In terms of surface transportation, and avoiding the large topic of flying drones, there is a company, amusingly called Starship Technologies, that has invented a delivery drone that travels on sidewalks. This sidewalk drone will be "99 percent driverless," with a human at a remote location who will be able to step in to operate the drone.
Think Chinese food delivery without a human. The drone is approximately 40 pounds and can cross streets. I'm imagining R2D2.
Transit bots in a clean country
Switzerland is soon to be host to a new driverless transit service that will serve the tourist area of the Swiss city of Sion, population about 33,000. Small bot-like buses will start operation in the spring of 2016. Isn't the yellow and black design cute?
The bot bus service is the result of a collaboration between PostBus and BestMile. PostBus is the leading Swiss provider of public bus service, but it also provides rural and regional bus transit in areas of France and Liechtenstein.
BestMile's master plan
BestMile would like to see its bot buses not compete with existing transit, but providing first mile/last mile service. This is BestMile's first commercial contract. The company is also involved with CityMobil2 in Europe.
First mile/last mile confounds traditional transit
Why is important? If a person is far from the bus stop or the intersection nearby is not designed well for pedestrians, then that person will not use transit. But if a small bus or a bikeshare can safely transport the person for the first mile/last mile, then transit suddenly is a potentially attractive option.
In the US, the first mile/last mile problem is huge due to low-density suburbs and street networks unfriendly to pedestrians and bikers. Someone walking a few blocks should not have to confront a completely inaccessible, dangerous intersection, but that is the reality in much of the country. Bots, in my opinion, could be a partial solution. Improving the pedestrian street network would also go a long way.
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