Las Vegas is expanding its self-driving shuttle experiment (Including update)

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Three stops on a 0.6-mile loop downtown
Three stops on a 0.6-mile loop downtown
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www.forbes.com
Jim Gorzelany, CONTRIBUTOR

Updated: Las Vegas’ Self-Driving Shuttle Service Crashes In First Hour Of Service

Update: In only its first hour of service, Las Vegas’ driverless shuttle got into a minor collision with a delivery truck that was backing up.

None of the shuttle’s eight riders were injured, nor was the truck driver; the shuttle’s front bumper reportedly bore the brunt of the damage. A representative of AAA on Twitter attributed the accident to “human error.” According to an official statement posted by Las Vegas City, “the autonomous shuttle was testing today when it was grazed by a delivery truck downtown. The shuttle did what it was supposed to do, in that its sensors registered the truck and the shuttle stopped to avoid the accident. Unfortunately, the delivery truck did not stop and grazed the front fender of the shuttle.” Read entire article…
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Original post from:
theverge.com
by Andrew J. Hawkins@andyjayhawk Nov 6, 2017, 3:40pm EST

The city of Las Vegas is expanding its experiment with autonomous technology, offering members of the public free rides on a self-driving shuttle bus making stops in the city’s congested downtown. The shuttle will only make three stops on its 0.6-mile loop, but its operators are calling it “the largest self-driving pilot project in the US.”

The shuttle, which is designed by a French startup called Navya, can seat up to eight passengers, including a safety driver. So while the vehicle’s hardware and software will be handling all the driving operations, it won’t literally be a “driverless” experience.

IT WON’T LITERALLY BE A “DRIVERLESS” EXPERIENCE
The shuttle is outfitted with LIDAR, GPS, and cameras, in addition to V2I (vehicle-to-infrastructure) technology that will allow it to communicate with sensors embedded in Las Vegas’ traffic signals to better manage the flow of traffic. (The Verge’s Casey Newton recently got the chance to test out an Audi equipped with V2I technology in Las Vegas, and he found the experience to be much less stressful than usual.)
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Starting November 8th, the shuttle will begin accepting passengers at any of the limited route’s three stops located on Fremont Street and Carson Street between Las Vegas Boulevard and 8th Street. The service is operated by Keolis, the largest private transport company in France, and will also be sponsored by AAA, which plans to use the year-long project to survey rider attitudes toward autonomous vehicles.

The shuttle project is an expansion of a two-week experiment conducted by Navya and Keolis in Las Vegas last January. At the time, Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman said she hoped to have a fleet of autonomous vehicles operating in the city by the end of 2017 Read more…
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