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Ford Motor Company has been active in the analysis and implementation of Dial-A-Ride, a form of public transportation in which door-to-door service is provided with a fleet of small vehicles operating in a shared-riding mode. A Dial-A-Ride system design methodology has been developed, a task which has revealed the nature of the modeling process for complex transportation systems. This methodology has been used successfully to design Dial-A-Ride systems currently operating in several cities. A discussion of this process as applied to Dial-A-Ride research is presented here. Several stages in the modeling process are identified. The analyst's knowledge of the system, his information needs, and the modeling technique chosen to satisfy these needs are described for each stage. A city for which Dial-A-Ride has been proposed is analyzed to illustrate each stage in the design methodology.

In recent years, many papers have dealt with the demand responsive bus system as a promising new transportation system for urban and suburban areas. In this paper, the authors show the algorithms of a demand bus system that is able to control trips from many origins to many destinations and their simulation techniques. A case study of this system in a newly developed Japanese residential area is illustrated. From an investigation of the case study results, this system seems to be applicable. The authors have developed a digital, fully automatic communication and control system and a bus body design for the implementation of demand bus service. An outline is described in the latter part of the paper.

The feasibility of a demand responsive bus system for Oakland University is analyzed and the recommended plan is presented. Oakland is an isolated campus, located approximately 25 miles north of Detroit, between Rochester and Pontiac, in a relatively low population density area. The University is primarily a commuter institution, with almost 100% of its 5000 commuter students traveling to the campus in personal automobiles. There is no form of public transportation serving the University, except the personal taxi. Oakland's policy is to construct parking lots to accommodate the high commuter volume. As early as 1976, the University will have to consider building parking structures to keep the lots within a reasonable walking distance from the center of campus. This paper examines an alternative mode of transportation for Oakland.

Results of previous SAE drivers' eye-location studies have been used to develop a fixed seat eyellipse and contours that describe drivers' head locations. Centroid data from these and other eye-location studies are used as a means of locating the SAE eyellipse according to seat back angle. Part I comprises the discussion of these data. Studies recently completed provided data on drivers' eye locations for varied vehicle packages ranging from sports cars to heavy trucks. The results are summarized in Part II as a series of tables, which include statistical definitions of tangent cutoff eyellipses. Part III of this report describes a method for positioning a fixed seat eyellipse according to seat back angle. A method is also shown for measuring headroom relative to seat back angle.

Cyclopean eye positions of a small selected sample of drivers were measured relative to vehicle reference points while they performed usual driving activities in several late model vehicles. One vehicle was modified to obtain enhanced lateral and rear visibility. Results indicate that 1) during driving eye position shifts substantially to the rear of static eye position, 2) shoulder belts restrict eye excursions even during straight ahead driving, 3) a periscopic type mirror eliminates eye position shift and reduces variability during lane changes when compared to standard rear vision devices, 4) there is no consistent change in eye position over extended periods of driving, and 5) driving environment does not significantly affect average eye position.

The development of a procedure to evaluate the driver's ability to identify and attach meaning to automotive control identification symbols is outlined, together with the test results of Step I of a three-step procedure. The use of a standardized test methodology is essential in arriving at any standard set of symbols which are expected to have a high potential for immediate understanding by the driving population.

The history and technical background of the Subcommittee Human Factors Engineering Committee on Control Identification of the SAE is reviewed. Recommendations are presented for a proposed SAE Information Report on Recommended Practice on Identification of Controls for Passenger Cars, with particular emphasis on guidelines for the development of new identifications.

This paper reports an analysis of the degree of control/display (C/D) standardization in location, operation, and coding characteristics for 1971 automobiles. For C/D location commonality, between-manufacturer and within-manufacturer and between-car-type designs were compared. For operation and coding analysis, a selected group of C/D was used. With 90% of domestic and 76% of imported cars surveyed, a great variability of C/D designs was found for all three measures. The second part of the study experimentally evaluated four alternate control concepts for passenger car three-beam headlight systems.

A dual-catalyst-equipped test vehicle, containing Monel catalysts for the reduction of oxides of nitrogen followed by platinum oxidation catalysts, has controlled emissions of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and oxides of nitrogen to levels of 8.0, 0.4, and 0.8 g/mile, respectively, using the single-bag 1972 federal test procedure. The Monel catalyst was fabricated in a low-mass, high-surface-area, open-mesh structure. The low mass contributed to rapid warmup of both the reduction and oxidation catalysts. The high geometric surface area permitted efficient conversion of all three pollutants simultaneously when the vehicle was operated only slightly richer than stoichiometric. As a result the amount of oxidation required of the platinum catalyst was greatly reduced. The durability of Monel is a major problem.

