“We are ready to go, basically could have been testing any time over the last couple of weeks, we were just waiting for this final approval,” said Karl Iagnemma, chief executive of nuTonomy. “It’ll start simple, it’ll be driving straight down the street at a low speed and then you build up the complexity from there.”
The company will start testing its modified Renault Zoe electric supermini in the Raymond L. Flynn Marine Park, a small and simple section of South Boston that includes many businesses, Iagnemma said. The marine park does not have traffic lights and is essentially a large loop, but the public roads do include bike lanes and plenty of commuters.
The car must have a driver at the wheel, ready to take over. NuTonomy has already mapped out the testing area, a necessary step for autonomous driving so the car’s software knows whether an object is a potential obstacle or part of the roadway. The company has been testing a self-driving taxi service in Singapore since earlier this year, but there are no plans for a similar set-up in Boston.
“The city of Boston has worked with nuTonomy and MassDOT for many months to ensure that autonomous vehicle testing is done in a safe and responsible manner in Boston,” said Gina Fiandaca, commissioner of the Boston Transportation Department.
This could prove to be just the start of things to come. A handful of auto giants and startups are eyeing tests in the Bay State. Toyota has set up a multimillion dollar research outpost in Cambridge, and has been mapping Cambridge streets. In neighboring Somerville, Audi and city officials are discussing how Audi can test in ways that go along with Somerville’s transportation plan, an expansion of an already announced plan to demonstrate self-driving capabilities at Assembly Row. Another local startup, Optimus Ride, has been testing on private property at an undisclosed location in the state.
Earlier this month, Uber made headlines when it refused to obtain a permit from California regulators for its self-driving cars, and eventually moved testing to Arizona.
When asked if Uber is also considering Boston for self-driving cars, a Walsh administration spokeswoman would only say “the city is conducting conversations with many companies.”
While companies are already testing self-driving cars in San Francisco, Pittsburgh and Michigan, Boston could be one of the most coveted places to test because it will be difficult, said Bill Messner, a robotics professor at Tufts University.
“Boston is in fact one of the most challenging places to test. No. 1 is weather and No. 2 is the crazy street layout we have,” Messner said.
He said self-driving cars are coming, and it’s far better to be involved in their development than to sit idly by.
“It’s a great thing for our city and our state,” he said. “It’ll change the world, and we’ll have influence on it.”
©2016 the Boston Herald Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
