But driverless vehicles sometimes popped up in those Scholastic books too. And judging by the lack of success of robotaxi provider Cruise, which has halted its Dallas mapping and testing following a number of high-profile incidents and problems, the future seems to still be a good way off.
On Oct. 26, the GM subsidiary announced that it would immediately suspend its operations throughout Texas, which includes Houston, where tests were underway, and Austin, where a commercialized service had been running throughout 2023. Over the past few months, the white and orange Chevy Bolts, equipped with a camera and sensor equipment on their roofs, have popped up steadily in headlines and on social media feeds for less-than-positive reasons.
One night in September, a busy Austin intersection went viral when more than 20 Cruise cars converged and came to a stop, jamming up traffic all around them. In October, federal regulators announced a second investigation into the ability of Cruise’s technology to practice proper caution when operating. Before the end of that month, the California DMV revoked Cruise’s permits to operate driverless vehicles.
This week has brought more bad news for the San Francisco-based company. Cruise recalled 950 of its vehicles on Wednesday due to a software glitch connected to the car’s response following a crash. That was quickly followed by the announcement of layoffs of staff designated to support the driverless fleet.
Cruise began initial testing and mapping in Dallas last May, and now it's gone. Oh, driverless cab, we hardly knew ye.
Over the summer, we were curious about how the Dallas police and emergency services would interact with the autonomous vehicles. How would cops pull over a Cruise robotaxi if some sort of traffic violation occurred? Who would get the citation if there were no driver? Neither the Dallas Police Department nor the city representatives we asked seemed to know the answers to those basic questions when September rolled around.
“I love the idea of us being able to come up with functionality and systems that can replace the human component of driving.” – Dr. Stephen Mattingly, professor, University of Texas at Arlington
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Judging by the recent unfortunate safety and legal developments, it’s fair to say that Cruise isn't yet ready for the future it promised, but we’re not sure Dallas was ready for that either. Dallas City Council Member Cara Mendelsohn has used her X platform to point out some of the legal troubles Cruise has found itself in recently. As chair of the council’s public safety committee and a member of the its transportation and infrastructure committee, Mendelsohn has a strong set of non-negotiable minimum standards in mind when it comes to autonomous taxi programs in Dallas.
“I'm excited for a future that includes autonomous vehicles,” Mendelsohn told the Observer. “Today, we need to ensure the safety of the vehicles for the occupants, and surrounding pedestrians, cyclists, motorists and first responders. I don't think the safety expectations have been met for a rollout in Dallas' urban core, where we have significant traffic, pedestrians, construction and special events.”
The matter of expectations is arguably the biggest X-factor involved in any discussion regarding the future of driverless cab offerings in Big D, or in any other large city. Dr. Stephen Mattingly, a transportation expert and civil engineering professor at University of Texas at Arlington, is also hopeful for a driverless future, but he doesn’t think the technology for autonomous vehicles is quite where it needs to be right now for the public to fully accept them.
“I love the idea of us being able to come up with functionality and systems that can replace the human component of driving,” he said. “Because clearly it is one of the most flawed and dangerous components of our transportation systems. But the bar for success is really high because we expect the systems to be flawless, and have you ever come across a computer or sensor that is flawless? No.”
Mattingly explained that perhaps more than any sort of improvement in the quality of sensors or lidar (light detection and ranging) a vehicle is equipped with, the ability for driverless vehicles to communicate with each other will be a boost for creating a safer, more acceptable operating scenario.
“Overcoming the human component of the driving is going to be really difficult for the sensors,” the professor said. “Sensors look at their adjacent environment relatively well, but they struggle to look further away, and when you’re driving in congestion, you’re looking for brake lights way up ahead of you. Sensors on driverless cars can’t do that. Once we have connected vehicles where they’re talking to each other and sharing data, automotive vehicles will be able to function more effectively.”
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Possible technological advancements are needed, sure, but for municipalities trying to get a grip on this new wave, increased ability to control the product may be needed as well. In 2017, the state made it illegal for cities to regulate driverless vehicles in a move that seemed to foreshadow 2023’s House Bill 2127, aka the “death star bill,” which prohibits cities from passing ordinances that conflict with state law.
Along with suggesting a gradual rollout for driverless cars, beginning with low-density areas and progressing into busier areas over time, Mendelsohn believes the ability to regulate robotaxi programs in the future will also be key for these types of offerings, regardless of their current legality.
“Cities should be able to shut down operators that aren't able to maintain service within acceptable safety and operational guidelines,” she explained. “For Cruise specifically, based on their newly announced recall and previous pause in service, it appears they are struggling to achieve reasonable safety levels in the communities they operate. I wouldn't want to endanger Dallas residents with an operator already found to have safety problems in other markets, but based on Texas law, we currently have no way to regulate them.”
But in the end, even if people aren’t in the driver’s seats, it is humans who will have to make robotaxis work and accept them as a safe, reliable mode of transport in the future, whatever that may look like.
“I tend to think about what our expectations are as people,” UTA’s Mattingly said. “Our expectations are incredibly high when it comes to air travel. There, we have super high expectations, even where the unlikelihood of failure is astronomical. So, that’s what the public demands in order to use those systems. I tend to believe that’s where we’ll have to be for auto travel in order for the public to accept it.”
