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Self-driving shuttles are ferrying COVID-19 tests at a Florida clinic
Drive-thru COVID-19 tests are only as safe and quick as the systems used to put those tests in the hands of clinics, and a new initiative in Jacksonville, Florida might just improve that weak link.
Las Vegas' self-driving bus crashes in first hour of service
Las Vegas' self-driving shuttle service marked its return by getting into a minor collision, according to local NBC station KSNV News 3. French startup Navya's autonomous electric vehicle shuffles at around 15 MPH on a 0.6 mile circuit in the downtown Fremont East district. But, just an hour into its year-long trial (which follows a successful stint in January) the shuttle was hit by a delivery truck that was backing up.
Navya puts its self-driving shuttle tech in an autonomous taxi
Uber and Lyft have been racing to apply autonomous technology to their ridesharing platforms, but Navya might have beat them in the race for the first self-driving taxi. Today, the company announced its Autonom Cab vehicle, which is built to haul up to six people around cities without a driver.
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.
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.
The autonomous shuttle hoping to transform public transport
A common criticism of self-driving vehicles is that many people, especially petrolheads, love getting behind the wheel and putting the pedal to the floor. It's true that some companies are developing autonomous replacements for the car on your driveway, but others are taking a slightly different approach. While the technology is still in its infancy, they're building driverless vehicles that supplement, rather than replace, traditional motors and public transport, with the idea being that they could ferry urbanites across short distances. An autonomous bus might sound less exciting than the recently rumored self-driving Apple car, but it could prove more useful and achievable, at least in the near future.
