In an early push to bring autonomous driving to public transit, Burlingame-based electric bus maker Proterra this month will begin testing autonomous features on buses running through Reno, Nev.
The pilot program will be among the first in the country to introduce driverless technology into a metropolitan transit system, and will include a suite of sensors and other hardware and software to collect data.
One key piece of the transit system — the bus driver — will remain behind the wheel.
Proterra enters the field as transit agencies begin to look at ways to bring autonomous features into service. Bus routes offer advantages — regular, predictable circuits — and challenges — dense urban streets, along with heavy and unpredictable vehicle and pedestrian traffic.
The pilot program brings driver-assist technology found in luxury vehicles to the common city bus. It’s a trend expected to spread far and wide. An IHS Automotive study last year estimated that by 2035, nearly 76 million vehicles worldwide would have some level of autonomy.
A pilot program in Las Vegas is also testing driverless technology on short routes, said Art Guzzetti, vice president for policy at the American Public Transportation Association. Several other cities, including Oakland, Phoenix, Tampa and Jacksonville, Fla. are developing plans for autonomous service, he said.
“It’s a trend at the very early stages” Guzzetti said.
The technology still faces challenges getting vehicles to communicate with each other and sensors placed on infrastructure. Regulators are still developing a legal framework to allow the safe introduction of autonomous technology to U.S. roads.
In Reno, the first phase of the pilot project will focus on collecting data with advanced cameras and sensors on the bus, and a network of lidar and other data-gathering hardware installed along the route. Researchers recently installed equipment on a Proterra bus that runs along a main commercial district in Reno.
Eventually, researchers plan to use the information to develop and bring to market a driverless system for transit buses.
Researchers say the goal is to make public transit more efficient and safe. Ultimately, it could push drivers out from behind the wheel into different, customer service roles.
Transit authorities may prefer to have a driver on board for safety and service, said Matt Horton, chief commercial officer of Proterra.
“We’re not going to move any faster than our customers want us to,” he said.
The project is a collaboration with researchers at the University of Nevada Reno and the German Fraunhofer Institute for Transportation and Infrastructure Systems IVI, along with the Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County, which includes Reno.
Proterra builds all-electric buses with ranges tested up to 350 miles on a charge. The startup has sold more than 100 vehicles to transit authorities across the country, including the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority and services in Seattle, Chicago and Philadelphia.
