Arkansas Trucking Association

Autonomous Shuttle Proves Human Error Causes Most Incidents

Within hours of its first route in downtown Las Vegas, an autonomous electric shuttle bus was struck by a delivery truck (with a human driver).

The Metropolitan Police Department determined that the shuttle came to a stop when it sensed the truck was trying to back up. However, the human truck driver was found to be at fault when he continued to back up the truck until its tires touched the front of the shuttle. Damage was minor, and no one was hurt.

Maurice Bell, vice president of mobility solutions for Keolis Transit America, said the shuttle would continue to operate after undergoing a complete diagnostic assessment. He said the vehicle--which can communicate with traffic signals, detect other vehicles and brake for pedestrians—has data that can shed light on the shuttle’s first incident.

“That’s probably the positive point of all this,” Bell said, “is that we have extensive data to be able to tell us what occurred and what we could do in the future to improve upon.”