The concept of creating smart cities is gaining traction among a number of international cities and governments. Going beyond the basic idea of multiple Internet connected devices in the home, a smart city will integrate government, private sector and nonprofit institutions. How we experience entertainment, education, healthcare and even advertising will change. And for most locations, low-speed smart shuttles appear to be the first step.
Low-speed shuttles are designed to move people in dense, urban areas. They typically are not as large as a city bus, with some seating just a dozen passengers. With their smaller size, it’s possible for some low-speed shuttles to collect riders at their doorsteps, alleviating the problem of finding and getting to public transportation locations.
Among of the most appealing uses for low-speed shuttles is to help prevent social isolation among the elderly. Loneliness has been identified as a severe health risk for this population, with most of the problem caused by immobility. Low-speed shuttles make it possible for people to keep attending social events and visiting family, without the need for assistance.
It’s also possible to link a shuttle for the elderly with other institutions, such as school systems. Instead of keeping school buses idle most of the day, a more integrated approach would be to have a shuttle service that transports school children in the mornings and afternoons, but moves the elderly during the times between and afterward. This is where the integration of institutions and government in a smart city truly comes together.
There are a handful of small companies pioneering the low-speed shuttle movement, with two already operating full-time services in Europe. Navya makes an autonomous bus that carries 15 passengers. So far, it operates more than 20 full-time autonomous shuttle services at private locations and has had pilot programs in Switzerland and France. Easy Mile produces a 15-passenger shuttle called the EZ10. It is currently deployed in 20 countries across Asia-Pacific, Middle-East, North America and Europe.
Last Year, Easy Mile used the EZ10 to take journalists and stakeholders on a tour from Atlanta to Los Angeles to showcase the viability of self-driving vehicles. Paul Brubaker, former administrator for the U.S. Department of Transportation’s research arm – the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) and chief executive of ATI21.org, was among the tourists. You can watch a video of his impressions of the trip here.
Local Motors, based in Phoenix, Arizona, produces a shuttle called Olli that seats 8 passengers. Its autonomous technology is integrated with IBM Watson, allowing it to answer passenger questions about things to do and what to see. And instead of using set pick-up and drop-off locations, Olli allows riders to stand anywhere along its route to get a ride by using a smartphone app.
There are still a number of challenges to fully-autonomous shuttles taking the roads in the US anytime soon. Bipartisan bills are in the early stages of moving through Congress to address the need for a national framework that rapidly adapts to autonomous innovations, specifically the Self Drive Act and the AV Start Act, but changing the majority of regulations surrounding the manufacture of vehicles to be driverless-friendly will be a difficult task. For example, the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) provides the basis for manufacturing vehicles in the US. Almost all of its regulations were written around a driver seated in the front-left position using a steering wheel and pedals for braking and acceleration. These standards will restrain innovation for all fully-autonomous vehicles until they are updated.
In 2016, ATI21.org was responsible for the creation of a National Strategic Framework to move the US toward acceptance of fully-autonomous vehicles. It outlines the legal, political, security and cultural changes that need to take place before the technology can be fully-implemented. The framework was distributed to both major party candidate campaigns during the last presidential election and was shared with self-driving stakeholders across the transportation spectrum. The National Strategic Framework can be downloaded here.
For more information on self-driving shuttles, you can watch Paul’s video blog on self-driving shuttles by clicking here and please subscribe to the Transforming Mobility You Tube Channel.
