Las Vegas Now Home To 1st Self-Driving Electric Shuttles In The US (On Public Roads)

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The city of Las Vegas is now home to the first self-driving, all-electric shuttle service on public roads in the US, according to recent reports.

Navya Shuttle Las Vegas from Keolis Commuter Services on Vimeo.

The new electric, autonomous shuttle service is the result of a collaboration between: the shuttle manufacturer Navya, the fleet logistics provider Keolis, and the city of Las Vegas. The service apparently runs a regular route along Fremont Street, between Las Vegas Boulevard and Eighth Street, in close contact with regular traffic.

Tech Crunch provides more:

“The route will run between January 11 and 20, and will use Navya’s ARMA shuttle, which previously underwent testing in the US at the University of Michigan’s MCity autonomous testing facility, and which has been deployed in France since 2015. The test is part of Las Vegas’ broader efforts to create a designated area in the city’s urban center for testing autonomous and connected cars. Vegas has also invested significantly in connected infrastructure, including connecting traffic lights throughout the downtown area. …

“Shuttles with defined routes are a relatively low-risk area for companies to deploy autonomous-driving tech, as there are fewer variables to take into consideration as compared to more free-roaming self-driving vehicles. You can map the route extensively, for instance, and having connected infrastructure present is also a plus. It’s likely we’ll see much more of this kind of autonomous-tech deployment well before we see self-driving consumer-owned vehicles on roads.”

Interesting news. Probably something to check out if you’re in the city over the next few days.


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James Ayre

James Ayre's background is predominantly in geopolitics and history, but he has an obsessive interest in pretty much everything. After an early life spent in the Imperial Free City of Dortmund, James followed the river Ruhr to Cofbuokheim, where he attended the University of Astnide. And where he also briefly considered entering the coal mining business. He currently writes for a living, on a broad variety of subjects, ranging from science, to politics, to military history, to renewable energy.

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