More US State Legislatures Look at Driverless, While in Greece ...

The Northeast Corridor, that magical set of states where Amtrak (the US passenger rail system) is actually profitable and on time, is waking up to the future. Its state-level lawmakers are busy making possible the operation and testing of driverless vehicles. 

I so want to see driverless in Boston and Brooklyn. What will drivers and pedestrians do if there is no driver to shout an expletive at? Somehow shouting out "as*%ole" to a vehicle in which a couple of people are watching a movie cannot provide any satisfaction.

Essentially the same bills being considered

There's no law against plagiarism when drafting statutory language, so the bills being considered in New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island are pretty much the same. I am not using word "identical" because I might not be reading the text of the bills uber-carefully. It's after work, the dog is resting beside me, and the brain is not in crunch mode. Here are the links.

New York - Assembly bill A31

Massachusetts - Bill H. 2977

Rhode Island - S. 2514

All allow for operation of driverless vehicles if federal safety standards are met. Of course, the US Department of Transportation is not ready for its safety standards to permit operation of such vehicles YET. All require that somewhere a licensed driver be present and be able to take over operation of the vehicle, whether from afar at an undisclosed location or from inside the vehicle. 

However, testing - all that would be permitted at this time - of an autonomous vehicle will require a human driver to be present in the vehicle.   

Hey pals, Michigan is THE Motor State

The state of Michigan gets indigestion every time the terms driverless or autonomous vehicles are mentioned. Instead of taking Alka Seltzer, the state is medicating itself with money, in this case Michigan Strategic Funds to the tune of $3 million. The funds are for the purpose of buying Willow Run, to create a new driverless testing facility in Ypsilanti (wasn't that what MCity was for?). No joke - the Willow Run entity is called the Willow Run Arsenal of Democracy Landholdings Limited Partnership. Only Freedom Fries will be sold. That part was a joke.

Because land is cheap in Michigan, there will be money left over toward the start up of the American Center for Mobility, a consortium of:

the State of Michigan – including the Michigan Department of Transportation and MEDC, the University of Michigan, Business Leaders for Michigan and Ann Arbor SPARK. The board of directors includes representatives from the university, BLM, SPARK, which initiated the project and will play a key role in economic development tied to the center. Automotive industry and community advisory boards will also be established.

I'm thinking there's no direct sales of Nevada-produced Teslas in Michigan.

[Editor's note: I actually spent whole weeks in Ypsilanti years ago, when I was in high school, and my brother worked for Ford as an engineer and my sister had a summer job there when she was at MIT. It's a weirdly generic place. No personality.] 

University bubble

To get around antiquated U.S. state and federal motor vehicle regulations, driverless is heading toward university campuses, with their private roads. Other potential markets with private roads include resorts, office parks, and gated communities, particularly communities for older adults. Right now, Vardon Labs is taking its golf-cart-like driverless shuttle vehicle to campuses in California. This video is from Fresno State.

A great opportunity for college campus shuttles is the willingness of students to try anything. Then they can convince their parents and grandparents to try stuff, perhaps while not also making their elders feel stupid and incapable. That might be too high a standard. My daughter actually asked if I know that my phone has a timer just because I was using a little standalone timer. Yes, sweetheart, I know. Adult brilliant children also have senses of humor, sometimes directed at their parents.

Meanwhile, across the seas in Greece

While the U.S. is doing fantastic as far as its private sector goes, and scrambling when it comes to public funding, and laws and regulations, Greece - yes, the country that barely escaped bankruptcy - has an actual driverless transit shuttle on its streets and that driverless shuttle is picking up actual people and there is no steering wheel or brakes. There are humans in a little office watching from afar (and likely feeling quite bored). Watch the cute video (not on youtube, so I can't embed it.)