Announcements of AVs Coming - Popping Up Like Weeds

Companies and cities, sometimes countries, are announcing that AVs, whether shuttles or conventional passenger cars, are coming and they will arrive by a date certain. Those dates differ, but still, such certainty makes one wonder whether the technology is essentially ready or whether engineers are being encouraged to improve the technology fast enough to lend credence to the hype.

Tough, but sweet, outdoor cat taking a break from mouse patrol.

A snarky person like me could wonder whether these bold declarations might encourage companies to suppress, a la Lion Air and Uber (with Herzberg killing), any safety concerns. Perhaps an AV "drivers test" and/or continuous performance monitoring might be in order. After all, auto companies will be combining the driver with the vehicle, and recalls show that those vehicles have sometimes been far from perfectly safe.

UK OK with AVs

London, England, UK - AV testing will begin this month in the London borough of Hounslow. The software is from Oxbotica. Addison Lee, a taxi and limousine fleet management company, will be providing the taxis to be outfitted with AV technology. Nominet, the UK's domain name registrar, will be in charge of data transfer and the protection of data from hacking.

Scotland buses on bridge. Photo from BBC post.

Edinburgh, Scotland - AV full-size transit buses will be piloted on a 14-mile route between a commuter parking lot in Fife and a commuter train station . The buses will use the "the dedicated public transportation corridor across the Forth Road Bridge that also allows buses and taxis."

Across a landmass and over water

Japan - Though Japanese automaker Toyota has been relatively quiet about its AV activities, the plan declared a few years ago, and which continues to be repeated, is that AV service will be available for the 2020 Olympics. So where are we?

Toyota is saying it will shuttle athletes around the Olympic village in its e-Palette AV configured for human shared rides. The e-Palette is basically a shell that can be configured for different uses, such as deliveries, pop-up cafes, offices, mini-hotel rooms, or crowded mini-buses. That's my translation of reports on corporate statements.

Plans are also moving ahead for AV robotaxis to ferry visitors around in Tokyo during the Olympics. Reports from the summer stated that AV vans were being tested as a step toward service during the Olympics. Partners are a Japanese taxi company and a Japanese AV tech company. Toyota is also an investor.

In contrast to bravado or openness?

Miami, Florida - Ford has invited journalists to ride along on trips in its AVs in the traffic mess of Miami (though what US city is not a traffic mess?). These rides are taking place on actual busy streets with bikers and pedestrians and other drivers, all who arbitrarily violate the law and otherwise act in unexpected ways on  a regular basis. Ford is basically using the city traffic as a test bed, though with careful backup drivers. The carmaker has a clear goal - AV ridehailing service on the street in Miami and Dade County in 2021.