Small Steps from Houston to Florida and Big Steps Abroad

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.

Over there ... and turn north

When you're in Norway, you are definitely not in the US. While the federal government, over both the Obama and Trump Administrations, has tried to stay more out of the way on AVs and electric vehicles, Norway is taking a wholly different route. AV shuttles are planned and the country is actively encouraging more electric vehicle use.

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.

No Human, Fare Free and In Traffic

Headlines from the past week:

Waymo in Phoenix - hands free and engineer in back seat

Las Vegas AV shuttle begins with a glitch

Tampa AV shuttle to start public transit service in January 2018

and from Miami - Mayor with a big bus dream

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.

AV Transit Shown Off in Nevada as Law Passes

Nevada's push for an autonomous vehicle law has succeeded, but part of the public relations effort associated with the legislation was the week-long operation of a shuttle in Las Vegas. Add media coverage and delighted passengers to produce a sweet picture of a rosy and uncomplicated future. Image is as important as reality.

The Nevada bill that became law on June 16 is quite broad and allows for the operation of autonomous vehicles. →No human is required to be present in an AV or ready to operate or test the vehicle.

The law provides for:

• Platooning, if in compliance with state law,
• Operation and testing of autonomous vehicles,
• Pre-emption of local laws, taxes, and fees,
• Partially and completely AV, and
• Lack of liability for post-purchase third-party conversion to AV.

Unusual is:

• Ten-business-day window for reporting crashes,
• Explicit adoption of SAE International terminology regarding levels of automation,
• Tax on AV rides from a company operating as a transportation network company (TNC), otherwise known as ride hailing,

at the rate of 3 percent of the total fare charged for transportation services, which must include, without limitation, all fees, surcharges, technology fees, convenience charges for the use of a credit or debit card and any other amount that is part of the fare. The Department shall charge and collect from each autonomous vehicle network company the excise tax imposed by this subsection.

New acronym warning

The law coins a new term here - "autonomous vehicle network company" (AVTC). The meaning is obvious, but the definition articulated is "an entity that, for compensation, connects a passenger to a fully autonomous vehicle which can provide transportation services to the passenger." The law provides for an application process for AVTCs.

Pretty much a taxi/TNC/AV law

The AVTC section of the law provides:

• Prospective passengers of AVTCs will be entitled to a fare estimate before embarking on a trip.
• At least an annual inspection of AVTC vehicles.
• Receipts for passengers and what they must contain. 
• Explicit exemption from the meaning of AVTC are human services transportation, motor carrier transportation, and carpool matching services. But later on the law allows for AV human services transportation, taxi, and motor carrier transportation. 
• Production and retention of trip records, vehicle inspection records, annual reports to the state, and on and on, blah, blah, blah.
• Ban on release of personally identifiable information about passengers - without consent or unless disclosure relates to "protect[ing] or defend[ing] the terms of use of the services or to investigate violations of those terms of use." Nice use of legalese.
• Submission of crash reports.
• Localities are permitted to regulate AVTC business licenses and permit, certification, and/or fee to operate at an airport.

There's more, but suffice it to say that this law is basically a set of AVTC regulations that some parties wanted to ensure were set pretty much in stone instead of being left to the predilection of whichever administrator is in charge.

Still Looking Like State/University vs. State/University

Despite proposed national guidelines and lots of talk about how a national approach is needed so that driverless vehicles will be licensed, for want of a better word, to travel across jurisdictional and state lines, we continue to see a vacuum at the federal level in terms of legislation. That is to be expected because the United States Constitution established a system where it would be difficult, not easy, to pass legislation. Presently, there is no fire under Congress, no immediacy, for consensus to propel the enactment of a law. So the decision making remains with the states, which police and license motor vehicle travel and road design, building, and maintenance.

And in that vacuum, more and more states are seeing opportunity or, at least, they are attempting not to be left behind. Last week, I reported on Maryland, Texas, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Ohio. Here are a few more, plus a sales tour for a driverless transit-like shuttle.

Nevada and transit?

