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Uber could be offering autonomous rides in California in the future, thanks to a pilot test of completely driverless shuttles and some friendly legislation.
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The vehicles are EasyMile EZ10s, 12-person electric shuttles capable of driving at speeds up to 30 mph without an operator. Like Uber’s self-driving Volvos, which are already giving rides in Pittsburgh and Arizona, the EZ10s use cameras, lidar, and highly accurate GPS sensors. But the EZ10 does not have a human safety driver or even a steering wheel on board, relying instead on fleet-management software for remote monitoring and control.
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Two of the $ 250,000 EZ10s have just started testing at the Bishop Ranch business park in San Ramon, 35 miles east of San Francisco, after completing tests at GoMentum Station, an autonomous-vehicle testing center on an old naval weapons base in nearby Concord. Ultimately, the business park wants driverless shuttles to transport workers to and from transit stops, reducing road and parking congestion.
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The local Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) is running the tests, and early last year CCTA executive director Randell Iwasaki approached Uber to see if the company was interested in the project.
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-— Bryant Walker Smith, University of South Carolina
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“We’re always looking for first- and last-mile connectivity,” he said. “We’re trying to find the sweet spot between the number of the shuttles and the penetration” of transportation network companies like Uber and Lyft.
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According to documents obtained by Car and Driver under public-records legislation, Uber met with representatives of the CCTA last February. In an email to Kellyn Blossom, Uber’s head of public policy for the West Coast, Iwasaki wrote: “I am really intrigued by a potential collaboration with our [EasyMile] first-mile/last-mile concept. We are looking for a partner to provide an iOS solution.”
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EasyMile shuttle rides could be integrated into Uber’s smartphone app, perhaps as part of UberPOOL, the company’s fixed-fare dynamic carpool service that matches multiple riders headed in the same direction. In May, a mobility manager working for CCTA proposed using UberPOOL to channel financial incentives to local residents for using the service for work-related trips. The agency also met with Apple in September to discuss “commute alternatives” such as ride sharing and carpooling.
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Uber said it does not currently have a partnership with Bishop Ranch, but the business park could be attractive to the company, because it is the only place in California where autonomous vehicles are allowed to drive on public roads without human safety drivers. Last fall, the California assembly passed a bill that permits the testing of autonomous vehicles that operate without a driver, steering wheel, brake pedal, or accelerator—but only at Bishop Ranch.
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“This partnership would make sense,” commented Bryant Walker-Smith, a law professor at the University of South Carolina and an expert in the regulation of automated vehicles. “Uber understands where people are, where they want to go, and where vehicles should be positioned accordingly. The effective deployment of automated-vehicle fleets will depend on this kind of data and algorithms. Other researchers have explored how automated ride sharing could work in cities like New York and Singapore. Bishop Ranch is obviously much smaller, but it’s a place to start.”
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- Bye Bye Buses, Hello Autonomous Shuttles?
- Uber Safety Driver: No Time to React before Autonomous Crash
- Self-Driving Ubers Hit San Francisco Roadblock on Day One of Tests
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If the autonomous rides do happen, it will be Uber’s second attempt in California. The company started giving rides in self-driving Volvos in San Francisco last December, but the California Department of Motor Vehicles quickly canceled their registrations because the company refused to apply for a testing permit and after one of its cars was spotted running a red light. Uber now has a permit, under which its cars are not allowed to pick up passengers.
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EasyMile’s shuttles also need a DMV permit, which Iwasaki is about to apply for. The CCTA expects to start transporting workers around the business park later this year. “If the pilot works out, we’re going to roll a lot of these vehicles out to provide first- and last-mile connectivity,” said Iwasaki. “And if it works here, it can probably work in any other city in America.”
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