Beverly Hills To Develop Autonomous Vehicles For Public Transportation
The streets of Beverly Hills are known for fancy cars and A-List celebrities. However something else will soon start turning heads in this glamorous Los Angeles County city, a fleet of driver less autonomous vehicles (A.V.s).
During an April 5th City Council meeting, The city of Beverly Hills passed a resolution creating a program to develop autonomous shuttles as a new method of public transportation. Council members unanimously approved the program, calling for Beverly Hills to become a leader in the testing and implementation of autonomous shuttles.
“Beverly Hills is the perfect community to take the lead to make this technology a reality. It is now both feasible and safe for autonomous cars to be on the road.” said Mayor John Mirisch, in a press release.
At only 5.7 square miles, Beverly Hills is great microcosm to test out autonomous shuttles on American streets, because it will be relatively easy to set up the infrastructure. Beverly Hills is currently developing a network of fiber optic cables for high-speed internet access throughout the city that will also allow the autonomous cars to communicate with the electronic grid as well as with each other. Residents will simply use their smartphones to call for an A.V. for point-to-point on demand transportation anywhere in the city.
“We can’t solve future or even today’s problems using technology of the past,” Mayor Mirisch said. “A.V.s will take private cars off the road, reduce demand for parking, increase safety and mobility for everyone, including the disabled, and solve the ‘first/last mile’ challenge for residents using the future Purple Line.”
The Purple Line is a subway extension with two stops in Beverly Hills, estimated to be functional in 2026. This may be the first time A.V.s have been part of a city planning discussion in the states. As part of the project, Beverly Hills is hosting a public summit at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts this fall. This summit will feature a panel discussion, demonstration rides, and talks by experts in the field. Though current semi-autonomous vehicles work well in driving situations such as freeways, they sometimes stumble when confronted with less controlled situations, such as pedestrian traffic.The city is teaming up with A.V. manufacturers Google and Tesla for this project.
This decision was made about a week before a steep Beverly Hills road was temporarily closed for testing after a series of fatal crashes. Three people, including two Los Angeles police officers, have been killed in separate crashes within the last two years. A starting date has not been announced for this project, but some companies predict that A.V.s will be on the market in two to five years.