Who would have thought that Nevada would be a leader in the testing of driverless transit? Or that Nevada will be the first state to have driverless transit-like shuttle pilots going on in multiple cities? Well, count me in as someone who is surprised because with my East Coast glasses on I did not look into a crystal ball a year or two ago and proclaim Nevada! And I did not read anyone else predicting this either.

Las Vegas is already a location for driverless experimentation and soon Reno, Carson City, and Sparks (a city I have never heard of) will be hosting driverless shuttles as part of a project out of the Regional Transportation Commission (RTC). This project is a collaboration among the RTC, the University of Nevada (link to Reno campus), transit, and others.

Sales tour for driverless transit-like service

Speaking of transit or transit-like, Transdev and Easy Mile are taking their cute driverless shuttle across the country to market it for providing transportation for events and on private campuses, basically off of public roads. Right now, the shuttle is in Florida, but they will be showcasing the vehicle in Atlanta, New Orleans, LA, San Jose, and Arlington, TX. 

Riding easy in the Sunshine state

Florida Polytechnic University is, perhaps, taking a first step to follow Carnegie Melon University and a few other universities, to train students in driverless vehicle software and design, except that the Florida course - only one course - is not growing out of anyone's research, but rather is an intentional move by the university. What remains to be seen is whether a program will grow out of the course, now being taught by a retired Air Force colonel, who has a background in computer science and drone technology. The course is based on one taught at MIT (that's Massachusetts Institute of Technology).

The Florida university is located right near the testing ground recently picked by the US Department of Transportation.

MIT spawn

It is not only Carnegie Melon and Stanford with spawn in the driverless world, MIT's offspring nuTonomy is doing pretty well in Asia and in its extended hometown of Boston, crossing over one of the bridges from Cambridge for its driverless testing and, hopefully, pilot project. The linked article is a nice update and summary of the nuTonomy Boston project. No doubt the very progressive and innovative MassDOT secretary, Stephanie Pollack, will make sure there is a welcoming environment in Massachusetts for driverless. She gave some great talks at the recent TRB (Transportation Research Board) conference. I am a big fan.

By the way, nuTonomy has lots of job openings in engineering, cybersecurity, and mapping.

And out on the Northern Plains

To show how popular it is for states to attract driverless testing, research, and industry, even very sparsely-populated states are trying to get in on the action. Here's an article from North Dakota about consideration of legislation and driverless testing possibilities. The state hasplenty of space, weather, and open roads. Not much congestion.

10 chosen sites

Just so I have this somewhere in my blog-file cabinet of driverless stuff, here is a link to the 10 chosen proving ground sites in the US. 

Happy New Year - and Driverless Testing

Boston

A successful hometown startup, nuTonomy, operating driverless vehicles in Singapore, has come back to Beantown to do driverless testing in a restricted area. Nothing unusual except that this is new for Boston and that its neighbor, Cambridge, spawned nuTonomy at MIT. Testing began this week.

Testing will be at low speeds and only in good weather, just like all Boston driving. Ha ha! Go to the Globe article and see a short unimpressive video of the initial spin.

Las Vegas

Sometime in 2017 this sin city, whether downtown, on the Strip, or both, will have a driverless shuttle. Two possibilities are Olli from Local Motors and NAVLY from Keolis. 

Video below is Nvidia's latest, this time with music and an attempt to generate excitement outside of nerd community.

Pennsylvania

Since its heyday with Philadelphia as the nation's capital and hosting the Continental Congress as well as the convention that produced the US Constitution, perhaps due to closed windows and doors in terrible summer heat (like hot yoga meets intellectual debate), the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has not been an urban leader (talking general reputation here), but it is fighting hard to keep Pittsburgh's prominent position in the race for driverless development, testing, and perhaps a real rollout - as opposed to what is essentially a PR pilot by Uber.

Actual news: Pennsylvania through its transportation agency, PennDOT, is throwing its hat into the USDOT ring to get funding for a driverless proving ground designation. Really no idea why it can't just be called a testing ground. This news is being reported everywhere.

Link to USDOT intent to designate proving grounds.

