Self-driving shuttle hits Las Vegas streets
Self-driving shuttle hits Las Vegas streets
By Carolyn SaidNovember 7, 2017 Updated: November 7, 2017
4:40pm
Auto club AAA Northern California, Nevada & Utah is
operating a fully self-driving shuttle along a half-mile loop in Las Vegas
starting Wednesday. Its sponsors say this the first self-driving vehicle in the
United States to offer rides to the public in live traffic, and the first to
tie into city infrastructure such as traffic signals. Photo: AAA Northern
California, Nevada & Utah
Las Vegas’ newest tourist attraction has nothing to do
with casinos, neon lights or Cirque du Soleil. It’s a driverless shuttle that
will make a half-mile loop all day long on city streets in the downtown Fremont
East district, starting Wednesday.
AAA of Northern California, Nevada & Utah is
sponsoring the yearlong pilot program along with two French companies: Keolis,
a global transportation company that already runs Las Vegas’ public bus system,
and Navya, which manufactures the driverless shuttle. The goal is twofold: to
expose the public to the futuristic technology and gain insights on how people
view it.
“Las Vegas prides itself on being first, getting out
there and trying out new things,” said city spokesman Jace Radke.
Its sponsors say this is the first self-driving vehicle
in the United States to offer rides to the public in live traffic, and the
first to tie into city infrastructure such as traffic signals. The shuttle will
receive wireless notification of whether lights are red, green or yellow, as
well as other information to help traffic flow. Keolis and Navya already run
similar shuttles in London, Paris and Lyon, France.
The bright-blue, all-electric, bubble-shaped vehicle,
which travels at 10 to 15 mph, has no steering wheel, accelerator or brake
pedals. It does have a video-game-like joystick controller, which an onboard
attendant can use if there’s a need for human control — if a stoplight is out
of service, for instance. But the attendant is primarily there to reassure
passengers, analogous to the role elevator operators used to play.
“People were initially skeptical of this new technology
to rapidly take them up flights of floors, so they had an attendant to ease
concerns,” AAA spokesman John Moreno said. “But all the attendant did was flip
a button and close the gate.”
The sponsors hope a quarter of a million people will hop
along during the year for a free ride. AAA will donate $1 for each passenger to
the Las Vegas Victims’ Fund established after the Oct. 1 mass shooting there.
“We chose Las Vegas because it’s the largest tourist
destination in the U.S.,” Moreno said. He hopes the shuttle will attract a
cross-section of people from all walks of life, all ages and all hometowns.
AAA and others have found in surveys that most consumers
take a cautious and skeptical attitude toward robot vehicles. The group will
survey passengers for their reactions via an onboard iPad and a website they
can visit afterward.
Keolis previously operated a driverless shuttle in Las
Vegas this year but within a limited course.
“We’re bringing the autonomous experience to a public
transit setting and giving multiple riders the opportunity to experience it,”
said Keolis spokesman Chris Barker. “People find it intriguing.”
The 15-foot-long shuttle, which holds eight passengers
wearing seat belts, is a nimbler alternative in midday than a 40-foot bus, he
said.
The shuttle is programmed to stop on a dime if it detects
a person, vehicle or animal in its pathway. But doesn’t that also make it
vulnerable to mischief-makers?
“It’s an issue; it’s a common thing that kids want to
prank it, and skateboarders dart in front,” said Moreno. “We’re working with
the city of Las Vegas to address it. We’re in brand-new territory; there’s no
current ordinance right now for that type of thing.”
In other words, it’s possible that “don’t tease the robot
shuttle” could become a new law.
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