Congestion-busting with Autonomous Shuttles

GoMentum is safety-testing two Local Motors shuttles at AAA's expansive NorCal proving grounds and new V2X lab.

It was uneventful when an eight-passenger, low-speed driverless shuttle crawled at about 10 mph (16 km/h) toward the intersection at the GoMentum Station AV proving grounds in Concord, Calif. The crisp morning temperatures didn't get any more exciting when a mechanical pedestrian-dummy intentionally moved in the self-driving vehicle's path. The shuttle's six lidars, six radars and two military-grade GPS units brought the slow-moving vehicle gently to a stop within a courteous distance usually not granted by human drivers.

The demo was dull for the handful of journalists on hand. But Jay Rogers, the chief executive of Local Motors-the producer of the shuttle dubbed “Olli” - was bubbling with enthusiasm. Rogers believes that the potential for low-speed connected and autonomous shuttles outweighs the promise of conventional vehicles transformed into full-stack robo-taxis.