2022年9月28日

移動和交通技術提供商Via在明尼蘇達州的大急流城推出了一個小型的輪椅自動駕駛車隊。在收購Remix之前，Via是一家按需提供班車服務的公司。多年來，Via和May一直在合作，用自動駕駛汽車彌合公共交通係統的差距。他們已經在德克薩斯州的阿靈頓、密歇根州的安娜堡和密歇根州的大激流城部署了服務，因此明尼蘇達州的農村城市標誌著五月移動業務的一個新城市。今年4月，這家初創公司宣布了與BraunAbility合作的計劃，BraunAbility是一家符合美國殘疾人法案(ADA)的貨車製造商，將其豐田Sienna auto - maas (S-AM)車隊改裝為輪椅無障礙車。大急流城項目標誌著符合ada標準的自動駕駛航天飛機將首次在美國投入使用，同時也標誌著5月份Siennas的商業首次亮相。當May的服務於周三推出時，在這個覆蓋了大急流城(Grand Rapids)大部分農村小城市的17平方英裏服務區域內，任何人都可以使用May Mobility應用程序從五輛Sienna av中選擇一輛免費的按需共享乘車。沒有智能手機的乘客也可以撥打211預訂乘車。May/Via服務旨在增強現有的公共交通解決方案，而不是取代它們，因此它將在沒有其他選擇的工作日晚上和周末運行。具體來說，周二至周五下午2點至10點，周六上午10點至10點，周日上午8點至下午2點。Via基於人工智能的預訂和路線算法將幫助在70多個上車和下車地點之間移動時，將前往同一方向的乘客匹配到一輛車上。這些地點是根據人們的移動方式以及來自社區的輸入來確定的，比如餐館、雜貨店、藥店、教堂和健身中心。 And the shuttles don’t just follow pre-determined routes to each destination. They go where there’s rider demand and they factor in traffic conditions to find the best routes, said a May spokesperson. May and Via say the shuttles are equipped with SAE Level 4 autonomy, which means they can handle driving in certain conditions without needing a human to take over. That said, a human safety operator will be present in each vehicle should a manual takeover be required. For example, May still requires operator approval on unprotected turns, and in low visibility situations, operators might take over unprotected turns, according to a spokesperson for May. Visibility issues and inclement weather might also require the human safety operator to take over for other driving tasks. “Operating in winter climates like Grand Rapids will enable further learning around autonomy in more extreme weather conditions,” Edwin Olson, CEO of May Mobility, told TechCrunch. “May Mobility’s vehicles can handle cold weather and navigate winter challenges like snow drifts. Depending on the level of snow accumulation or downfall, we may choose to have the autonomous vehicle operators take over to ensure maximum safety for our riders and everyone who interacts with our vehicles.” May has said it hopes to get to driver-out operations by 2023 , and expects to continue launching its Siennas in other cities over the next year.