3 Autonomous Shuttles
While the belief that the future of transportation will be in alternative energy operated vehicles, we are fully committed to the belief that these will predominantly be electric. Further, as stated in the Intelligent Transit papers, we believe that within the next 10 to 15 years, the majority of these vehicles will be fully autonomous.
Level 5 Autonomous Vehicles operate without the need for human intervention. As governments around the world struggle with the legislation and regulations for this paradigm shift in global transportation, we believe the answer is far simpler.
For thousands of years, mankind had owned and operated its own personal transit vehicles. From horses to bicycles to automobiles and trucks, man has gravitated towards the freedom that motorized transportation provides. But in modern times, that has caused millions of deaths and traffic congestion due to the simple fact that human operators are the number one cause of each of these travesties. By eliminating the human driver from the operational equation, while continuing to offer the complete freedom that vehicles provide, we believe that many of the inherent problems facing urban environments can be solved.
It took the better part of 40 years for humans to gravitate from the horse to the automobile. And another 30 years for the infrastructure in America to provide easy instant access to roads, gas stations, repair facilities and numerous other entities that today support every citizen the access and ability to own its vehicle. We are suggesting that with the speed of information and the geometric increase in technology evolution of today, the shift from personally owned vehicles to fleet operated shared Autonomous Electric Vehicles (AV/EV) will be far shorter than previous shifts in culture.
As stated earlier, and delineated within the Intelligent Transit papers, IF one were to combine mass and personal transit options into one cohesive and robust system, the freedom of movement humans now demand can be accomplished. Further, this creates total and true transit equality across all demographics. This is what we are proposing.
The real problem exists in HOW does one instigate this change?
We believe that a slow and cautious introduction of AV/EV’s into society is the right path forward. If one believes that personally owned vehicles will become a part of the history of mankind, then one needs to develop and implement a system that redefines the current mandate of personally owned and operated vehicles. While Pilot No. 1 above addresses the current mass transit environment for EV’s, this Pilot Option addresses the introduction of AV/EV’s into a smaller mass transit environment.
We propose working within the confines of the Vanderbilt University transit system and introducing four NAVYA AV/EV shuttles to this environment. This would be done on a one year trial basis, and begin to show the application of a true autonomous transportation option in a real world environment.
The NAVYA 15 person shuttle is 100% electric, thereby being 100% environmentally clean. It operates on a fixed schedule, fixed route basis, but will have a human technician on board at all times to guarantee the safety of passengers. With the introduction of AV/EV’s into a real world scenario, we believe that acceptance of AV/ EV’s will increase quickly.
Cost Benefits to Municipal/City Government:
* Creates a true AV/EV Environment
* Offers far greater options for walk-bike availability utilizing the same current infrastructure
Environmental Impact:
* Each transit vehicle is electric thereby delivering ZERO EMISSIONS in to the environment
* In combination with our 100% environmentally clean energy creation, the entire system becomes carbon emission free
Community Awareness/Involvement:
* We will actively offer free weekend rides and other inducements to educate the general public to the safety,
efficiency and environmental benefits of these forms of transportation