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Ford pilot uses self-driving shuttles to deliver food to Detroit seniors
Ford is launching a pilot project that will have self-driving shuttles bring food to Detroit seniors in need.
Toyota's self-driving shuttles return to the Paralympics following crash
Toyota is once again running its self-driving e-Palette vehicles at the Paralympics following a collision with a pedestrian.
Toronto will test Olli driverless shuttles to boost its transit system
Toronto is exploring autonomous transit by testing Olli driverless shuttles in spring 2021.
EasyMile forced to suspend autonomous shuttle rides in 10 US states
US vehicle safety regulators have suspended operations for autonomous shuttle company EasyMile after a passenger in Ohio was injured in a braking incident last week. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the battery-powered bus service will be halted in 10 US states while it investigates "safety issues related to both vehicle technology and operations."
Cruise's self-driving electric shuttle is made for ridesharing
Cruise still isn't ready to say when its autonomous vehicle will be available, but now it's shown off the Origin, a GM-built electric shuttle van that doesn't have a steering wheel or pedals. Instead it's fully self-driving, intended to be a shareable, modular vehicle that can handle being on the road all the time. It's basically a minibus, with three seats at each end that face each other and split sliding doors that open up like a subway car. Cruise hasn't revealed details like the battery capacity or cost, but claims that "the average San Franciscan household driving themselves or using ridesharing" will see savings of $5,000 per year thanks to the vehicle. According to execs, more information on manufacturing for this "production" vehicle will be coming soon. Also, because of its modular design, they think it will be better suited for use as a robotaxi than regular passenger cars, and that its sensors will have "superhuman" ability to spot pedestrians and navigate in bad weather. They claim it's "what you'd build if there were no cars." Lofty promises -- hopefully we'll find out soon how the company plans to fulfill them. Others, including Ford, Waymo, Uber and Tesla, just to name a few, are also chasing the autonomous-cars-as-a-service model in different ways, and it's still unclear who may get their first.
VW will roll out self-driving electric shuttles in Qatar's capital
If you visit Qatar in the next few years, you might find yourself riding in a driverless vehicle. Volkswagen and Qatar have struck a deal that will bring self-driving electric vehicles to the public transportation network in the capital city of Doha before the end of 2022. A total of 35 autonomous ID Buzz vans will carry up to four people each on semi-fixed routes in the Westbay area, while Scania buses will handle larger groups. VW's MOIA and Audi's AID will handle the software needed to run the service.
Via's on-demand van service comes to Apple's backyard
Via's on-demand vans have been available in a handful of cities, but now the company is aiming for a particularly obvious market: Silicon Valley commuters. The city of Cupertino and Via are launching an alternative public transportation network on October 29th that will let locals hail a Mercedes shuttle van to travel within the city, including to and from Apple Park -- helpful for staff who want a relatively inexpensive ride to work. You'll also find a "satellite zone" of service around the Sunnyvale CalTrain station to help commuters complete their trips.
NYC's first self-driving shuttle service launches tomorrow
Beginning tomorrow, Optimus Ride will run six autonomous shuttles in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. While other companies have tested self-driving shuttles in New York City, Optimus Ride claims this is the first self-driving vehicle system to launch in both the city and the state. Optimus Ride has an advantage in that it's operating on private roads, so it does not have to wait for DMV approval, as companies like GM and Audi have.
Optimus Ride is testing its self-driving shuttle in the Brooklyn Navy Yard
New York City is getting a self-driving shuttle, sort of. Optimus Ride announced plans to deploy its self-driving system at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in the second quarter of this year. The vehicles will run in a closed loop on the Navy Yard's private roads. While this is a far cry from self-driving shuttles weaving through Times Square, the company claims this is first commercial self-driving vehicle program in the state of New York.
Ford’s Chariot shuttle service will shut down in March
Ford acquired transportation startup Chariot in 2016 and the service currently operates in 10 US cities and London. But Chariot will soon be no more, as it announced that it's ceasing all operations by the end of March. "Chariot was built on a commitment to help reduce congestion, ease the commute and improve quality of life in cities, and since our start, we have provided our customers with more than 3 million rides," the company said in a statement. "We are truly grateful to our commuters, enterprise customers and partners for your support over the past five years."
Ohio's first self-driving shuttle service begins on December 10th
Ohio wants to be a haven for self-driving cars, and it's already acting on those plans... if slowly. Smart Columbus and DriveOhio have announced that the state's first autonomous shuttle service, Smart Circuit, will launch in Columbus on December 10th. It's not a terribly ambitious route. Three May Mobility vehicles will cover a 1.5-mile loop around the Scioto Mile between 6AM and 10PM, with departures from each of the four stops every 10 minutes. There's a human backup driver onboard, too. However, rides are free. So long as you're not in a hurry (the shuttles drive at a modest 25MPH) and can take one of the four available seats, it won't hurt to hop aboard.
