Smart Driverless Public Transportation Plan of Guangzhou
One route that poses the needs and opens up the opportunity for application of GRT system in Guangzhou is the connection of its central city’s Tianhe District to its most eastern Conghua District. The Municipal Government has farsightedly put in place a comprehensive plan and been undertaking the construction of new regional roads and subway MRT lines eastwards (and north-eastwards), including for example, MRT Lines 6, 14 and 21 to the Knowledge City and other parts of Luogang District. Serving the transportation need of the towns and villages along the routes, the roads and MRT lines have beneficially and necessarily incorporated multiple stops and some detours along their routes. This can be augmented by a bypass GRT linkage involving shorter time for direct travels from the city center to Conghua and other parts of Guangzhou’s eastern tourism zone. Such a flexible-travel supplementary linkage should best be planned with minimum impact on existing developments of the city while tapping on the beauty of the eastern tourism zone, at the same time closing the capacity gap of the subway MRT lines and roads which are being planned and undergoing construction. In view of the traditional difficulties faced in the construction of new roads, and with reference to the main smart public transportation systems that are now increasingly being explored internationally, it is proposed to adopt GRT as a fast-track supplementary public transportation modality for Guangzhou’s eastern tourism region. The first dedicated route proposed is that linking Conghua District to Guangzhou’s Centre/Tianhe District, traversing via the five tourism destinations of Hualu Hill, Tianlu Lake, Maofeng Hill, Knowledge City and Conghua’s Spa Town (as demarcated by the green line in Fig 3 and Fig 6). This can in due course be expanded into an effective supplementary future public transport system, with full consideration given to well-conceived linkages to the subway MRT networks connections via aptly-positioned GRT/MRT interexchange stations for efficient public travels within each of the connected regions.
Smart Driverless Public Transportation Plan of Guangzhou
Constructing GRT systems to ease traffic congestion is an innovative step in the progressive development and maturation process of the application of smart driverless automation-guided technology.
The initial section of this proposed GRP route to be considered is that connecting Knowledge City to Tianhe North Central District (demarcated by the continuous bright green line in Fig 6). At Knowledge City, this GRP will be linked to the Knowledge City Subway MRT Line (branch of Subway MRT Line 14, shown in light grey in Fig 6) via an interchange at Knowledge City MRT Station. From Knowledge City, it will be routed directly towards Phase II Tianhe Section of Huanan Expressway (the rear entrance of South China Botanical Garden), and then bifurcates towards two separate destinations, viz the Tianhe Coach Terminal Station via North-Ring Expressway and the Guangzhou East Station via Guangyuan Expressway. Within the Knowledge City itself, passengers will travel by the Knowledge City Subway MRT Line (now under construction along Jiulong Road), which will in turn be linked to the Baiyun Airport, Zhenlong and various parts of the Eastern Guangzhou City via the connecting subway MRT lines. The functional complement between the direct GRP Line (involving few quick destinations) and the subway MRT networks (encompassing comprehensive coverage) will mutually enhance the investment economy, usage efficiency and facility design rationality of both systems. In addition to providing needed coverage and travel flexibility of the population, this GRP/MRT configuration will facilitate high-efficiency usage of the underground space along the Knowledge City Subway MRT Line and also strengthen the efficacy of Knowledge City as the core for propagating future development of the Eastern New City Hub. These routes fundamentally avoid the major power lines, houses, schools, factories and lands under designated plans (other than some appropriate adjustments needed for the Longdong area).
Along this route, the CongHua – Knowledge Ctiy – Huolu Hill section passes through mainly green aesthetic landscapes, while the section after entering Huanan Expressway opens up to clear broad and long views, looking far towards the Tianhe District, Pearl River New City, and other major landmarks. It is pervaded by an invigorating sightseeing atmosphere. And it will be Guangzhou’s first dedicated public transport route featuring special tourism interests, as well as a supplementary access serving the public transport needs from Guangzhou’s city center traversing the entire eastern tourism zone. Significantly, this focuses well on resolving the public transport challenges of the city’s tourism as well as enhancing the public transport efficiency essential for the smooth implementation of Guangzhou’s Eastern Expansion Strategy. In turns, it also effectively clears the over-intensification of people movements and traffic distribution of Guangzhou City’s trunk roads. This will help enable the effective realization of Guangzhou’s long-term urban development strategy in optimizing its distribution layouts and overall development coordination.
At a later stage in tandem with the expectedly rapid growth of the eastern townships and population nodes, this dedicated GRP Line can be augmented by local GRT/PRT circuits within each of the townships (such as the Knowledge City) and population nodes. These local GRT/PRT circuits will naturally have to be planned and implemented in integration with the township landscape (for aesthetic harmony) and its local transportation (for seamless interface).
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At the Guangzhou City centre, the GRP Line will connect up Guangzhou East Railway & MRT Station and Tianhe Coach Terminal & MRT Station. In between these city centre’s stations and Knowledge City MRT Station, it will link up Huolu Hill Park North Gate, Tianlu Lake Park East Gate, and Maofeng Hill South Gate. Future extension beyond the Knowledge City will further connect up to Conghua’s Spa town (as demarcated in dotted green line in Fig 3 and Fig 6). The planning of this GRT route takes into consideration not only the diffusion of traffic congestion, but also their functional suitability and practicality, including their locations and connectivity to complement the transit bus routes and subway MRT networks. The GRT station locations in the current proposal has also taken into consideration the preliminary assessments of construction spaces, the required steady traffic volumes to be catered, and the needs for transport interchanges to facilitate distribution and collation of passengers through the subway MRT network. The specifics of station designs, traffic connection, passengers volume forecasting and other details will be addressed in the comprehensive in-depth project works which will be further guided by analysis of passenger activities and traffic flows. This route traverses the green tourism zone between the two major transportation interchanges of city center and Conghua District.
