Not Actually Too Long Blog Post #2

The second of two kitchen sink posts slammed between a major conference and a vacation.

Asia and down under

Transit in Japan - By 2020, Japan will be introducing regular AV transit service in rural and other areas where transit buses have been discontinued. Regulatory policies must first be put in place.

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.

The speedy AV shuttle is operating on public roads and will be tested as a South Australian university commuter bus. "Flinders Express, or FLEX, was unveiled in Adelaide on Tuesday to launch a five-year trial, transporting university students in southern suburbs." Another, more detailed, article from CIO, reports:

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.

Bye, Bye Bus Driver

Australia - A pilot transit bus - really a cute shuttle vehicle - is being tested in Perth. Hopes are to expand the 2.5-km/1.6-mile route if all goes well. This is not a relatively complex autonomous vehicle. It will go slowly and travel on a route with plenty of pedestrians to watch out and stop for. (I do not believe in avoiding finishing sentences with prepositions.) This project required a unique permit from the state government. 

Russia - Maybe it's the Putin-uber macho mystique, but Russia is (like the US Army) working on a driverless tank, or, as it is officially referred to, an armored vehicle. The tank can fit 10 soldiers and their gear, so it is also the first tiny driverless barracks. This video is like a combination of a bad car commercial and a bad the-vehicle-as-villain scary movie. 

It is truly a weird thing that I am reading any article from Popular Mechanics, but the worlds of mechanics, technology, and transportation are merging when it comes to autonomous vehicles.

And on the farm

It's not only soldiers whose jobs will be redefined or lost. We're doing away with farm hands as well, at least the ones holding onto to steering wheels. Driverless tractors are being perfected and soon to be sold to farmers everywhere. You will be able to use your i-pad or other tablet to start and monitor the tractor as it plants and does other stuff. (I'm from Brooklyn. Assume I know nothing about agricultural operations.) Warning: The video on the linked webpage is creepy.

The Russians, Chinese Are Coming in Driverless Buses, Pods

Russia plans to introduce a driverless bus. So far, it has been tested, presumably at low speeds, on private roads, such as campuses. The bus is low floor, and therefore accessible (I presume), and runs on electricity. No confirmation if the bus will be launched during the 2018 soccer World Cup games. Warning: Even insomniacs will fall asleep to this video.

Toronto wants driverless buses, or at least little shuttles

Though driverless vehicles - sans drivers - are not yet legal in Ontario, Toronto council members are hatching a plan for driverless transit. They will meet in mid-July to consider a report to plan driverless transit. Toronto was one of the first cities to designate a staff person to begin to look at the transformation that driverless transportation will bring.

Intel + MobilEye + BMW = ?

The three companies: a chipmaker, driverless player, and a traditional high-end car company, are teaming up. The question is whether the deal will push BMW ahead in the driverless car race. Bloomberg did a nice summary. More speculation and details are provided by Android Headlines (AH). I have not seen anything yet that would make me believe this is a game changer. 

Baidu chooses Chinese town as third of 10

Baidu has chosen an ancient Chinese town, a tourist magnet, for a driverless project with a route system. The company, known as the Chinese Google, is planning to introduce driverless vehicles to 10 cities. The ancient town of Wuzhen is the third to be announced. There is no date set for the launch of the demonstration projects.

Tesla fatal crash

To all of us who did not know the victim, the Tesla crash heard round the world is a piece of information, something to be fixed. To me, personally, the fatal crash demonstrates the dangerous and disingenuous game that the partially driverless vehicle plays. Human drivers, such as the victim, himself a big fan of his beloved Tesla autopilot, get lulled into complacency with each day's safe trip. One day, when daydreaming, watching a movie - as the "driver" was reportedly doing - or just staring out the window, but hardly paying attention to the road, the human is not driving or thinking about driving, when an instant you-must-pay-attention-right-now situation presents itself. We humans are not generally good at the split second jolt to action. The crash occurs before the driver knows what is happening, in that split second when he or she is processing information, before action is taken.

While Mobileye and Tesla hash out who was responsible in the press, presumably continuing into the courts unless the victim's family is placated with lots of money first, I hope that NHTSA, which will investigate, will take the opportunity to impose a black box requirement for driverless vehicles and also consider the great risks of the combination of the partially driverless vehicle and the human who is supposedly ready to drive.  

My condolences go out to the family of Joshua Brown. His death is a great sorrow to his family and friends. May they be comforted by memories of him.

Russian Driverless Trucks Hit the Roads

Russian driverless efforts are behind US, European, and Asian leaders, but the vast country is planning on testing driverless trucks soon. Plans are to first test the vehicles on European roads within the country and then expand onto its Asian roads. No word on Russian driverless cars or transit.

All this from Sputnik News, an actual publication. I have no idea about its reporting standards or journalistic integrity.