Driverless Testing Spreading Across Globe, US

Transit union drivers, taxi drivers, Uber and other ridehailing drivers, beware. Time now to train for new work. The driverless revolution is coming your way fast.

Literally, it is impossible to take a week off, let alone a decent vacation, from driverless vehicle news because daily there are updates. I'm just catching up after a summer of work and actual vacation travel. Next year, such a schedule could mean I'll miss a sight of the first driverless taxi or ridehailing car in my neighborhood. More likely that will be two years from now. But if I were planning to visit the Netherlands this summer, I could treat myself to a ride on driverless transit.

Catch a ride near some tulips

The Netherlands takes the lead with driverless transit starting in November of this year. The pods are on the roads now being tested and come November they will be shuttling up to six passengers at a time around two towns in the province of Gelderland. (Not sure if there is a connection, but geld, or something close, means money in several languages.) The WEpods will go up to 15 miles per hour (25 kph). Initially, this driverless shuttle will be treated gently; it will not be available during rush hours, at night, or in inclement weather. But you will be able to book it with an app along its initial fixed route.

The Netherlands WEpod follows in the footsteps of CityMobil2, which has operated in towns in Finland and Switzerland. There are also driverless pods at Heathrow Airport outside of London.

And a short trip from London, Oxford, Cambridge ...

In the town of Milton Keynes, in England, two-seater driverless pods are about to be given a trial run. In the works for more than a year, the pilot project will ramp up from three up to 40 pods for ferrying people around and taking lessons for fine tuning regulation of driverless technology.

While in Asia, ...

Singapore did a six-day trial (something biblical here?) a few months ago with tourists as guinea pigs. A large garden that is a tourist destination allowed for pre-arranged rides on the driverless shuttle golf-cart-type vehicle. Turns out that the tourists loved the driverless service and the guinea pigs were safe. 

News from across the pond

New York City is already behind as a DOT connected-car-technology testing site. But it may fall further back in the advent of new vehicular technology because it is planning to test only connected vehicle technology and not driverless vehicles on its streets. That's okay, my home town has a long tradition of launching shows after previews elsewhere. This project goes with the conventional wisdom of most traditional car manufacturers, and perhaps more than a few departments of transportation around the US, that regular cars outfitted with driver warning systems, vehicle-to-vehicle technology, and limited autonomous features will win the war against total driverless - and be safe. I do not believe that someone napping, checking email, or watching a cable show clip will suddenly snap to attention when the car somehow shouts out EMERGENCY! Maybe my reflexes are unusual, though.

On the way to Miami

Other spots to test this same connected-vehicle technology will be Tampa, FL, Wyoming, and Ann Arbor, MI.