An on-demand, autonomous transit pilot in Texas is being expanded, pointing the way to a transit future that is dynamic, personalized and automated.
The project, known as Arlington RAPID (Rideshare, Automation and Payment Integration Demonstration), is a partnership between the city, UT Arlington, transit provider Via and May Mobility, a maker of autonomous technology and fleet services was launched about a year ago and has since provided some 28,000 trips. As ridership steadily grew so, too, did the autonomous operation, with the vehicles running in self-driving mode about 80 percent of the time, officials report.
It is set to be continued, in part, with a grant from the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG), which is using the project as a mechanism to grow the region as a testing and development area for AV technology.
“One of the things we’re aiming to do in our next deployment is work on some of the items to remove the human operator,” said Ann Foss, a principal planner in the Office of Strategic Initiatives in Arlington, Texas.
“Arlington RAPID is functioning as an AV test bed for Dallas Fort Worth International Airport that will help inform the other AV projects in the region,” said Thomas Bamonte, senior program manager for transportation technology and innovation at NCTCOG. The airport is exploring the idea of developing an autonomous parking system, according to a report in Dallas Innovates.
The service ran Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. The service has been scaled back somewhat until a new grant award from the local council of governments begins funding another two years of service.
In its next iteration, RAPID will use gas-electric hybrid Toyota Sienna vans which are designed for mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) deployments. The van will have a capacity for four to five passengers and will be wheelchair accessible. Communication devices will be installed in the vehicles to allow them to communicate with emergency vehicles.
The project helped to solidify the use case for small autonomous vehicles as an integral part of urban transportation, said Chris Snyder, senior vice president for expansion at Via.
Back in Arlington, the RAPID service will continue to place a human operator in the vehicle, with the aim of increasing autonomous operations.
“We are hoping to identify at least a portion of our service area where we can remove the human operator and do tele-assist or tele-operation,” said Foss.
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