AV Designs - California and England

Sacramento wants autonomous vehicle (AV) demonstrations routes to include the entire city, but there is no concrete plan in place. The owner of the Sacramento Kings professional basketball team had made attempts to ferry attendees of the first home game of the NBA season in AVs, but the arrangement fell through.

The chief innovation officer, an increasingly common business title around the US, for Sacramento says that "plans are still in place however to bring autonomous technology to the area for testing and implementation." This is a priority for the mayor and the city is in discussions with lots of AV companies, though only car companies and others testing AV cars are listed in the Capital Public Radio news piece.

Maybe AVs will help the Kings. Their record so far this season, only one game in, is zero wins and one loss, to the Houston Rockets.

Sleek design

Image from dezeen.com

In AV transit news, a polished design, full of windows, comes from the United Kingdom, well England. Transit designer Jonny Culkin imagines a world with views of city surroundings. "Described by Culkin as 'technology with a friendly face," the conceptual vehicle is designed to offer a more attractive alternative to London's Tube, as well as the city's bus networks.' " Notice the sleek, minimalist interior.

No word on whether this design will be adopted or whether Transport for London or any other UK transit agency is planning on supplementing big red buses - AV or otherwise - with small shuttle vehicles.