Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Technical Review Vol. 53 No. 3 (September 2016)
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AGT: New TOD Solution for Urban Transportation Issues

Masahisa Masukawa*1

Hidekazu Ono*2

In many of the cities around the world with problems such as traffic congestion, theintroduction and promotion of public transportation based on TOD (Transit OrientedDevelopment) has been planned. In many cases, however, planners have come up against theproblem of high construction costs arising from securing land, and the introduction and promotionof public transportation has not gone smoothly. Existing AGT (Automated Guideway Transit)
systems in cities feature good harmony with the cities due to their high environmental and running
performances, and can be retrofitted to a city using urban spaces ranging from underground toelevated guideways. By anticipating the needs of the transportation system in a future city, MHI
realized a transportation volume 60% larger than that of the domestic conventional system andelevated the maximum speed to 120 km/h to provide a train type mix that can cope with expanded
application areas in the field of urban transportation. We will introduce our AGT as an urbantransportation solution for a new age to cities around the world.

|1. Introduction
TOD stands for Transit Oriented Development, and in Japan, it is known as public
transportation-oriented urban development. The concept of TOD was proposed in 1991 by U.S.
urban planner Peter Calthorpe. It denotes the development of a city based on compact spaceformation with a station located at the city center to encourage a modal shift from dependence on
automobiles to the use of public transportation. TOD is defined as having the following elements1:- Walkable Area development- Encouraging the use of environmentally-sustainable mobility such as bicycles- Create dense road networks with streets and alleys- Area development near high-quality public transportation- Multipurpose, multi-application land use- Optimization of population density and transportation capacity of public transportation- Create a compact community for short commuting time
- Promotion of environmentally-sustainable mobility by regulating parking lots or roads
In overpopulated cities in Asia, the traffic congestion and environmental issues caused byroad traffic are social problems, and with TOD as the keyword, the promotion of the use of public
transportation and the redevelopment of areas around stations associated with the introduction ofpublic transportation have been active in recent years. Especially in Tokyo, where the railway
transportation network is already developed and people's dependence on automobiles fortransportation has decreased, is regarded as a successful example of TOD and is attracting attention
as an advanced TOD city.

*1

Land Transportation Systems & Components Division, Commercial Aviation & Transportation Systems*2

Deputy Director, Innovative Business Development Department, Commercial Aviation & Transportation Systems

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Technical Review Vol. 53 No. 3 (September 2016)18|2. Points at issue on TOD(1)

Two points of view on TOD
TOD has been studied and discussed from two points of view: the perspective of Peter
Calthorpe who developed the concept of TOD, and that of Ichizo Kobayashi, the founder of theHankyu Railway Corporation, who is regarded as a pioneer of the Japanese private railway
business. But in some cases, these two points of view miss the point of the argument because of
their differences. Both points of view aim at developing a public transportation-oriented city
but their motives are different. Figure 1 shows the differences in the two points of view.

Figure 1

Two points of view on TOD

The perspective of Peter Calthorpe is on urban planning. The target of his study is theplanning of a compact city with a station at the center, where the feasibility of public
transportation businesses using the station as a source of passengers is not considered. In
addition, the motive of the study is the proposal of a sustainable living environment while
encouraging the modal shift from automobile to walking or an environmentally-friendly modesuch as bicycles and the use of public transportation such as railways. TOD is sometimes
explained as “to realize a compact city with a station located at the center,” and many
developer discussions on TOD are made with the theme of the development of areas aroundstations. These are considered to be based on Calthorpe’s point of view.
Ichizo Kobayashi’s perspective is on securing the business feasibility of a railway line
connecting station to station. Discussion from Calthorpe’s perspective focuses on a “point,”
which is a station, while discussion from Kobayashi’s perspective focuses on the “flow line” ofpassenger demand, which connects one “point” to another “point,” aiming at expanding andmaximizing the feasibility of the railway business in conjunction with the planning of a city
around a railway line. From the point of view of a private railway company that acquires
passengers and operates its business with earnings from passenger fares, they realized thestable securement of passenger demand by providing workers with the means to commute to
the workplace in the city. Needless to say, when a railway company uses TOD as a method for
securing sustainable business, it would be necessary to study things from this perspective.
(2) Background of success in the private railway business model
The private railway business model implemented by Ichizo Kobayashi of Hankyu
Railway is well known – even overseas – as a successful precedent case of TOD in Japan. It
was intended to develop and secure passenger demand through the extension of railway lines
connected with the development of residential land, support for the acquisition of housing
through home mortgages, the setting up of customer attraction facilities such as amusement
parks, the integration of station and commercial facilities such as department stores, etc. It isconsidered that behind the success of this model are the conditions such as the drift of thepopulation to the suburban area of cities allowed by the increase in the household income
associated with economic growth, the development of residential land along the line foraccommodating people moving into the area and the transportation conditions where therailway was only means for commuting to the place of work in the central urban area.
Commuting of workers to the locations of agglomeration economies is an important passenger
demand of railway companies. Figure 2 shows the number of transit passengers at private
railway stations travelling from the Tokyo suburbs to central Tokyo based on the investigation
results of the 11th transportation census of large cities conducted by the Ministry of Land,Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Technical Review Vol. 53 No. 3 (September 2016)
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Infrastructure and Transport (MLIT). At the major transfer stations, the number of transit
passengers is decreasing, but the number of passengers travelling to central Tokyo isincreasing. This shows that demand for passengers moving to central Tokyo provide substantial
support for the business feasibility of railway lines.