SpaceX readies its spacecraft and astronauts for crewed missions
SpaceX's priority is to get humans into space. Eventually, some of those people will end up on Mars. For now, the rocket-launching company needs to work on getting astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). To that end, it recently showed off the hardware and astronauts that'll be part of the historical mission.
Riding an autonomous shuttle through Times Square was reassuringly boring
Yesterday afternoon, I rode an autonomous shuttle down a short section of Broadway in the heart of Times Square, and it was easily the most boring part of my day. I'm not saying that because my life is particularly exciting, either. The trip was boring because everything inside the Coast Autonomous P-1 worked exactly the way it was supposed to: The shuttle crawled up to a barricade on 47th Street, paused for a bit, and scooted back in the opposite direction toward 48th. In this case, the vehicle wasn't completely autonomous -- Coast CTO Pierre Lefevre manually started each leg of a trip with an Xbox Elite controller -- but the P-1 navigated its surroundings all own its own.
NYT: Apple teams up with VW for self-driving shuttle vans
Apple's Project Titan efforts to develop self-driving car technology apparently have found a partner in Volkswagen, according to a report by the New York Times. While the paper said the tech company has pursued deals with BMW and Mercedes, it will apparently turn VW T6 Transporter vans into self-driving shuttles for employees moving between its Silicon Valley offices. We've seen some test SUVs out and about before, but Apple has had bigger plans for the project and a reported 2019 target date, so getting more vehicles on the road will be important. Now the Times says the project is behind schedule, and there's no mention of angles like electric propulsion or spherical tires. As for the competition, Waymo has continued to expand with new partners and plans to roll out an autonomous service in the near future, while Uber has suspended its efforts in Arizona after a fatal crash and Elon Musk is busy arguing with reporters over what is or isn't news. And now it's time to find out what Apple can do.
Elon Musk's Boring Company to prioritize pedestrians over cars
While we ponder the state of hyperloop tunnel transportation, Elon Musk just updated the plan for The Boring Company. The tech exec tweeted out a new concept video that focuses on a shuttle instead of cars. The shuttle (seen briefly in the first Boring Company video) is intended to carry people and bikes, and Musk said that Boring Company's loop network would have "1000's of small stations the size of a single parking space."
Fisker unveils self-driving shuttle built for smart cities
Believe it or not, Fisker isn't just focused on upscale electric cars. The automaker has teamed up with China's Hakim Unique Group on the Orbit, a self-driving electric shuttle tailor-made for smart cities. There aren't many details, but it's clearly taking advantage of its driverless nature: the boxy design maximizes passenger space, and there's a huge digital display that tells commuters when the shuttle departs and what its next stop will be. You wouldn't have to twiddle your thumbs wondering whether or not you'll make it on time.
Las Vegas expands its self-driving shuttle tests this week
Las Vegas' initial self-driving shuttle trial clearly went well, as the city is coming back for another round. AAA and Vegas are launching a year-long trial on November 8th that will see one of Navya's shuttles drive a half-mile circuit in the downtown Fremont East district. It'll only make three stops each way, and it'll putter about at typical speeds between 10MPH and 15MPH, but it'll give you a chance to see how driverless mass transit works in real life for extended periods. The city has fitted traffic signals with wireless sensors to help them coordinate with the shuttle as it navigates the streets.
Apple's next self-driving phase is an employee shuttle
Apple famously planned to build an entire self-driving car, but abandoned that idea to focus on autonomous vehicle technology à la Uber and Waymo. Thanks to a New York Times report, we now know some of what happened and what Apple is doing now. It reportedly plans to test the tech by building a self-driving shuttle (called PAIL, for Palo Alto to Infinite Loop) that will take employees between its current campus and the new "Spaceship" HQ.
Self-driving shuttles are coming to the University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a hotbed for self-driving car research, so it stands to reason that students and faculty should use self-driving vehicles to get around, right? The university clearly thinks so. Mcity (the university's public-private partnership) is launching a free driverless shuttle service that will see two 15-passenger Navya Arma vehicles transport people between the university's North Campus Research Complex and the Lurie Engineering Center. This will make the 2-mile trip easier for travelers tired of taking campus buses, as you might guess, but it'll also serve as an experiment in its own right.
Ford-backed Bridj shuts down its on-demand shuttle service
When Ford backed the on-demand shuttle service Bridj, the future looked rosy: there would soon be a day where an economical trip to the airport involved just a few taps on your phone. However, it now looks like that vision will have to wait. Bridj has revealed that it's shutting down after failing to close a deal for a "sizable transaction" with a "major car company" (not necessarily Ford). Both sides expected to clinch the agreement, Bridj chief Matt George says, but it didn't go through.