Columbus, Ohio - a city sorely in need of better schools, land use and a boost in economic development. The city, which has limited walkable neighborhoods and is currently split by highways and areas of true urban blight, is banking on its smart city plans, which now include an AV pilot. Lots of high hopes: "'This is just the beginning," said Jim Barna, the executive director of Drive Ohio. "We envision this really transforming us from a state that's known for agriculture and manufacturing to a state that's known for its advancements in technology.'"
The Columbus AV shuttle pilot, fare free for riders, will operate downtown near the COSI science museum (a great place for kids) and it will operate everyday for a year, traveling at speeds of up to 15 mph. Yet to be determined is whether service will continue once the year is up. Transit bus drivers are pissed and they are already protesting. The pilot will be using May Mobility AV shuttles. May Mobility is located in Ann Arbor, MI. One report states that passenger service will begin in December 2018.
Maybe Columbus should bank instead on Graeter's ice cream, a homegrown business that has served its customers well since 1870 and has expanded way beyond the Midwest. The photo is from the Bexley location.
Bryan, Texas - A city in Southeast Texas with a walkable downtown and roadways that are controlled by the city rather than the state's department of transportation, TXDOT, Bryan will be launching an AV trolley - no tracks - with room for only six passengers (really four after the two staff per vehicle). The AVs will operate for"two hours each day between the hours of 10 AM and 4 PM, Monday through Friday. After these first 30 days, there is an opportunity for the schedule to be modified."
The AV program is a partnership between Bryan and the Texas A&M Transportation Institute. Service will begin next month.
Is the AV DragonFly pod a harbinger of a game changer that will replace utopian visions of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) with more of the auto-centric landscape we have now? Yes, it is only meant for private or quiet roadways; yes, it only travels at speeds of up to a meagre 20 mph. BUT the DragonFly only costs $40,000 - quite affordable for individuals who live in retirement or closed communities, and affordable for colleges and universities, for office parks, and places like airports. The DragonFly is manufactured by a company called PerceptIn, which has offices in California and China.
Renault is expanding on its EZ-Go AV concept design with adaptable truck/pop-up shop pods that could operate solo or in Brio-like convoys. Yes, it has been pointed out that the Renault announcement comes on the heels of last week's Ikea AV adaptable pods that can be used as mobile offices, medical clinics, or hotel rooms, among other uses.
Pretty soon, we'll be living and traveling in AV tiny house/offices and eating at pop-up food truck parks.
Showing the successful adoption of 20 Is Plenty in Portland, OR
Another transit bus for Australia - Australia has embraced AV transit service, with Perth having the oldest continuous AV transit route in the world. Australia also has a large city, Liverpool (no kidding), that is planning for an AV bus rapid transit route, with a dedicated lane, to an airport.
Now Australia can boast the fastest AV shuttle in the world. It goes a whopping 30 km per hour, which is just about 18 mph for you Americans and English. Actually, for the 20 Is Plenty crowd, this is perfect. (20 Is Plenty is a strategy for complete streets and vision zero to decrease road speed to a level that is safer for pedestrians in terms of drivers noticing them and in terms of reducing fatalities and lessening levels of injury when pedestrians are hit.) By the way, the vehicle is capable of reaching speeds up to 40 km per hour.
Members of the public can book a ride on the electric shuttle bus this week, which will initially provide ‘first mile–last mile’ services between Adelaide’s Clovelly Park Train Station and Tonsley Innovation District Main Assembly Building (MAB). It will then continue to bus stops on the main South Road and businesses within the Tonsley precinct.
The AV shuttle bus is from Navya. Not to be outdone, New South Wales (NSW) is putting more money on the table to allow for AV pilots.
Russia Wants In
Putin, basically the decider in chief for all of Russia, has turned his attention to AV transit. Quite the scary guy, he seems to get what he wants. Now he wants AV buses. Though cautious and not willing to allow AV transit in mixed traffic, the buses were used near some of the World Soccer games. "The buses traveled just 2,132 feet (650 meters) from Kazan’s “fan zone” meeting point, along a dedicated road empty of other traffic and surrounded by a light fence to keep away pedestrians and animals. It stopped well before the Kazan Arena, leaving fans to walk the rest of the way." Notable is that the AV bus was loaded with 5G capability.
Prelude: Thus far, and for the near future, this blog exists in some respect as my personal filing cabinet of topics I follow about autonomous vehicle (AV) business development, models of future service and arrangements, and legal and regulatory issues. At the moment I do not have the time and resources to cover and catalogue these issues as thoroughly and in ways I would like to. Not sure when that will change, but I do feel torn because I want to follow through on my ideas for better resources than currently exist.
