Video Transcript
Recent setbacks with GM’s driverless taxi business unit have had some pondering the future of autonomous vehicle technology. Still, others feel that autonomous vehicles have a better purpose in very specific applications — namely those where the vehicles exist off main arteries and don’t interact with a lot of traffic.
We’re seeing that play out at the University of North Carolina – Charlotte, where an autonomous shuttle service has become something of a test bed for closed-loop driverless routes.
The program pairs UNC with driverless tech company Beep and is supported by the North Carolina Dept of Transportation. Beep has designed a boxy shuttle that’s being used to transfer students along a 2.2-mile circuit with six stops.
Uniquely, one of those stops is a light rail station, a method that’s enabled the transportation department to gain valuable data on how the autonomous shuttle is being used to support public transit from a “first mile, last mile” perspective.
Project officials believe there is a lot of opportunity within a geofenced area to provide these types of transit services on college campuses. And because small autonomous shuttles have undergone advancements in technology and versatility, their role in connecting to public transit could be vital in the future.
And in another nod toward the future, Beep chief experience officer Simon West believes creating network-wide functionality — including connected vehicles and intelligent traffic management — would make a full network of vehicles “vastly more intelligent.” In the meantime, the college campus efforts make “a great use case.”
