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Waymo announced in April it would begin testing its fifth-generation driver, called the Jaguar I-Pace, in central and east Austin. Some of those pilot testing locations included the downtown corridor, along Rainey Street, within the Market District, near the Texas State Capitol and in the Clarksville, Bouldin Creek and Holly neighborhoods. AUSTIN (KXAN) — Less than a year ago, General Motors’ Cruise announced it would bring “robotaxi” technology to Austin in the form of driverless rideshare services.
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But not everyone is thrilled with the emerging driverless technology. Raina Hornaday, a resident of the Pemberton Heights neighborhood, told KXAN the technology has been “disruptive” near her home since the cars first began driving through the neighborhood back in May. In downtown Austin, and the electric cars silently exit the parking lot one by one — but no one is behind the wheel of any of them. The Cruise depot is full of people preparing the cars for another night of road testing. Tribune journalists took a ride in one recently and answer the biggest questions about who’s driving the driverless trend and how the state regulates them.
Self-driving cars in Austin are getting in the way of emergency vehicles - Axios
Self-driving cars in Austin are getting in the way of emergency vehicles.
Posted: Tue, 03 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
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There aren’t the same number of variables that there are on city streets. You know, you can have a human driver, like a safety driver, who doesn’t actually steer but is still in the car, or you can not. You know, you can limit the numbers of them on the roads, but you can’t make the technology better in a regulatory way. A fleet of these self-driving cars has been giving rides to passengers in certain Austin neighborhoods these days. Cruise launched its hailing app in December after wrapping up testing. Between July 2021 and Aug. 15 of this year, the NHTSA documented 382 crashes involving autonomous vehicles.
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“So the fact that the state provides consistent policy across the state of Texas, I think is definitely favorable and accelerates the development of this technology,” Moffett said. Collin Moffett, a senior transportation planner at the North Central Texas Council of Governments, said that if every city created different regulations, the industry could face serious obstacles. Whether you have a question or want to report an issue, our team wants to hear from you. Cruise's path to autonomous driving creates opportunities for increased mobility and independence.
Austinites are complaining about robot cars. The city can't do anything to regulate them. - KUT
Austinites are complaining about robot cars. The city can't do anything to regulate them..
Posted: Thu, 07 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Less skeptical since before you started reporting on it, and yet Cruise itself says it needs to rebuild confidence. And I’m wondering if your confidence has been shaken, given some of these reports of Cruise vehicles being seen going the wrong way down city streets – you know, without an accident. Cruise began testing the cars in San Francisco in 2020 and is now offering a ride-hailing service there. The cars have had their fair share of issues — including dropping off and picking up passengers in traffic lanes. In another report from Sept. 14, a driver who witnessed a near-miss involving AVs reported to the department that he and his wife were stopped at the intersection of E. 11th St. and the Interstate 35 frontage road when a large group of emergency vehicles raced past them.
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The company started offering public rides in February this year, and it started charging fares in June. Austin technology giant National Instruments (which has rebranded to NI) has increasingly been making bets on autonomous vehicle and safety technology, entering into two deals related to the technology last year. NI acquired Austin-based monoDrive, a startup that specializes in autonomous vehicle simulations, and also announced it was entering a strategic collaboration with engineering simulation company Ansys. We’re reintroducing a small fleet of manually-operated vehicles to begin mapping with trained safety drivers behind the wheel. Cruise is far from the only autonomous car company testing in Austin.
In some cases police officers responded to direct traffic around the vehicles until company employees arrived to move the stranded vehicles. In Texas, autonomous vehicles are regulated under a law passed in 2017 that allows vehicles to operate without a driver inside, although prior to that no law prohibited autonomous vehicles. Austin-based automaker Tesla has also been developing self-driving technology that is likely being used in Austin. The company has been letting some of its drivers test an advanced driver assistance system called "full self driving" technology, designed to navigate, steer, accelerate and brake on local roads. Some of the many Tesla vehicles driving around Austin could be part of the program. The city was also previously being used by Ford and Argo AI to test self-driving technology including rideshare and delivery services, before Argo AI shut down last year.