That's my reason for why the following is a list and not an analysis or complete coverage of what follows. PLUS - This is not up-to-the-moment. 😦
Read below while considering the "cities-first" approach of an AV planning partnership from the Bloomberg Philanthropies AV Cities project and the National League of Cities. In an American governance framework where cities are often preempted from regulating their street use due to federal or state laws and regulations, it will be interesting to see the planning coming out of the project. So far, these two organizations say there has been a 30 percent jump in cities incorporating AV transportation into their planning.
There's more than a yellow rose in Texas
Texas is growing as far as AV pilot programs. There is Arlington, where the Dallas Cowboys and the Texas Rangers play, which has an AV shuttle operating on game days and around other events. But now:
Houston - An AV shuttle will be operating on campus at Texas Southern University (TSU) shuttle. "The small shuttles, called “university circulators,” will be limited to a mile-long campus pathway and will run at average speeds ranging from 8 to 12 miles per hour."
Frisco, a suburb of Dallas - According to a Dallas News article, Drive.ai will be testing and doing a six-month pilot of an AV ridehailing service that is planned to commence in July. "The service is made possible through a unique public-private partnership among California-based Drive.ai, the city of Frisco, the Denton County Transportation Authority and the private developments for Hall Park, The Star and Frisco Station. They are all part of the newly formed Frisco Transportation Management Association."
The Frisco AV shuttle will serve the general public at an office park near where the Arlington, TX, AV shuttle operates.
Commercial interruption
Florida
Two states with strong conservative tendencies have attracted plenty of AV testing, Arizona and now Florida. Florida, which is a little far from California and does not have that dry heat, has also rolled out the red carpet of no regulation for AV testing, pilots, and operations.
Gainseville, below the Florida Panhandle, but not at all on the water, is getting a cute AV shuttle route for a transit pilot. EasyMile will be supplying four shuttle AVs. Service is expected to begin for regular riders by the fall.
Tampa already has a shuttle and Babcock Ranch, a real estate development creation of a town, has a pilot that is expected to turn public. The town, Babcock Ranch, announced in 2016 as an eco-friendly soon-to-be-developed town the size of Manhattan, is being true to the word of the developers and an AV shuttle is on its streets being tested since January. Some houses are already built.
Viva Las Vegas
Coming this summer to the streets of Vegas to join the cute AV shuttle there will be Lyft AV ridehailing - BUT to run on fixed routes. This partnership of Lyft and Aptiv will build on the January pilot that provided rides during the CES conference in January 2018. Aptiv's Chief Technology Officer says, "Aptiv will work closely with the city to design future mobility solutions, which benefit public transportation and help with urban congestion challenges. The findings in the Las Vegas test run will be deployed in other cities across the world."
While in the Midwest:
FINALLY the University of Michigan MCity AV shuttle makes its debut, after over a year in the works. Ferrying students on North Campus is a cute shuttle vehicle from Navya. Students, staff, and eligible guests are invited to ride for free. Hours are limited to daytime and the shuttle ceases service at 3 pm.
Watch the cool video from Ford about enabling people with visual disabilities to "see" or at least to experience the visual landscape.
The long-running AV shuttle operating in Sion, Switzerland is being taught to cross busy streets and communicate with traffic signals. There will also be testing for making its route more complex with roundabouts as well.
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.
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?
Navya will be starting an autonomous vehicle taxi service next spring, that's the second quarter of 2018. So, flowers, buds on trees, and a taxi sans driver - but only in Paris - so far. Also nice is that the taxi will be EV as well as AV (electric vehicle, autonomous vehicle for you non-acronym lovers). For now, Navya merely offers a boring, corporate-styled video.
Okay, yes, I can't resist the temptation to include the boring video.
More taxi-like news
We have advanced beyond "what's good for GM is good for America" to the point where GM is going after the business of people completely car-free or at least car-lite with its Maven ridehailing service. Maven is now expanding to more cities, operating in Baltimore, DC, Boston, and Los Angeles, among others, bringing the total to eight.
GM's Maven is not yet autonomous, but it represents GM's foray into a different business model in preparation for an AV world that may not mirror the old model of a car - or two or three - in every driveway.
Off topic: Where maven comes from
Maven, by the way, is from Yiddish and means expert. In Yiddish, the word maven often carries a negative connotation, as in "What are you, a maven?" My parents always talked about the men who gossiped on the street corner in this way - people who talked, thought they were experts, but did not contribute.
However, the word has taken on a more sunny, positive disposition in American English.
2018 in Tennessee
Knoxville, TN, may soon see an AV shuttle from Local Motors. Yes, Olli will be manufactured in Knox County and an Olli AV shuttle, to be 90 percent 3D printed, will likely begin ferrying Knoxville passengers in 2019 - which is like seven years from now in AV time. (My family in materials science generally poo poo's the 3D printing thing, but Local Motors seems to be making this work, or, at least, is persistent in pursuing it.)
