Autonomous Vehicles

Pittsburg, Calif., has hopped aboard a preliminary plan calling for a transit system that uses driverless electric cars to shuttle passengers to and from bus and Amtrak stations in East Contra Costa County.

A leading auto industry advocacy group is calling upon automakers to outfit their semi-autonomous vehicles with driver monitoring technology and to clarify messaging so as not to mislead consumers.

A three-month pilot project to test small, electric autonomous shuttles in North Carolina launched at the Wright Brothers National Memorial at Kill Devil Hills. The project will inform other driverless initiatives in the state.

Local governments found themselves with pressing needs during the pandemic, and pilot programs testing automated shuttles stepped up to help — for example, by delivering COVID-19 tests and meals.

Minnesota’s Connected and Automated Vehicle Alliance is developing a privacy and security framework to help guide current and future smart transportation infrastructure and vehicle projects.

As autonomous vehicle testing advances without cohesive federal guidelines, companies are operating under inconsistent or nonexistent rules for how and whether a vehicle is monitored and controlled on the road.

The use of robots from companies like Starship Technologies for last-mile deliveries skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and legislators would do well to make them easier to deploy on city sidewalks.

The two companies are working to build a line of fully integrated electric vehicles. Optimus Ride had previously modified around 30 Polaris vehicles with autonomous vehicle technology systems.

The city has kicked off an innovative pilot that uses autonomous vehicles to provide on-demand transit services. The project, which has been named RAPID, involves several partners.

The GM-backed company logged more than 770,000 miles last year, while its rival Waymo LLC drove just under 629,000. Both drove hundreds of thousands of miles more than other top brands in the space.

A group of nearly four-dozen automakers, industry advocacy groups and corporations sent a letter to Congressional leaders urging action on legislation that would allow for greater deployment of autonomous vehicles.

The Xcelsior AV — an electric, autonomous transit bus, developed by New Flyer and Robotic Research — is headed for testing in a pilot project with the Connecticut Department of Transportation.

In an interview with a German business magazine, Waymo CEO John Krafcik took aim at Tesla’s approach to developing fully autonomous cars, saying driver-assistance systems could not simply evolve into full autonomy.

A bill that is currently under discussion by the Iowa state Legislature would allow a type of vehicle, which employs automated driving technology, to deliver packages to customers who opt-in to the service.