The Swan Shuttle, an autonomous bus shuttle service that was launched in downtown Orlando this past August, has been put on a temporary hiatus in November following a series of collisions and fender benders. Four months later, the service is now back on the road.
According to a statement from the City of Orlando, the partners behind the allegedly autonomous service; The City of Orlando, BEEP, and LYNX, voluntarily halted the Swan Shuttle following one particular incident in November that involved a shuttle crashing into a LYNX transit bus. After they reviewed the incident, it became apparent that the crash was caused by the shuttle attendant and not the shuttle’s programming, as they forced the vehicle forward through a stop signal and into the path of the oncoming bus.
“During this time, Beep followed the proper reporting procedures, developed and implemented mitigations to prevent future occurrences of this type of incident, and have been in communication with the National Highway Traffic Safety Association (NHTSA) regarding the mitigations and restarting the Swan Shuttle service. This was a collaborative process with all partners, who also provided feedback and recommendations on the mitigations prior to restarting service.”
– ASHLEY PAPAGNI, PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER, CITY OF ORLANDO
According to the City of Orlando, all shuttle attendants have been retrained with new safety standards, and they’ve instituted new processes that “reinforce attentiveness” at potential interaction points along the route like when they merge with LYNX buses.
The whole thing makes you wonder if we can really call it an autonomous shuttle if a human is sitting inside pressing buttons and controlling the vehicle.
