AVs Appear Close for GM, Via, Navya, Buses, and Roving Corner Stores

Forget 2021 for large legacy auto companies to debut autonomous vehicles (AVs): GM is planning on 2019 to launch a car-like AV that will NOT include a steering wheel or brakes. Still looks eerily the same as current sedan, however, with normal seats, interior design, and many cupholders. No imagination there.

Very interesting is GM's strategy vis a vis the US Department of Transportation (DOT) to avoid steering- and brake-related regulatory requirements. According to nice article from myStatesman, which quotes from other sources, GM is seeking to avoid the safety standards, but (if I'm reading this correctly) meet safety objectives.

Digressing for a moment

Spoiler alert - Next post to address DOT AV-related requests. Lots of activity and room for comments.

Don't ask my opinion about DOT car safety standards - FMVSS - because, with upwards of 35,000 deaths in US alone, not to mention injuries, we do not have actual standards that are producing safety as that word is understood by all normal people.

Back to GM

Notable tea leaves from the GM announcement: (1) Influence GM has with Congress and DOT means that by well before the company's launch date, we will see AV-friendly changes in terms of regulation and legislation; (2) GM is serious about beating Ford and other auto companies as well as being truly competitive with Waymo, Uber, and the like. Nice to see this from a company that not so long ago predicted we would not see AVs on our roads for at least another generation.

Navya cuddles up to Via

In a sweet marriage that reflects the couplings and menage a trois (or more) partnerings, Navya has committed its Autonom Cab - I refuse to use the all caps in actual name - to Via's fleet management system. Via, for those outside of the shared-use transportation world, is a kind of hybrid of microtransit and taxi service. It is app-based, but shared ride, and can require a short walk to meet the vehicle. Via is currently in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Chicago, and DC; but a look at its jobs page shows the many cities where it is expanding or in some way otherwise operating.

Here's the Navya Autonom Cab video, which, curiously, shows no interior shots and a Paris magically sans congestion.

Another AV bus project

Just a month after the EasyMile announcement of an AV bus development project, Volvo and a university in Singapore have publicized their "cooperation agreement on a research and development program for autonomous, all-electric buses. According to the company, the program is part of the Land Transport Authority of Singapore’s drive to create new solutions for tomorrow’s sustainable public transport."

What is notable is that this project marks a departure, really more of a branching out, from Volvo's previous AV-as-conventional-car initiatives.

Roving convenience store - why stop there?

A California company, Robomart, has fitted out an AV as a mobile small convenience store. The video (on the boring side) shows a supposedly upscale, McMansion exurb with a contemporary reimagining of the corner store - but without people, candy, long pretzel sticks, friendly person behind the counter, and nine year olds.

As I wrote yesterday regarding the e-Pallete concept, why stop the imagination? Why not roving offices, coffee places, meeting rooms, tiny houses?

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.

Shared Ride Roundup

Love this: Artist renderings that are much closer to my imaginings of rethinking vehicle design for AVs than we are seeing from the auto companies. Definitely take a look at those! Image #6 is my personal favorite. Images posted here are all from those renderings.

Shared ride options for all getting closer

GM in California - more than doubles fleet of Cruise Automation vehicles. Now at 100 AVs.

Lyft partnerships with car companies to open up AV ridesourcing services.

Waymo full-scale AV ridesourcing operations to start in Phoenix area by early 2018.

AV ridesourcing for affluent older adults happening now in California. Voyage, a startup, is using Ford cars, to do just that in a gated senior community. Lots of opportunities in this market. More on the Voyage pilot.

Public shared-ride AV pilots

Publicly-funded A-Taxi, an AV shuttle ridesourcing pilot, is being planned for Greenville, SC (isn't that a state that does not believe in taxes?) with FHWA funds. The intent is to use these shuttles for commuter transportation for "to improve access to transportation for disadvantaged and mobility-impaired residents." That's why the public dollars. How progressive for South Carolina. Impressive. [Image source: muxxi]

Another publicly-funded experiment with AV shared-ride service will take place in Britain in Greenwich, with Ford and Transport for London (TfL) among a broader partnership. However, this project will only be planning a business model, with the assumption being that one-third of London trips in 2025 will be by AV.

Stuff you can do, but maybe shouldn't, in an AV - if allowed

If you own your AV, you will have more leeway, but if you are a shared-use or transit AV person in the future, I imagine rules against:

• Drinking too much alcohol - or any - while on board
• Being obnoxiously drunk on a shared vehicle
• Sex or even making out (tacky, though fun at the time)
• Eating
• Drinking anything but water (our rule in the station wagon when the kids were young)
• Vomiting - try not to and use a bag
• Watching or listening to anything without earphones or earbuds
• Screaming
• Singing, unless there is a 0-5 year old involved (in which case, I recommend singing Wheels on the Bus)

Stuff that should be allowed to roll right onto AVs when they are universally designed

• Wheelchairs and other mobility devices
• Strollers, even double ones
• Personal shopping carts
• Luggage

I make this list with the assumption that only the wealthy will have personal attendants and that the rest of us will be in the same sorry position we are in as airline passengers, forced to deal with and lift heavy items instead of receiving personal service. [Image source: Ustwo]

Personal dream

AV tiny house to cruise across the country in style. 💚