Hyperloop actually progressing - and being built
Despite my skepticism, two distinct and quite separate hyperloop projects have official approval to begin building - with private dollars. The first will go from Baltimore to DC and the second will be in suburban metro Denver and into the city.
What is hyperloop? In case you do not follow this stuff, wikipedia has a good page that explains pretty much everything.
Watch out MARC train, there will be a much faster way to go from Baltimore to DC - or to Baltimore for a fantastic Italian sub at Isabella's. (I say that as a native New Yorker.) Virgin Hyperloop One, an Elon Musk/Richard Branson company (renamed from Hyperloop One with the Branson investment) could be bringing Musk's vision of hyperloop pods traveling all the way from DC to NYC in less than 30 minutes. Maryland's governor has given approval to a chunk of the Baltimore to DC segment. (I hope there will be a stop at BWI Airport.)
"Hogan [Maryland's governor] administration officials said [in mid-October] the state has issued a conditional utility permit to let Musk’s tunneling firm, The Boring Co., dig a 10.3-mile tunnel beneath the state-owned portion of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, between the Baltimore city line and Maryland 175 in Hanover. ... More than two-thirds of the 35-mile Baltimore Washington Parkway is owned by the federal government, which as of Thursday had not publicly granted permission for the hyperloop system."
The Colorado project will be built by Arrivo, which is headed by a former Elon Musk employee at SpaceX and a co-founder of Hyperloop One. This will be "a public-private partnership with Colorado’s Department of Transportation and E-470 Public Highway Authority." I can tell you personally that there is both excitement and concern about hyperloop in the growing suburbs around Denver. The Arrivo hyperloop version goes slower than the Musk version, at about 160 mph instead of at several hundred miles per hour, which has not yet been achieved.
What do these headlines have in common?
Autonomous vehicles (AVs) that are shared - for transit or for pooled taxi-like rides
- are moving ahead, well in front of the sale of fully autonomous private cars.
And, for now, the rides are free though, we have yet to hear whether Waymo's Phoenix-area rides - with the engineer in the back seat - will be free or discounted. The Miami dream is way too far away to talk about fares.
In regular traffic and then an all-too-human driver ...
Here is a video with a reporter who was on the Law Vegas shuttle. The report includes "real people" concerns that the passengers expressed in the wake of the mishap of a very minor crash with a truck in the shuttle's first couple of hours of operation. The crash, by the way, was the fault of the human truck driver, not the AV technology. The shuttle was manufactured by Navya.
Florida shuttle coming after New Year's
The Tampa AV shuttle is being shown off this week at an AV summit. The cute AV will be in regular operation come January. The shuttle manufacturer is Coast Autonomous and the vehicle will seat 14 passengers and fit a total of 20. And the AV shuttle will be fare free.
The transit agency will operate the AV shuttle. This is actually Tampa's second experience with AV service. There was an AV giving rides at a science museum. That demonstration project started way back in 2015.
Miami mayor wants big driverless bus
The mayor of Miami has gotten cold feet for a large rail project. These come with scary price tags. Instead, the mayor is proposing a newly developed autonomous bus - a really big bus - that is touted as a train on wheels. It's like the AV shuttles on steroids with room for 300 passengers. Miami already has dedicated bus lanes.
Now to read all of the articles, legislative bills, etc. starting to pile up this week.
A few days off to enjoy real-life family and events. A little less attention paid to driverless while immersed in much home baking of holiday and rye breads for friends and family. (Everyone needs a source of good bread, but truly here's nothing like homemade. Not that I am the best baker, but a fresh homemade bread has amazing taste and is pure comfort food. Plus, naturally leavened bread is far healthier than breads made with commercial yeast. Rant over.)
The result? I fell woefully behind - for just a few days - on driverless news. Really, driverless news should not come out if I am not paying attention.
Acquisitions and money flowing
German-based Infineon acquires Innoluce BV, a Dutch producer of miniature, and potentially a very cheap, lidar technology. Infineon us a chip manufacturer. Here's a Business Insider article about the acquisition, which also explains well the differences in production costs.
A French driverless shuttle startup, Navya, is receiving a funding boost from, among others, Keolis, a large international transportation and transit company. The boost is to the tune of $34 million, with a $224 million valuation that demonstrates the current groupthink about Navya.
MIT-spawned Optimus Ride is also receiving an infusion of about $5 million. No specifics on the emerging technology that Optimus is incubating, but there is deep autonomous vehicle experience on the staff of the Boston startup.