There are in the world about 20 different surface effect vehicles powered by gas turbines, but the bulk of engine operating experience has come from three of them-the British Hovercraft Corp.'s SRN 4 and SRN 5, and the Bell SK 5. Engine problems in all three craft have stemmed from the ingestion of foreign objects, including ice, sand, and salt spray. This paper describes these problems and the steps that have been taken to solve them.

Exhaust emission of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PNA) and of phenols has been studied with a variety of test fuels, using cyclic tests in five vehicles-including one without emission control (NC), two with engine modification (EM) control, and two with experimental very low emission systems. The experimental systems both reduced phenol emission to less than 0.5% and PNA emission to about 1% of the levels observed in the NC vehicle. Phenols were reduced 30% by one EM vehicle, but not by the other; while PNA emissions were reduced by 70% in both EM vehicles. Fuel composition influenced emissions both directly and through engine deposits. Direct effects included increased phenol emission from increased fuel aromatics and, generally, increased PNA emission from increased fuel aromatics, from increased fuel PNA, and from the presence of a high-boiling naphtha.

Automobiles in rental service are hard used and need quality inspection for the safety and comfort of rental agency customers. Employee training is only partially successful. An automobile inspection machine combining man and machine capabilities to match the defined goals and limitations of rental car inspection is described. Machine and driver combine to check 22 items including lights, tire pressure, tread depth, horn, brake function, radio, windshield wipers and washers, heater, gas tank, cleanliness, etc.

A study has been made of motor vehicle driver environment in order to determine the most desirable design features and the optimum grouping of electrical controls conducive with minimum conscious thought and physical effort in location and operation under any given set of conditions. Consideration is given to the psychological aspects of control operating noise level and action “feel,” to styling and standardization of layout with the ultimate objective of driver fatigue reduction, and to a worthwhile contribution in road safety improvement.

The Army diagnostic equipment program for the support of automotive material is presented. Three generations of equipment will be discussed: the first generation is a family of computer-controlled automatic test equipment for automatic diagnosis of a complete vehicle; in the second generation, a transducer kit will be permanently installed on board the vehicles with provision for rapid connection to the computer; the third generation will be an on-board go/no-go system to indicate the condition of major components (no external test equipment required).

This paper presents an automotive service concept developed by Volkswagenwerk AG, Service Division. It is based on the knowledge that the complex tasks of automotive service can best be solved by coordinating the development of products and service methods, and that automotive service should be viewed as an integrated system of various “subactivities,” with each one being optimized to increase the efficiency of the overall system. Vehicle diagnosis is such a subactivity. A new data logging and processing system as a major step toward the implementation of an integrated automotive service system is described.

The feasibility of a simple-cycle gas turbine engine for automobiles is analyzed by means of comparison with Otto-cycle engines for automobiles. Applicable technology is reviewed with emphasis on centrifugal compressor technology, which has demonstrated pressure ratios of better than 10:1. The design point of a simple-cycle 150 hp automobile engine based on these components is presented, together with estimated torque and fuel-flow characteristics for the entire range of possible engine performance, derived from engine-cycle analysis programs. The results of a vehicle performance computer program designed to evaluate candidates for this application include time/speed/distance performance estimates for maximum acceleration as well as fuel economy and emissions estimates for pertinent driving cycles. Summaries of manufacturing cost estimates are presented for several candidate gas turbine engines.

The intent of this paper is to put into proper perspective the relationships among the vehicle, the thermodynamic cycle, and the combustion process as they relate to exhaust emissions from a gas turbine-powered passenger car. The influence of such factors as car size, installed power, regeneration, and other cycle variables on level road load fuel economy, and on the production of oxides of nitrogen and carbon monoxide, are examined. In limited checks against experimental data, the mathematical model of the combustor used in this study has proved to be a reliable indicator of emission trends. The calculated emission levels are not final, however, with deficiencies subject to improvement as new combustor concepts are developed.

In preparation for the California Steam Bus Project, diesel-powered city buses were road-tested over two contrasting routes (driving cycles). Special instrumentation was used to continuously monitor distance, speed, acceleration, road gradient, and engine rpm. From these data, profiles of power requirements were derived, together with cumulative values of propulsive and braking energy. The driving cycles were characterized by statistical distribution functions of key variables.

Basic stress-strain principles of elasticity theory are related to elastic strains that could occur in metals and alloys. The equated relationships are expressed as a function of the diffraction line shift that occurs because of a variation in the spacing d of the atomic planes in a crystalline material that is due to applied or residual stress. This fractional change in d is a strain from which stress can be calculated and which can be determined by the change of angular position of a diffracted x-ray beam.

Lead vinyl coated fabrics, new composite vinyl films, and molding compounds have been developed that have application as flexible sound barriers in transportation and recreational equipment. The material consisting of fine lead particles disbursed in PVC compounds for coating, casting films, extrusion, injection molding, thermal form sheets, and rotational casting combines the high mass of lead and the properties and formability of vinyl. These composites provide a limp high mass sound barrier material.