Frost & Sullivan Movers & Shakers Interview with CEO of Advanced Transport Systems Ltd (June 2006)
“Our objective is to provide the ideal form of urban transport for the 21st century” says Martin Lowson during an interview with Nick Ford, Senior Consultant, Frost & Sullivan Automotive and Transportation Group.
Whilst sitting with Martin in his home enjoying a spectacular view of the Bristol Suspension Bridge it is easy to see why people see him following in the steps of Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Before founding Advanced Transport Systems Ltd in 1995 Martin’s career was in the aerospace industry, both in the USA where he worked on the Apollo space programme and in the UK, where he was Chief Scientist and Director of Corporate Development at Westland Helicopters and then the Sir George White Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Bristol. Martin was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 1991.
Of himself Martin says “I am an engineer. Engineers solve problems and the problem I set myself was that of providing better transport in towns and cities.”
In this interview Martin talks candidly about the potential role that his ULTra (Urban Light Transport) system can play in providing an affordable, environmentally acceptable urban transport solution. ULTra has been developed to provide an alternative to buses and trains. The ULTra system is an innovative form of PRT (Personal Rapid Transit). It is a system of driverless automatic pods travelling at a speed of up to 25 mph on their own guide-way network, available on demand to passengers.
Recently BAA has elected to build a pilot ULTra link at Heathrow. The planned route is from the N3 passenger car park to the new Terminal 5. The route provides 4.2 km of track and will carry 18 vehicles. The system will connect into the Multi Storey Car Park at T5 to provide a station at the entrance to the Terminal. It will open for carrying passengers in Summer 2008 following the opening of T5 in March 2008.
Many other organisations are evaluating the benefits of ULTra, including cities and airports worldwide.
Nick Ford (N.F.): What is your vision of a future urban transport system?
Martin Lowson (M.L.): Transport does change. If you look back in time, change has occurred roughly every 100 years or so and one may well argue that we are overdue for a change. In the 1700s canals were the exciting new form of transport, but these were superseded by the introduction of the railways in the 1800s, which were in turn displaced by the car-road system in the 1900s. It is certain that there will be another change during this century. The question is will change occur early in the century or late? If we exploit the computer based technologies which are available to us today in an appropriate way, then I believe we can offer the benefits of new transport solutions like ULTra earlier rather than later.
N.F.: Why do you believe that ULTra is the ideal solution?
M.L.: The ULTra system was conceived and designed to provide the best possible form of urban transport for the 21st century. Analysis shows that people want something which is available on demand, immediately when they want it, and takes them where they want to go, without stopping. In congested towns and cities ULTra can do this better than the car and far better than current forms of public transport. Almost everybody who has seen or analysed the prototype ULTra system agrees with us. As the Lord Mayor of Cardiff said “ Isn’t it nice to find public transport which is waiting for you rather than you waiting for it”.
N.F.: And how will it compare on cost and environmental grounds?
M.L.: Ticket prices for ULTra are the same as existing forms of public transport. A recently commissioned study concluded that for a larger scale operation ULTra would offer 40 per cent lower operating costs than buses at the same time as providing a 60 per cent saving in passenger travel time. These are significant benefits.
The cost of building the guideways is also much less than for conventional roads because of the small scale of the system. We use less than one sixth of the resources.
Environmentally, ULTra vehicles are designed to be zero emission. The overall energy usage of the system offers a factor 2 or 3 saving compared to cars and buses.
N.F.: What technology does ULTra utilise and what are the challenges you face in implementing it?
M.L.: Although I was a rocket scientist I can assure you that there is no rocket science in ULTra. This is a new solution not a new technology. A rule in the project has been to use no more technology than necessary and off the shelf components wherever possible. This makes the system simple, reliable and low cost. The vehicles use battery electric propulsion providing an average of 2KW of motive power and are self guided using laser sensors and an on board computer system. The structure of the vehicle is designed to be light weight and to have enough interior space to carry 4 people with luggage comfortably. The ULTra system has been designed to allow the continuous safe flow of vehicles under the highest demand conditions and has been accepted for carrying passengers by the HM Rail Inspectorate. There are no threats to the implementation of ULTra from a technology or production standpoint.
N.F.: Since ATS was set up what would you say has been your biggest challenge?
M.L.: In the end it is people’s fear of the unfamiliar that has been and continues to be the biggest challenge. To move ULTra into the public domain we have to deal with local council authorities who have long timescales for decisions which are quite mismatched to the budgets of small companies As elected bodies they are naturally risk averse. I have a long line of potential customers who are really desperate to be second! That’s why we are so glad to have BAA committed to the first implementation.
N.F.: Who are ATS?