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The AV frequently drove slower than the vehicles around us, but at times it took corners very quickly. “It will initially be small-scale, but driverless and revenue generating with scaled operations to follow next year,” Vogt said. He said in Phoenix the company is building off an existing partnership it has with Walmart for delivery services.
“Simply put, cities in Texas cannot regulate autonomous vehicles,” Richard Mendoza, the interim director of Austin’s Transportation and Public Works Department, wrote in the Sept. 1 memo. According to the Texas Department of Transportation, multiple companies are testing and operating driverless vehicles “as passenger, freight and personal delivery devices” all over the state. The list includes Kodiak, Aurora, Waabi, Torc, Plus.AI, Gatik, Cruise, Volkswagen, Waymo, Starship, Kiwibot, Coco, Refraction.AI, Nuro, and Clevon.
San Francisco-based Cruise, which is owned by General Motors, says it it has started ramping up its operations in Austin, with plans to offer robo-taxi services in Austin and Phoenix by the end of the year. The company joins other autonomous vehicles that have been testing or operating in Austin, including Ford and Argo AI. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) started its investigation by saying that the cars may not be exercising caution around pedestrians. A Cruise spokesperson said its safety record is "outperforming" human drivers and that the company is complying with information requests from the federal government. The company is currently mapping the streets of Austin and will soon start testing the vehicles. The software will run simulations based on mapped models, and the cars will navigate around the streets with safety drivers monitoring from behind the wheel.
The company said it did have to go through a regulatory process on the local, state and federal levels to operate. The company said its cars have driven 700,000 driverless miles without any fatalities or any accidents with serious injuries. “Everything from ‘I was a pedestrian, cyclist or in a car myself and a Cruise car almost hit me,’ to ‘a Cruise car has stopped in the middle of an intersection,’ or ‘several cars have stopped.' There was a fear." Self-driving car company Cruise has suspended operations nationwide, including in Austin.
Cruise cars that are being operated by humans will still be on the roads. It’s unclear whether any owner of an automated driving system operating in Texas has been fined for any incident. The state agencies contacted for this story and the Austin Public Works and Transportation Department said they didn’t have information about fines or referred the Tribune to another agency. The agency said the crashes involved Cruise vehicles that may have been braking abruptly or stopping unexpectedly, causing them to be hit from behind by other vehicles. Austin was chosen in part because of similarities between the streets of San Francisco and the streets in downtown Austin. The company expects to expand the service to other cities around the country.
Ford and Argo AI have established several partnerships to test autonomous technology in Austin. The companies are working with ride-hailing service Lyft, with plans to allow customers in defined service areas to select one of the self-driving vehicles when ordering a ride. The initial rollout for the program is expected be limited, with fewer than 100 vehicles between Austin and Miami where the company is also testing the program.
The company also clarified in the same post thread that the decision was not related to any new on-road incidents and that supervised autonomous vehicle operations will continue. A Cruise spokesperson said the decision isn't part of any regulatory issues, but instead a proactive approach to rebuild trust with the public. This comes after a federal investigation was launched into the company after a pair of crashes, including one in San Francisco that left a pedestrian critically injured. Local news channel KVUE also outlined a separate incident that occurred earlier this week involving a Cruise vehicle stopped in an intersection. That incident caught the eye of Austin City Council Member Zohaib Qadri. Qadri called both incidents "a mess" and expressed plans to voice his safety concerns at the next mobility council meeting.
Robotaxis haven't enjoyed the best public image over the past year. From unmanned traffic jams to protestors condoning straight-up vandalism against cars, both Cruise and Waymo have had a rough start in San Francisco. So much so that the officials who granted them seemingly unfettered access to the city have reined in the driverless cars to avoid further public outcry, at least for the time being.
After his ride, he watched the car stop midturn to wait for a pedestrian crossing the street. Imagine using a ride-hailing app to get a lift in Central Austin and seeing a white car with black and red accents pull up. Suddenly, the steering wheel begins moving on its own, and the car takes off.
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