Figure 2

Number of transit passengers at stations on Tokyo inbound lines|3. TOD in the modern age(1)

TOD-focused urban development in Asian cities
For cities faced with urban environmental issue such as traffic congestion, theintroduction of public transportation based on TOD is recognized as an effective measure. In
cases where TOD is implemented following successful examples, the first thing to do is tosecure land for the introduction of public transportation, but in actuality, the acquisition of landentails difficulties, and TOD cannot be realized as planned. Especially in Asian cities, as theincome level increases, the penetration of automobiles and motorcycles increases, and then theshortage of road capacity becomes serious. To relieve the traffic congestion, investments inroad infrastructure have been continued as the usual practice.
Studies on the introduction of railway transportation start when environmental issues
become obvious as a social problem. When such studies are started, however, the land isalready filled with structures, and in many cases, there is no other choice but to introduce
subways, which is one of the most expensive options.
The flow chart in Figure 3 represents the flow of the introduction of transportation
infrastructure. In a city where roads are saturated with vehicles as a result of an increase in thenumber of vehicles, the road capacity is increased to accept the extra vehicles. It is assumed,
however, that an increasing number of vehicles will fill up the road again in the future. We
think that in order to break this vicious cycle, it is necessary to introduce a transportation
system using a dedicated guideway that does not affect the road traffic. We propose that wheninvestment in road infrastructure is considered, the introduction of a transportation systemusing a dedicated guideway should be considered as an effective option.
Concerning the concept of public transportation-oriented urban development devised by
Ichizo Kobayashi and Peter Calthorpe, a business model for promoting the use of public
transportation and the requirements of the transportation system needs to be further developedin order to solve the issue of the sustainability of the public transportation business in thepresent social environment.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Technical Review Vol. 53 No. 3 (September 2016)
20Figure 3(2)Flow of introduction of transportation infrastructure

Development of business model
Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a business model that grows with the development ofpassenger demand, real estate, the space inside stations and the region in connection withpublic transportation such as railways. In many cases, the public transportation business cannot
be sustained with only the income from passenger fares of public transportation. Housing landalong railway lines cannot be developed in the same way as in earlier business models, andtherefore advertisements in vehicles, shops, tenants and stations are also a major source ofrevenue for the business. If stations and areas around stations are redeveloped from theaforementioned perspective on “points,” stations and towns with similar functions may beconstructed, which may impair passenger demand to travel between stations. The strategic
development of demand to travel between stations is needed. In other words, efforts for thepurpose of encouraging travel demand between stations through the diversification ordifferentiation of the functions of stations and areas around stations are required.

Figure 4

Evolution of transportation business modelMitsubishi Heavy Industries Technical Review Vol. 53 No. 3 (September 2016)21(3)Advancement of urban transportation solution
It appears that new functions and performances are in demand for transportation systems
to be introduced in a city. Is there any other choice but to introduce subways at a high cost for
the reason that land cannot be acquired in cities where motorization has penetrated, as can beseen in emerging countries in Asia and South America? AGT is a system that can be retrofitted
in harmony with existing cities. AGT has the following features:- The minimum curve radius of 30 m enables a horizontally flexible track design.
- The high hill-climbing ability enables a flexible track design in the height direction
from underground to ground level and elevated guideways.
- Rubber tires enable silent running, low noise and low vibration, achieving highenvironmental performance.
- Light-weight vehicles enable the low-cost and feasible construction of elevatedguideways and introduction to existing elevated roads.