Michigan - Eastern time zone, but Midwest in nature

My brain is asking: Embarrassed by Trump, seeing marketing possibilities, needing highly-educated talent or all of the above? Ford canceled its plans for a plant in Mexico and will be staying more grounded in its ancestral homeland of Michigan, where it is now a progressive mobility company instead of pusher of car in every driveway - at least while it considers its transformation to be profitable. Ford will be producing its hybrid and driverless vehicles in its home state, to the happy applause of unions and Trump, making for interesting bedfellows. Yes, this news is everywhere; tons of articles if you want to spend ten more minutes reading.

Michigan has also applied to host a USDOT-approved proving ground, which will exist whether or not the national Department of Transportation designates it as such. I suspect the chances are excellent, however. A new administration in DC will want to reward those states that gave the Electoral College to Trump despite the popular vote for Hillary Clinton. Just a guess.

Balancing hobbies

So nice to take time off, but driverless never sleeps and to avoid Lucy-and-Ethel mind crushing mental experience of shoving metaphorical or actual chocolates in my mouth as they burst forth down the assembly line, I will be concentrating on driverless trends and what interests me. There's plenty of others speculating - 70 percent of driverless news - or reporting absolutely everything. Plus, I am also committed to finishing my 108 Breads project this year, which will require effort and assistance of friends who will serve as tasting committee for a significant challenge I have given myself for the last 14 or so breads. Project has achieved initial goals of (a) being busy as transitioned to empty nest and (b) learning about and experimenting with different doughs, pre-doughs, and bread making approaches. The empty nest is the new adolescence.

There's also a sudden burst of energy to do my artwork of paintings, collage, and book, so driverless has to fit in, but not obliterate, actual creative production ongoing in my small walk-in closet a/k/a art studio (sometimes using a sink elsewhere when water becomes necessary).

Catching Up

Just the updates for right now.

George Hotz and Comma.ai still aiming for late 2016 release for their gizmo to make existing cars turn into driverless ones (at least on the highways) and for gathering driver data with an app - Chafr.

First insurer to go all out with a policy for self-driving cars and partially driverless is in the UK.

Toronto council member pushing for plan for driverless buses. 

Why stop at a vehicle? There's a passenger drone, kind of a driverless helicopter, approved for testing in Nevada. Drone taxi anyone?

Speaking of flying, Google co-founder Larry Page is deep into inventing (and, presumably, selling, renting, or share-using) flying cars. The report claims this is easier to accomplish than driverless vehicles, but isn't flying way more three dimensional? Just to be clear, these would be self-flying. No pilot's license necessary. Beyond George Jetson.

I have to look at this more closely. The NHTSA Administrator has expressed in public the need for government guidelines that will allow innovation to proceed regarding self-driving vehicles. The word regulation was not used. Mark Rosekind emphasized that we need to improve our safety record and noted that we kill a large airplane's worth of people with human-operated vehicles every week - just in the US.

Comments on NHTSA comments.

And lots and lots of buzz about rumors that Uber will take over Daimler or some other auto manufacturer, partner with an auto manufacturer (maybe Fiat Chrysler, but other names mentioned), or be taken over. I'm not going to give a source because this is super easy to find. The one thing that is significant is the big pile of money from Saudi sources being put into Uber, whose valuation is - not actual value, I think - is higher than that of conventional car companies. I mention this because of Uber's substantial investment in and testing of driverless vehicles.

Is Tesla in denial?

Another Tesla crash and Tesla is again blaming the driver - after reviewing crash data. Fortunately, the crash was not serious; it happened when the car accelerated while parking. Similar Tesla argument as it has previously spouted, that the driver had switched off autopilot. When will Tesla learn that partially autonomous is a recipe for disaster? It is the company's fault, in my opinion, if it puts out a vehicle that was designed to "understand" how a sometimes software/sometimes human-controlled vehicle works without itself understanding and testing how humans would act in those circumstances. I'd like to write a brief for that plaintiff in the inevitable lawsuit - unless Tesla quietly settles soon, which is likely.

I'm also reading in various sources about GM CEO statements that the company is holding onto steering wheels, brakes and other human-operated equipment. I am presuming that GM is not as advanced as it would like to be and is likely jealous of the companies that are further along in this regard. A couple of years ago it was saying that driverless vehicles were decades away. Now it is investing billions and making deals. GM will stay wedded to the idea of steering wheels etc. until it has developed - or purchased a company that has developed - a fully autonomous vehicle without such human-operator equipment.

