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Phileas (public transport)
Encyclopedia
Bus rapid transit
Bus rapid transit is a term applied to a variety of public transportation systems using buses to provide faster, more efficient service than an ordinary bus line. Often this is achieved by making improvements to existing infrastructure, vehicles and scheduling...
, developed by Samenwerkingsverband Regio Eindhoven (SRE), Netherlands, along with some other companies for the Cooperation Foundation Eindhoven Region (most prominently; APTS and Bombardier). It is an advanced guided bus
Guided bus
Guided buses are buses steered for part or all of their route by external means, usually on a dedicated track. This track, which often parallels existing roads, excludes other traffic, permitting the maintenance of reliable schedules on heavily used corridors even during rush hours.Guidance systems...
intended to deliver tram-like public transport at a very low cost: the infrastructure is much cheaper, because of less maintenance, and there are no rails and overhead lines
Overhead lines
Overhead lines or overhead wires are used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains at a distance from the energy supply point...
. The biggest feature of the bus is the recharging of the battery by means of electromagnetic induction
Electromagnetic induction
Electromagnetic induction is the production of an electric current across a conductor moving through a magnetic field. It underlies the operation of generators, transformers, induction motors, electric motors, synchronous motors, and solenoids....
; which means that the battery can be made much smaller, and thus less heavy and environmentally damaging. The project was created in the late 1990s; there was a wish to demonstrate the high technology level and technical knowledge in the Eindhoven area and to create jobs. The project has cost more than one billion of euros, including infrastructure changes.
Origin of name
Phileas is called after Phileas FoggPhileas Fogg
Phileas Fogg is the main fictional character in the 1873 Jules Verne novel Around the World in Eighty Days.Fogg attempts to circumnavigate the late Victorian world in eighty days, or less, for a wager of £20,000 with members of London's Reform Club. He takes the wager and leaves with Passepartout,...
, the protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
in Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne
Jules Verne
Jules Gabriel Verne was a French author who pioneered the science fiction genre. He is best known for his novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea , A Journey to the Center of the Earth , and Around the World in Eighty Days...
because of the high speed and ability to be on time.
Navigation
The Phileas mainly drives on a bus laneBus lane
A bus lane or bus only lane is a lane restricted to buses, and generally used to speed up public transport that would be otherwise held up by traffic congestion...
. The navigation consists of a pre-programmed route, which is verified by using magnets built into the road. The used technique FROG assures that the buses are able to drive automatically, though a driver is always present - the budget prevented the Phileas from being completely separated from ordinary traffic, so a driver is needed under Dutch law.
For some years the regional authority for urban transport in Eindhoven (SRE) decided not to use the magnetic guidance system any more.
Safety
The computer system inside the Phileas buses is designed according to Safety Integrity LevelSafety Integrity Level
Safety Integrity Level is defined as a relative level of risk-reduction provided by a safety function, or to specify a target level of risk reduction. In simple terms, SIL is a measurement of performance required for a Safety Instrumented Function ....
SIL-4. It controls the vehicle's speed and direction and has a triple-redundant
Redundancy (engineering)
In engineering, redundancy is the duplication of critical components or functions of a system with the intention of increasing reliability of the system, usually in the case of a backup or fail-safe....
, fail-safe
Fail-safe
A fail-safe or fail-secure device is one that, in the event of failure, responds in a way that will cause no harm, or at least a minimum of harm, to other devices or danger to personnel....
architecture. This means that one system consists of three single-board computer
Single-board computer
A single-board computer is a complete computer built on a single circuit board, with microprocessor, memory, input/output and other features required of a functional computer. Unlike a typical personal computer, an SBC may not include slots into which accessory cards may be plugged...
s in a 2-out-of-3 configuration. Each is installed in a different place in the bus, so as to avoid a complete system failure in case of a vehicle collision. Every single computer obtains data from all sensors via two CAN bus connections and compares them with the other two computers' results. As soon as data are different, the bus is switched off and the entire system goes into safe state, which means that the bus stops and opens its doors.
License
On November 3, 2005 a license & technology transfer agreement was signed between Advanced Public Transport Systems (APTS) and the Korea Railroad Research Institute (KRRI). KRRI develops the Korean version of Phileas vehicle by May 2011.In December 2009, APTS, the manufacturer of the Phileas Tram, signed a contract with Ballard Fuel Cells of Vancouver to supply zero emission engines for the Phileas.
The Phileas Trams are in successful operation in The Netherlands, France, Turkey and Korea, and under construction in Israel.
Challenges of the Metrobus project in Istanbul
Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality purchased 50 Phileas bi-articulated trams for the Metrobus (Istanbul)Metrobus (Istanbul)
Metrobus is the name of the bus rapid transit system implemented and operated in İstanbul, Turkey. The name Metrobüs was coined by the transit agency to suggest that this system is a hybrid between a metro train and a bus...
project. Due to overcrowding on the trams (as many as 300 passengers were being crammed into Trams designed for 185), and the hilly terrain of Istanbul, the Phileas bus needed modifications to the axles. The changes were made to accommodate the higher passenger traffic. Today the Phileas Trams run at over 90% operational efficiency, an extremely high efficiency for the industry.
External links
- Photographs of Phileas buses
- www.apts-phileas.com
- PhileasNews
- Ballard Power of Vancouver signs with APTS to power Phileas Trams