|4. AGTIn designing the updated rolling stock for the Yurikamome Line for which MHI received theorder in May 2010, we made efforts to reconstruct the values of the new transportation system
which had been established since the beginning of the 1980s and to reinforce the weak points. Alarger transportation volume and uniform interior air conditioning temperature were required forthe updated vehicle. Concerning the transportation volume, there were problems with the existingvehicle in that the floor area of the passenger standing area was small, and the passenger capacity
was insufficient because the seats were arranged as cross seats. An effective measure for solving
these problems was to adopt a longitudinal seat arrangement as found in commuter train vehicles.
But this required the reduction of the vehicle weight by more than 10% corresponding to theincrease in the number passengers due to increased transportation volume. Therefore, with the top
priority given to the reduction of the vehicle weight, we fundamentally reviewed the existingvehicle design and achieved the weight reduction. Concerning the uniform interior air conditioning
temperature, we adopted air conditioning ducts for the first time in a new transportation systemvehicle and achieved comfortable air conditioning that maintains the cabin at almost uniform
temperature. In addition, we also improved the quality of the vehicle interior space through theuniform design for the seat form and sleeve screen, ceilings with air conditioning ducts and LED
lighting, screw-less interior panels, baggage racks, hand grips and hand holds. As a result of theseefforts, the updated vehicle received a special award for its “wonderful design for renovated publictransportation” in the Good Design Awards 2014.
Following the Yurikamome 7300 Series (on the right in the title photo) that started
commercial operation in January 2014, the Nippori-Toneri Liner 330 Series (on the left in the titlephoto) started operation in October 2015, and the New Shuttle 2020 Series (in the center in thetitle photo) went into service in November 2015. These vehicles have received a good reputation,with many people commenting that their image of conventional new transportation systems wasrenewed.
Japan has been attracting attention as one of the successful TOD countries. To introduce theAGT lines in the Tokyo area to people in countries with urban transportation issues, we organized
the AGT vehicles into four lineups so that we could propose an optimum solution tailored for thetransportation demand and the purpose of the line.
(1) Urbanismo-18
MHI introduces the vehicle with a maximum load of 18 tons under the brand name ofUrbanismo-18 to markets overseas (Figure 5). It can transport 20,000 passengers in one
direction per hour, and it fully satisfies the demand of the Yurikamome line in Tokyo with
110,000 passengers a day and 180,000 passengers a day at the peak. The maximum speed is 60km/h, which is the optimum speed for an urban transportation line with a distance between
stations of 1 km or less and many small curves. Compared to a subway vehicle of an equivalentsize, it consumes less power and makes less noise and vibration through the effective use of thecharacteristics of a rubber tire vehicle. The Nippori-Toneri Liner presents its highenvironmental performance by satisfying the noise and vibration regulations in the Category 1
low-rise exclusive residential districts along the line.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Technical Review Vol. 53 No. 3 (September 2016)
22Figure 5(2)Urbanismo-22
A vehicle with a transportation volume about 1.6 times larger than that of Urbanismo-18
developed for the domestic market has been put on the overseas market under the name ofUrbanismo-22, and is going to be operated on the Macau LRT (Light Rail Transit) system(Figure 6). This vehicle is based on the one introduced for the Sengkang Punggol LRT (LightRapid Transit) lines in Singapore in 2002 and is intended for a railway line with atransportation volume of 32,000 passengers in one direction per hour. The maximum speed isincreased to 80 km/h to reduce the travel time between stations. Urbanismo-22 has ahill-climbing ability equal to that of Urbanismo-18, which has a curve radius of around 30 m.

Figure 6(3)Design of Urbanismo-18

Design of Urbanismo-22

High-speed AGT
For Urbanismo-22, elevated guideways can be laid over existing roads while almost thesame body cross section as that of an urban commuter vehicle is secured. By enhancing thespeed of Urbanismo-22, we developed a high-speed AGT with a maximum speed of 120 km/h
not only for urban transportation, but also for satisfying the needs of lines connecting regional
hub cities and satellite cities (Figure 7). For high-speed AGT, a high-speed vehicle wasdeveloped, inheriting the characteristics of the Urbanismo-18 and Urbanismo-22 bogies, suchas high-reliability and high riding comfort, 10% gradient hill-climbing ability, lightweight,long-lasting consumable parts and easier maintenance. Various data have been accumulated at
the MIHARA Test Center in the Wadaoki Plant of MHI Mihara Machinery Works, whererunning tests can be performed with a maximum speed of 120 km/h. High-speed AGT is also

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Technical Review Vol. 53 No. 3 (September 2016)23

expected to be applied as a transportation system connecting a city and its airport located in thesuburbs.

Figure 7(4)Design of High-speed AGT

CFT-400
The aforementioned Urbanismo-18, Urbanismo-22 and High-speed AGT are designed
for fully-automatic unmanned operation with both interiors and exteriors featuring the qualityof commuter train used in Japan. For developing countries in need of financial support, an AGT
with simplified specifications is offered as CFT (Congestion Free Transit), separately from theUrbanismo brand, so that AGT can be introduced and operated at a lower initial cost andrunning cost (Figure 8).

Figure 8

Design of CFT|5. Conclusion
AGT has advantages in that it runs silently on rubber tires, features lightweight vehicles thatenable cost reduction in terms of elevated infrastructure, offers high hill-climbing performance anda small curvature radius, is an urban transportation system that can be retrofitted to a city throughthe use of the space over existing roads, etc. In the situation where various transportation systems
have been introduced in cities around the world under the concept of TOD, AGT has the possibilityof becoming the main player in urban mobility. It can be said that the age of AGT has arrived.

References
1.
2.
3.

TOD STANDARD, ITDP,
https://www.itdp.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/The-TOD-Standard-2.1.pdf
Ian Carlton, Histories of Transit-Oriented Development: Perspectives on the Development of the TOD
Concept, Working paper 2009-02. , http://iurd.berkeley.edu/wp/2009-02.pdf
MLIT website that posts information about big city traffic censuses
http://www.mlit.go.jp/sogoseisaku/transport/sosei_transport_tk_000035.html