Questions arise on self-driving tech as US state plans separate lanes for robocars
Mich and some private partners are taking steps toward building or assigning dedicated lanes for automated vehicles on a 40-mile (65-kilometre) stretch of highway between Detroit and Ann Arbor.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and other state officials announced the project Thursday afternoon near a former railroad station that Ford is renovating to house its autonomous vehicle businesses in downtown Detroit. Ford is among nine autonomous vehicle and auto companies on an advisory board for the project.
“What may be the world’s most complex roadway will be built within Michigan _ to greatly help improve the safety, efficiency, resilience and functions of roadways in the not-so-distant future,” Whitmer said.
Organisers say the project will commence with a two-year study to determine whether existing lanes or shoulders could be used or new lanes need to be built, and that it is the to begin its kind in america.
Eventually, autonomous buses and shuttles would run along the Interstate 94 corridor, linking the University of Michigan to Detroit Metropolitan Airport and the city’s downtown.
A lot of the project will be bankrolled by companies funded by Google parent Alphabet Inc., which hopes to generate income by duplicating the technology for other large metro areas.
The project is being led by a company called Cavnue, that may start the analysis by running autonomous vehicles with human backup drivers along I-94 and US 12 to collect data.
Jonathan Winer, co-CEO of an Alphabet-funded company called Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners, which owns Cavnue, said initially self-driving buses would utilize the lanes, which will be similar to dedicated rapid transit lanes in other cities. Eventually, smaller shuttles will be added, as well as autonomous freight trucks and even qualified automated personal vehicles.
The vehicles would all be linked to a central computer system and would share data from sensors along the roadway and from other vehicles, coordinating their speeds and permitting them to travel faster than regular traffic, Winer said.
The project could start off running buses in regular traffic, but eventually they’ll be on lanes separated from human-driven vehicles by a barrier, Winer said.
“For the full-scale implementation, which is increased public transit and greater speed, we’ll need the barrier,” Winer said within an interview.
Other countries are taking similar steps. Six Chinese cities, including Beijing, have announced roads designated for tests of self-driving vehicles. In Beijing, some 206 miles (332 kilometers) of roads were formally assigned for testing in December.
Similar ventures have already been proposed in america, but Winer said the Michigan project will be a first.
“There’s no place on earth more important for transportation’s past, present and future than Detroit and Michigan,” said Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford. “Today’s announcement is proof that we don’t intend to cede that future to other people.”
The lanes would be helpful for the current state of autonomous vehicles, which still cannot operate safely with human-driven vehicles under all traffic and climate, said Bryant Walker Smith, a University of South Carolina law professor who studies vehicle automation.
However they also run unlike another school of thought in the market, that systems being tested are receiving better and soon can navigate roads with cars driven by humans, he said.
“The strain is one side says ‘if we build it they will come,’ and the other side is saying ‘we’re coming. Why are you building?”” Walker Smith said.
Tech and auto companies that favour running the vehicles with normal traffic seem to be to be winning, Walker Smith said, although that has eased as expectations for autonomous vehicles have become more realistic. The whole industry slowed down after an Uber autonomous testing vehicle ran down and killed a female in Tempe, Arizona, in March of 2018.
“A lot of companies aren't yet confident that their systems can perform under an array of unpredictable conditions,” he said.
“You probably have to have dedicated lanes,” said Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan.
Vehicles and autonomous driving systems employed by all companies can utilize the lanes, provided they meet standards, Winer said. The lanes would be run by the Michigan Department of Transportation, he said.
The state picked Cavnue after putting out a obtain proposals. Winer said it'll finance the project with private money because it could sell the technology to other cities. It would be the startup’s first project.
“We think there’s an extremely, very large market here if this technology works well,” he said.
The company plans to create a prototype freeway lane at the American Center for Mobility, an autonomous vehicle testing area Ypsilanti, Michigan, he said, adding that the study will consider how to handle wildlife or humans entering the dedicated lanes.
