Atlanta will be testing for self-driving vehicles...
A bustling city street filled with cars, buses,
bicyclists and college students in the heart of Atlanta is being eyed as a
real-world proving ground for self-driving vehicles
By JEFF MARTIN Associated Press Feb 20, 3:15 AM EST
ATLANTA (AP) -- Self-driving vehicles could begin tooling
down a bustling Atlanta street full of cars, buses, bicyclists and college
students, as the city vies with other communities nationwide to test the
emerging technology.
Atlanta would become one of the largest urban areas for
testing self-driving vehicles if plans come together for a demonstration as
early as September.
Nationwide, 10 sites were designated last month as
"proving grounds" for automated vehicles by the U.S. Department of
Transportation.
They include North Carolina turnpikes, the eastern Iowa
prairie and a Michigan site where World War II bombing aircraft were produced
in a factory built by automobile pioneer Henry Ford. Atlanta isn't on the list,
but city officials nevertheless hope to make an impact.
Backers of driverless cars say they could be part of a
broader effort to rebuild the nation's infrastructure, something President
Donald Trump has pledged to do. As roads and highways are rebuilt, "we
think it would be very, very wise to build modern infrastructure with
21st-century capability in mind," said Paul Brubaker, president and CEO of
the Washington, D.C.-based Alliance for Transportation Innovation.
Self-driving vehicles, he said, "should be a
national priority."
The Trump administration hasn't revealed its approach to
the technology, but two U.S. senators this month announced a bipartisan effort
to help speed deployment of the vehicles on the nation's roads. Republican John
Thune of South Dakota and Democrat Gary Peters of Michigan said they're
considering legislation that "clears hurdles and advances innovation in
self-driving vehicle technology."
Atlanta has sought proposals from companies for a
demonstration of an autonomous vehicle on North Avenue later this year, city
documents show.
The street, which connects the Georgia Institute of
Technology campus to some of the South's tallest skyscrapers, would be among
the busiest urban environments yet for such testing.
In Atlanta, city officials say a key goal is to create
optimal conditions on North Avenue for such vehicles to operate.
The goal of September's demonstration is to show how such
a vehicle would navigate in real-world traffic, though a driver will be inside
and can take the controls if needed, said Faye DiMassimo, an Atlanta official
involved in the North Avenue project.
"We still think that autonomous vehicles are sort of
'The Jetsons,' right?"
DiMassimo said. "When you looked at all the
information, you realize not only is this here and now, this has been in
development for quite some time."
North Avenue would first be equipped with devices and
sensors, enabling vehicles to communicate with traffic signals and warning
self-driving cars of red lights or treacherous conditions such as snow or ice,
the city documents show.
Cameras would provide live video of traffic, and
computers would analyze data on road conditions, concerts or other events
likely to clog streets.
Security is a key concern, however.
"Imagine if these vehicles were hacked. Imagine if
the system that controls them were hacked," said Jamie Court, president of
Consumer Watchdog.
"I don't think our society is going to want a robot
glitch or a software hack to be responsible for mass deaths," he said.
"If we sanction robots controlling these vehicles without really knowing
the risks, I think the technology will go under when the first major
catastrophe befalls us."
Court's group worked with California transportation
officials as they developed rules for testing vehicles developed by Google and
other companies. Now, Court and others are watching to see how often human
drivers must take over to prevent accidents as vehicles are tested in
California.
Tying together massive amounts of data from so many
sources "will pose myriad security challenges," Atlanta Mayor Kasim
Reed acknowledged in a report last year on a related initiative to transform
Atlanta into a "smart city." Researchers at Georgia Tech, Reed said,
will be key to that effort.
Public acceptance of the vehicles is among the main
challenges to their widespread use on city streets and highways, Brubaker said.
He and others see Atlanta as a logical base for the
emerging industry.
Atlanta's notorious traffic congestion could lead
residents to welcome such vehicles, Brubaker said.
"In any city that has that level of congestion,
people have a relatively open mind to embracing technology solutions that will
improve the traffic flow," Brubaker said.
However, critics say the cars are not yet able to safely
navigate clogged streets with traditional cars and pedestrians.
"The technology really is not ready to be used on
urban streets, unless they are going to be cleared of human drivers and
dedicated strictly to autonomous vehicles," Court said.
"The real problem is these technologies tend to fail
when they're around pedestrians, cyclists, human drivers," Court said. The
key obstacle, he
said: "human behavior is really unpredictable."
At one North Avenue intersection near Georgia Tech's
football stadium, "students tend to jaywalk, so it can get a little bit
messy over there,"
said Georgia Tech student Maura Currie, 19. She called it
"a hectic stretch of road."
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