It might be fun to imagine a a world filled with self-driving cars, reducing traffic and improving safety with one silver bullet. The more realistic short-term scenario, however, deploys low-speed, self-driving buses on private campuses.
According to an article by Nathaniel Mott, "while much of the focus has been on personal vehicles, public transit is more than likely going to be where we see [autonomous vehicle technology] adopted sooner."
To back that claim, Mott focuses on the self-driving bus project called Olli, interviewing project manager Jonathan Garrett. Olli is the work of Local Motors, a vehicle technology company located in Phoenix, Knoxville and National Harbor.
In the interview, Garrett explains why Local Motors chose a bus for the Olli project:
One of the reasons we’re tackling a low-speed, shared-use vehicle is because it’s easier to deploy. Being classified as a low-speed vehicle means you don’t have to meet certain regulatory requirements and you can operate much more easily on private campuses. So you’re going to see it in environments like that.
Garrett also talks about self-driving buses as a first-last mile solution for transit, the potential of self-driving technology in rural areas, the potential cybersecurity risks of autonomous vehicles, and more.
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