout Europe. The system monitors the position, speed, and direction of travel of every individual train, ensuring maximum safety, and shorter intervals between trains. Backed by all this technology it’s not surprising that Steven reaches the airport on time.

ETCS is the standard rail control and safety system for Europe, and it already is in use on a number of routes, for example Madrid-Barcelona, Amsterdam to the Belgian border, and between Halle and Leipzig. At the airport, Steven’s travel assistant is again guiding him, this time directly to his boarding gate. The flight ticket is checked without contact. As a registered frequent flyer, Steven needs only to place his index finger on a fingerprint scanner. Aboard the plane, he takes his seat and is served his favorite drink.

And there’s no cause for concern regarding the goods to be exhibited at the trade fair. Thanks to a Vicos CM cargo management system installed at the Hamburg South rail station, the exhibits departed on time and are safely on their way. "One of the most formidable challenges in freight transport is to create a uniform, electronic bill of lading for all transport systems and countries—a system that can overcome technical and regulatory obstacles," says Moninger. Effective control of the global flow of transport requires overarching logistics management combined with GPS tracking and the ability to identify a freight shipment and provide its up-to-the-minute position. Electronic bills of lading are being called for by security authorities in the United States, which want to know exactly what is in each container. The European Rail Agency (ERA) is responsible for uniformity throughout the EU. "This task includes ensuring the uniformity of technologies that form the basis of freight hubs, where goods can be transferred back and forth between different forms of transport, including ships, trains, trucks, and aircraft," says Moninger.

Millions of kilometers of travel take a toll on trains, which must be repaired or replaced without affecting passenger service. This is why Siemens and rail operators are concentrating on preventing predictable down time and adjusting logistics processes accordingly. The key is prevention by means of remote diagnostics. In this connection, Siemens has developed a system for supplying replacement parts that is based on predicted maintenance measures.

Such a system was realized for the more than 160 Siemens Eurosprinter ES 64s used by several European rail companies. Here, for example, if a train’s remote fault-monitoring system announces that "The filters will need to be replaced after the next 5,000 km," the replacement parts system automatically locates the site where the replacement parts are stored and determines the best place for exchanging the filters, without detours if possible. The system also notifies service technicians and commissions a logistics service provider to supply the parts at the replacement site on time.

The remainder of Steven’s trip to Paris proceeds according to plan. Despite traffic congestion, Steven quickly reaches the exhibition center in Chatelet-Les-Halles. He takes Metro Line 14, a driverless train built by Siemens, which departs every 105 seconds during peak hours. His containers with their energy-saving motors have arrived on schedule, and the rail-airline connections went smoothly.

It remains to be seen when, or if, such enhanced, integrated transportation with customer-friendly services will become a reality. But one thing is clear: The technologies to make it happen are here today. "Networking of services and different modes of transportation is absolutely necessary if we want to make transport in densely populated regions more convenient, punctual, environmentally friendly, and as efficient as possible," concludes Moninger.
                                                                                                 Harald Hassenmüller