^I happened to be talking with some friends about Charlotte a few nights ago, and even just looking at Google Maps we were impressed by the degree to which the city has grown up just since the 2000s. Really shows what can happen if leadership pushes the ship in the right direction.
On a relevant note, JTA put out an RFI this morning on behalf of the Florida Public Transportation Association for the autonomous vehicle industry to demonstrate its capabilities to operate Level 4 vehicles in public. To use their words:
The goal of this RFI is to inform the FPTA on the capability maturity of the AV industry, and particular vendors, as it relates to a transit service operational model and their compliance with Buy America rolling stock regulations. This information will help the State plan future AV deployments by matching capability maturity with operational design domain (ODD) requirements, including route selection, service model, and operations and maintenance activities.
As of when I checked it before sending this, only Beep had examined the RFI solicitation.
Another interesting quote:
The capability of emerging technologies like automated vehicles (AVs) are maturing, with pilot and small-scale deployments occurring across the State of Florida, nationwide, and globally; however, challenges remain based on the maturity of the technology, and a lack of specific physical and potential digital infrastructure. Automated vehicles that operate within a mixed-traffic environment with human roadway users must contend with their unpredictable behavior, which is especially important when interacting with vulnerable road users. Other challenges are posed by temporary changes in the environment like work zones or incidents that modify the availability or configuration of travel lanes, for example.
These are things we say when we're ready to spend half a billion dollars, right?