M.L.: Advanced Transport Systems was formed in 1995 as a spin out company from the University of Bristol to develop the ULTra system. Since that time ATS has attracted over £20 million of investment. Today ATS has an engineering focus, our main tasks are systems development and integration, both for the vehicles and the infrastructure. One thing we are all very proud of at ATS is that, to date, we have met every milestone to time and delivered every project on cost. We are continuing in this vein with the BAA programme which is on track due to the excellent joint effort of the BAA and ATS teams.
N.F.: ATS Ltd has a number of strategic partners, who are they and what roles will they play in your future success?
M.L.: You could say that the existence of ATS and the ULTra system is the result of enlightened government policy through the contract support that has been provided by the DTI, DfT and at a critical stage NESTA (The National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts). Other long term associates are ARUP, Altran, Corus, Atos Origin, Amec and Serco, and last year BAA made a £7.5 million investment in ATS in return for a 25% equity share in association with their commitment to installation of a system at Heathrow.
N.F.: Can you describe the effect that the BAA commitment has had and how this will benefit both ATS and the future success of the ULTra system?
M.L.: With a “shop window” system being installed at Heathrow we expect that this will address the fears about ULTra so that many of the other interested organisations in the “race to be second” will decide to be in the “race to be next”. Mike Clasper CEO of BAA said “PRT offers an opportunity, to both improve the local environment and to provide better service and quality for our passengers.” As evidenced by their investment BAA believe the ULTra PRT solution is well positioned to lead the world.
Success for ULTra will create a new industry. This is certainly needed as we witness the failure of existing urban transport policies and the increasingly desperate need for an alternative solution.
N.F.: What political and social changes do you believe are necessary for a more radical solution such as ULTra to be considered by national and local governments?
M.L.: Everyone is an expert in transport since everyone experiences its problems every day but I don’t think that social or political change is necessarily the answer. I have noticed that transport is a matter of fashion. A few years ago light rail was the fashion, at the moment buses are the fashion and I have no doubt that as bus schemes fail to deliver PRT will become the fashion in the near future.
Recently leading city planners in the UK and the USA (Sir Peter Hall and Peter Calthorpe) have said that they believe that future city transport solutions will be PRT based. Support from such notable people is a strong endorsement of the value of our approach. These influences will inevitably impact on government policies over the coming years.
N.F.: Will an ULTra system still provide the option for people to own their own vehicles, if so how will compatibility with the ULTra system be achieved?
M.L.: There is a long term development plan to provide dual mode vehicles capable of driving on conventional roads. People will be able to own such vehicles. The specification of a dual mode vehicle will be different because it also has to meet the requirement for travel on existing urban roads, but we have designed the ULTra system to be able to accommodate these vehicles. People using this option will be able to rent their vehicle to the system when it is not in use, or have it automatically parked.
N.F.: What role do you believe the car will play in future urban transport solutions?
M.L.: Privately owned cars will be around for many years to come but will become less prominent for urban journeys. To provide a total transport solution you need many different forms of transport that are interlinked. What we are proposing with ULTra can make both public transport and cars more effective. For example, ULTra provides an excellent service to and from park and ride sites and makes longer distance bus routes more attractive by providing a networked link into city centres.
However, the car is choking itself to death in towns and cities. I think it has peaked as a form of transport for these types of journeys. Even with the effort being put into designing “city friendly” cars they still use road space and there simply isn’t enough, so although they will be around for many years to come, more cars will not solve the urban transport problem.
N.F.: How effective do you believe current policies for improving urban transport based on congestion charging, increased use of public transport and car sharing schemes are likely to be?
M.L.: These policies run into many difficulties because they require people to change their travel behaviour, which they are likely to be very reluctant to do. We have built cities around the car for 50 years and now we are surprised that people actually need cars to get around cities. You can’t un-build all that overnight.
N.F.: When do you believe we will see an ULTra system deployed in our cities?
M.L.: It is likely that the first pilot systems will be deployed before the end of this decade, although not necessarily in the UK. To achieve this people need to be more aware of the advantages of PRT. There has been a growing urban transport problem for 50 years. During that time we have spent hundreds of millions to try to solve it by conventional approaches and none of them have worked, so we have no choice now but to allow unconventional approaches to be considered. Maybe there is a better solution than ULTra but it is certainly not buses and trams.
N.F.: Is the substantial investment that has been made and continues to be made in ULTra and ATS Ltd going to pay back, if so when do you believe this will be?
M.L.: There has already been substantial payback in terms of the increase in value of our company assets and ATS has always been cash positive. We have aggressive growth plans which will require additional investment. Currently we are looking at new trade investors as well as the possibility of an IPO.
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Contact Magdalena Oberland, Corporate Communications, Frost & Sullivan, +44 (0) 20 7915 7876, magdalena.oberland@frost.com