Singapore and England Reveal Ambitious Plans, but not California

Asia

Singapore has an ambitious, organized driverless plan that includes trials for trucks and transit  as well as mobility on demand - otherwise known as taxi, ride hailing, or Uber-like service. (Yes, I am starting to use "Uber" as a generic noun.)

One more piece of news from Asia is activity in China. Baidu is set to produce driverless buses to be ready for operation in 2018.

Europe

UK transport officials have met with Google staff multiple times about regulation that will allow driverless transportation on UK roads. Supposedly, England is forging ahead and intends to be a leader. I would add that the Telegraph is the best provider of journalism on the Google/UK topic.

And here is a boring Swiss video from Rinspeed with a very conventional looking car, though it has a retractable steering wheel. Also, it's a personal vehicle, complete with creepy "I'm helping you" - you, specifically - technology. Again, boring. I dare you to make it to the end of the video. I did not.

Step back in California?

California's proposed - not adopted yet - law would require a licensed human driver to be present in every driverless vehicle being operated. Do they not get the whole point of driverless transportation from calling a vehicle to pick up a friend at the station, to deliver pizza, or to park itself? And what about sending the driverless transit bus to the start of its route? I could go on.

If this bill passes, Google, Tesla, and others will concentrate their testing and - maybe soon - sales strategy in other states. Texas, Arizona, and Florida, for top-of-my-head examples, would love to welcome more driverless activity.

Tidbits

Ford to begin testing fully driverless cars on California roads. The car company is partnering with Pivotal Software.

Kia to do driverless testing in Nevada.

It's Like Brio Trains for Driverless Cars

Universities driving forward

Stanford University engineering students have produced a driverless DeLorean that combines the practical benefits of a conventional driverless car with the advantages of a race car, the ability to precisely swerve when necessary. The thinking of this research team is that driverless vehicles will confront abnormal and dangerous conditions from time to time and they will need the algorithms and the hardware to safely maneuver.

Also out West, a professor at the University of Nevada - Reno, successfully completed a driverless trip from the US border to Mexico City. No hands, ma, for 1500 miles of Mexican highways, city streets, and desert driving. This is not the first trip for Professor Rojas, who travels in a driverless Volkswagen. The professor holds a joint appointment at a German university.

Over in Scotland, more than pretty views

A Scottish company is working on technology that will enable connected cars to operate on an electric track - sounds like a train - but different and for cars.

States Elbowing to Lead the Way

I'm still getting back to this topic, but it seems states are popping up like crazy to join the driverless bandwagon. Currently, there are driverless vehicles either on the roads or soon to be in five states: California (Mountain View), Florida (Tampa), Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh), Nevada, and North Carolina (Fort Bragg).

Florida's governor is excited about driverless technology and he does not want to be left behind. Florida is getting in on autonomous features for driving on its roads.

Tampa will house the first driverless vehicle program for the public. Its Museum of Science and Industry will allow visitors to take a driverless ride starting this Saturday. 

South Carolina's city of Greenville wants to join in with the participation of Bob Jones University's engineering students.

Virginia's Tech Transportation Institute envisions cars with autonomous features on busy roads near Washington, DC in Northern Virginia. 

Nevada's governor is gung ho to be in the forefront of driverless vehicle adoption. There is already one driverless truck in the state.

Driverless Truck Testing at Hoover Dam

A driverless truck is being tested at Hoover Dam. What's interesting is that the testing is taking place on tight, winding roads. The truck is from Daimler Trucks. This is in Nevada, which already has a law permitting driverless vehicle testing on its roads. There is still a driver, who will act as a logistics manager of the truck, but on the first trip the driver actually kept his hands on the wheel. 

Last year, it was reported that the truck is expected to be available for sale in 2025. I'm thinking that by 2025 there will also be trucks without a logistics manager/driver. 

Utah is going further than any state in revamping its motor vehicle laws and road technology (such as traffic signals) to anticipate vehicle-to-vehicle technology of communications among vehicles. Trucks will be allowed to travel with less space between them, for example. These are considered steps on the way to an autonomous driving future.