Robot school buses, for example, would probably need someone to supervise the students. “You might not need that with freight, but passengers are the most precious cargo you can carry.” “You’re going to need a human being there to take care of the people,” Popple said. The Proterra project will be the first to take advantage of the Living Lab, a partnership of the university, the Washoe County Regional Transportation Commission, two state agencies and the cities of Reno, Sparks and Carson City. Companies and researchers developing autonomous vehicles will be able to test their creations on streets and highways selected by the partnership. The Regional Transportation Commission already runs Proterra buses. One is being equipped with cameras and lidar, the laser version of lidar used in most self-driving cars. Figuring out the right places to mount it on a full-size bus, however, is a little trickier.
“You can just throw a lidar on top of a car, and you’re good,” Kelley said. Self-driving buses have other unique considerations.įor example, Popple notes that any automated bus would have to carefully monitor passengers entering and exiting the doors.
To comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the bus would also need to work with passengers using wheelchairs or walkers. “Personally, I’m not comfortable yet with the idea that an ADA passenger could get on an autonomous vehicle, and that we could code for every possible disability,” Popple said. “You need to be able to move everyone, whether they’re physically or mentally disabled, or they’re really young, or they’re a senior.”Īnd yet, Popple believes that electric, autonomous buses will become an integral part of urban life, eventually.
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