Even as cities like Boston struggle to update aging mass-transit systems, new technology is poised to transform the way we get around. We’re getting a glimpse of that future in Providence, Rhode Island where self-driving shuttle buses are now navigating city streets.
Anyone can hop on board one of the new “Little Roady” shuttle buses. They’re small, about the size of a minivan, with small wheels and a big boxy frame that give them the look of an over-sized golf cart. There’s room for five passengers and an attendant, but not a driver, because — for the most part — this thing drives itself.
“The car makes all the decisions,” said Rob Carter, a site supervisor with May Mobility, the Michigan-based company that operates the shuttles. “It sees that no one is crossing the walk and it sees that the light is green, so now it starts to turn.”
He’s sitting in the attendant’s seat as the shuttle follows its 5.3-mile route through Providence. Every turn and traffic light is embedded in its navigation system. So are the passenger stops where the shuttle pulls over to the curb, on its own.
“It turns on its hazards to signal everybody from behind,” said Carter, “it’s pulling into the stop.”
Two months into a pilot project, the shuttles serve more than 100 riders a day. Several riders said it has made getting to work easier, and that they are used to the shuttle driving itself.
“I was a little nervous at first, to be honest with you,” said John Dias, who takes the shuttle to his office. “I haven’t heard any problems or seen any problems, so yeah, it works for me.”
A year ago, the headlines offered a sobering reminder that autonomous vehicles remain experimental when a self-driving Uber in Arizona hit and killed a pedestrian.
May Mobility says their shuttles are designed to function within the limits of existing technology and, above all, to be safe.
For starters, they move slowly, no more than 25 miles an hour. And attendants can — and do — take control. For instance, when we come upon a construction site the traffic light is green, a signal for the vehicle to go. Carter puts it into manual mode. He says the vehicle would have sensed the construction worker in the road and stopped. But it might have been a hard stop.
"Just so that we’re not getting close and keeping a safe distance, we would rather the attendant take over ahead of time,” explained Carter.
One of the striking features of the shuttle is an over-sized dashboard, which enables passengers to see whether the shuttle is in manual or autonomous mode. The dashboard display can also show what the shuttle’s sensors pick up.
“The sensors are pretty good at picking up unpredictability. In other words, they’ll pick up somebody that’s quickly running into the path,” said Peter Alvitti, Rhode Island’s director of transportation. “They’ll sense that and see the trajectory toward the front of the vehicle, or the side, or the back if it’s backing up, and it will react to it.”
But self-driving technology is still being developed. It’s one reason Alvitti wanted to get the vehicles on local roads. He sees the pilot project with May Mobility as a kind of real-life road test. The more miles the Little Roady shuttles log, the more information they’ll provide to improve the technology and to prepare the roads for what Alvitti says is a not-too-distant future when self-driving vehicles become the norm.
“As we rebuild bridges and roads that we hope will last for 100 years, we need to account for the technology that’s going to be needed to support this new innovation,” says Alvitti, “so we don’t have to rip them up and rebuild again.”
The Little Roady pilot program will last at least a year. May is also testing self-driving shuttles in three other cities: Detroit, Grand Rapids, Michigan and Columbus, Ohio.
This article has been updated.
