San Francisco launches driverless bus service following robotaxi expansion

SAN FRANCISCO –

First got here the robotaxis. Then the driverless buses arrived.

San Francisco has launched an autonomous shuttle service — lower than per week after California regulators authorized the growth of robotaxis regardless of visitors and security considerations.

The free shuttle will run every day in a set route known as the Loop round Treasure Island, the location of a former U.S. Navy base in the course of San Francisco Bay. The Loop makes seven stops, connecting residential neighborhoods with shops and neighborhood facilities. About 2,000 folks reside on the island.

The all-electric car, which does not have a driver’s seat or steering wheel, is staffed with an attendant who can drive the bus with a handheld controller if crucial. The county is providing the shuttle service as a part of a grant-funded pilot program to evaluate how autonomous automobiles can complement the general public transit system.

“Having the attendant on board makes everyone feel comfortable,” stated Tilly Chang, government director of the San Francisco County Transportation Authority. “This is just a demonstration for now to see, what does it look like and how does it work to have a driverless shuttle in a low-volume, low-speed environment?”

San Francisco is considered one of a rising variety of cities worldwide which can be testing the security and potential of self-driving automobiles to rework public transportation.

The shuttles are operated by Beep, an Orlando, Florida-based firm that has run related pilot packages in additional than a dozen U.S. communities, together with service on the Miami Zoo, Mayo Clinic and Yellowstone National Park.

“These shuttles are built for first-mile, last-mile, short connectivity routes. They’re not intended to take the place of a bus system,” stated Beep mission supervisor Shelley Caran. “The autonomous vehicle will have a better reaction time than a human and it will offer a more reliable service because they won’t be distracted.”

During a check experience Wednesday, the shuttle drove slowly and cautiously in autonomous mode. An attendant manually steered the car round a utility truck that blocked a part of the street.

“I didn’t feel unsafe,” stated Dominic Lucchesi, an Oakland resident who was among the many first to experience the autonomous shuttle. “I thought that it made some abrupt stops, but otherwise I felt like I was riding any other bus for the most part.”

The boxy shuttle, which might sit as much as 10 passengers, will function 9 a.m. to six p.m. on daily basis and circle the Loop each 20 minutes. The metropolis has two shuttles — one can cost whereas the opposite ferries passengers.

The autonomous shuttle pilot mission was launched after the California Public Utilities Commission voted to permit two rival robotaxi corporations, Cruise and Waymo, to supply around-the-clock passenger service in San Francisco.

The approval got here regardless of widespread complaints that the driverless taxis make sudden stops, trigger visitors backups and block emergency automobiles. On Wednesday, the town requested the fee to pause the robotaxi growth.

Cruise, a subsidiary of General Motors, reported on social media that considered one of its robotaxis crashed right into a metropolis hearth truck Thursday evening, sending one passenger to the hospital.

Experts do not anticipate the identical issues with driverless buses as a result of they’re anticipated to be staffed with drivers or attendants for the foreseeable future.

“Trained operators are going to be required even as we increase automation,” stated Nikolas Martelaro, autonomous-vehicle researcher at Carnegie Mellon University. “So the question there may not be how worried should someone be about losing their job versus what should they be thinking about the potential training that’s required.”

Autonomous driving expertise might make buses safer, however requiring drivers or attendants on-board might undermine considered one of their perceived benefits: lowered labor prices.

“We still have to find a market for them,” stated Art Guzzetti, vp on the American Public Transportation Association. “We’re doing it to make the trip better, more efficient, not to take the worker’s job.”