COLUMBUS - They’re calling it a glimpse into the future. The state of Ohio’s first self-driving shuttle is now open in Columbus.
“We’ve had an ambition to deploy self driving technology in our community in a shuttle setting,” says Jordan Davis, the director of Smart Columbus.
There’s a new way to get around Columbus, as Smart Columbus, with help from May Mobility, has launched autonomous driving around the state capitol.
Davis went on to say, “It’s really exciting, it’s something that we’ve been wanting to do for several years and it feels like a really significant milestone for us to reach today.”
Edwin Olson, CEO of May Mobility, says, “These cars have sensors all over them. They can see in every direction and so as they drive down the road, they’re tracking other cars. They’re making predictions about what other people are going to do and they drive accordingly.”
Smart Columbus used local and state money to get rolling and has a fleet of 6 cars, with 3 in operation at any given time. The route is a mile and a half loop with 4 stops, where passengers can expect a shuttle about every 10 minutes. The loop runs from the Smart Columbus building to Bicentennial Park to COSI and the National Veteran’s Memorial and Museum and back again.
“We think a lot about what the right routes are for the technology today and so there are some routes on a freeway or where the congestion is very high that wouldn’t be a good fit for the technology. This route, is one where we can do a lot of good and do it safely,” says Olson.
Davis adds, “We think that this is the perfect convergences of a location to connect residents and visitors to the area’s destinations but also to expose as many people as possible to the technology."
The shuttles top out at 25 miles per hour and take riders around Columbus seven days a week from 6am to 10pm.. Inside the vehicle, it looks and feels just like a normal car ride, with 4 seats in the back and room for a fifth next to the attendant up front. The attendant is there to answer any questions and explain the different stops, as well as take control of the driving if needed. However, Olson says that won’t always be a need.
“We will eventually reach the point where we don’t need a fleet attendant to monitor the vehicle’s systems at all,” says Olson.
It’s a small, but important step that Smart Columbus sees as opening to door to self-driving public transportation vehicles all over the country.
Davis says, “This is our start to deploying the technology in the Columbus region, hopefully in the state of Ohio, in places like Cleveland and around the country.”