Autonomous Shuttles: High-Tech Equivalent of Hay Ride

One really cannot be a busy person who pays attention on the side to autonomous vehicles (AVs). Today, I'm waiting for the new NHTSA guidelines to be released and tomorrow is a Senate hearing on autonomous trucks and "other large vehicles." Ooh! The guidelines were released four minutes ago. (Four minutes after I wrote that sentence, that is.)

A must read for all AV nerds and insomniacs. Okay, lots of reading ahead, but first this post.

Warning: Analogy, then London

If you've ever been apple picking at a big farm or at a large state fair, you have likely enjoyed a hay ride. The Ohio State Fair uses them as parking shuttles. Kids love them. AV shuttle pilots are providing the same thrill throughout the world, while, I hope, inculcating a positive outlook on AV shared use and transit modes.

Some quite recent examples:

London is having a 19-day pilot in its Olympic Park. Don't ask me why the random 19-day duration. The shuttle will be slow and it will be quite careful of pedestrians.

The Navya autonomous pod is limited to 5mph in the park but has a claimed top speed of nearly 30mph on the open road. It cost “in the hundreds of thousands of pounds” and was brought to London by Euston-based firm Keolis UK following trials on the Las Vegas Strip.

The UK government (apology for the "England" label on this blog) has been actively supporting investment in AVs and in realizing that pilots have a significant role in delighting and educating the public about the transportation transformation to come.

I see a Super Bowl ad coming

I hope that we get a good Superbowl ad out of the AV shuttle at the 2018 game. Super Bowl LII (52 for those of you who missed Roman numeral day in the third grade), will be held in Minneapolis in a domed stadium. The AV shuttle routes will ferry visitors between hotels and events. No report that the shuttles will operate all during game week, but I am making that assumption.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MNDOT) selected EasyMile, a French company that makes self-driving technology, to supply buses for testing the technology’s capabilities in the state’s snow and ice in February 2018. The first tests will be in a closed facility. The second testing phase would dispatch the buses as shuttles along pre-programmed routes on public streets, closed to other vehicular traffic— just as thousands of people pour into the Twin Cities for Super Bowl LII.

This MNDOT pilot hinges on a NHTSA waiver from Federal Motor Vehicle Saffety Standards (FMVSS) for the state and for EasyMile. MNDOT is seeking permission for the waiver to cover a bigger road show throughout Minnesota to give people across the state a glance, a local news report, or perhaps a ride to spark thoughts about AV shuttle possibilities.

I confess that I did not realize that Super Bowl (SB) was two words - this after many years of hosting a SB party and hoping that the Giants win if they are in the game so that household is not gloomy for days thereafter. I actually hail from more of a Jets community, but I have to keep that quiet at home. Plus I have zero interest in the game.

Rural approach to AV

Most AV pilots - one could say dog and pony shows - have been happening in large cities. Japan, quite smartly, is exploring the connection between transportation access in rural areas with depopulation and aging populations. These same trends are also taking place in the US rural communities, so, I hope, other Americans in transportation are paying attention to the Japanese work on this issue.

In the US, fewer available drivers for rural senior transportation services is a big problem and it is coupled with the challenge of expensive, long-distance rides to medical care and even shopping, not to mention a lack of transportation for everyday socializing or employment. Isolation for many older adults who live in rural areas is the sad result.

Japan is experimenting with AV transit shuttles "in rural communities such as Nishikata, 115 km (71 miles) north of the capital, Tokyo, where elderly residents struggle with fewer bus and taxi services as the population ages and shrinks. ... Japan could launch self-driving services for remote communities by 2020, if the trials begun this month prove successful."

Gets better

Wait, Japan's well-coordinated approach has one more feature - one meant, I am guessing, to cut costs. Instead of each older person in his or her own podcar, Japan is planning to use existing highway rest stops as feeder points to take people to "to medical, retail and banking services."