Autonomous shuttles will serve an entire district of the city

2023-08-22 18:32:36

The city of San Francisco (United States) will soon deploy driverless shuttles on its streets. The first to be able to enjoy the novelty will be the inhabitants of Treasure Island, an artificial island located in the bay of the city, reports Interesting Engineering relayed by Slate.

Today dependent on the bus and the ferry to reach the rest of the city, they will now be able to reach the mainland aboard these shuttles following a fixed route, called The Loop. The latter will consist of seven stops. The initiative aims, among other things, to “test how autonomous vehicles can improve public transport”, according to Interesting Engineering.

San Francisco is rolling out driverless buses. The shuttle service bus will make seven stops daily around Treasure Island and can sit up to 10 passengers. pic.twitter.com/yj5BeDIJxN

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Autonomous vehicles seen with a bad eye?

The project is managed by the company Beep and all the shuttles are electric. The vehicle’s autonomy is hard to miss: inside, there is no steering wheel or driver’s seat. Only a guide will be present in each of the shuttles to ensure the smooth running of the journey and take control of the vehicle if necessary.

However, this program does not necessarily make the joy of the inhabitants. San Francisco has already experimented with autonomous vehicles on its territory and things have not always gone well. In particular, residents accuse certain robot taxis of causing traffic jams or making untimely and dangerous stops on the road. One of them even hit a fire truck on Friday, injuring one.

The city still hopes that this new device will make it easier and more environmentally friendly to travel through San Francisco. always according to Interesting Engineering, the presence of the attendant in the shuttle will ensure passenger safety and avoid problems.