Cruise’s recent recall shows how AVs could affect buses and other accessible transit

Last month, I talked to Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt about the public perception of autonomous vehicles, like the fleet of robotaxis the company operates in Arizona, California, and Texas. 

He mentioned that some of the challenges are that some people’s only exposure to the technology is by reading headlines or trying driver assistance systems, which he says will “tell you a very different story than a vehicle that has been validated and battle tested.” 

One such battle-tested Cruise vehicle hit a San Francisco public bus a couple of weeks ago, resulting in a voluntary recall of 300 of its robotaxis for a software update. The self-driving software hadn’t accurately predicted the movement of the bus and hit the brakes too late. The incident was a minor fender bender and caused no injuries.

But it happened as San Francisco is set to be the first city in the U.S. To have two driverless taxi services in operation by the end of the year (Cruise and Alphabet-owned Waymo) and following previous instances of the vehicles interfering with public transit. Late last year, almost 100 incidents involving Cruise vehicles were reported to the city, with most of them happening in areas where buses, light rail or streetcars operate. This year, Associated Press reporters who took a ride in a Cruise robotaxi said the vehicle briefly prevented the arrival of an oncoming bus. 

The recall touches on some important questions that researchers have been wondering for years: How will autonomous vehicles affect public transit? And, if AVs become more widespread, how will that affect the broader public equity goals currently served by mass transit like buses and light rail?

The Union of Concerned Scientists noted that AVs can boost job accessibility by car, but there’s also a downside. 

“While AV rides may be less expensive than car ownership today, car travel is still likely to remain a more expensive mode of travel than transit, so the switch will be a burden for low income communities,” they wrote.  

The risk of AVs causing injuries to people is the worry that most often comes to mind when weighing tests of the technology on city streets, but another key concern is the possible inconveniences it causes when so many people rely on the bus or light rail to get places. In San Francisco, for example, 716,000 people ride the Muni system on an average weekday.

Autonomous vehicles may eventually become a form of public transportation in their own right. In fact, some believe that private car ownership will become less useful when we’re surrounded by fleets of self-driving robotaxis that we can hop into. But we’re long way from that being a reality.

Cruise’s Vogt said last month’s collision with the bus was a unique incident, but that software recalls are likely to become more commonplace in the age of autonomous vehicles. Vogt wrote that the swift updating of the cars’ software demonstrates a benefit of autonomous technology, which can be constantly monitored and improved upon.

That may be true, but so is the fact that for some city residents, these improvements will come at the cost of stalled bus rides to get to work, school, or to socialize.

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Andrea Guzman

Data Sheet’s daily news section was written and curated by Andrea Guzman. 

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BEFORE YOU GO

Walmart goes in on EV charging. By 2030, Walmart plans to build an EV fast-charging network at thousands of its locations across the U.S. The retail giant’s goal is to serve people needing a charge where they live, while they’re making road trips, and with their “every day low price.” According to Walmart, a store or Sam’s club is located within 10 miles of about 90% of Americans, so it’s uniquely positioned for creating a network that’s accessible to drivers in all pockets of the country, whether it's a city, suburb, or rural area. When it’s made, it’ll add to Walmart’s existing 1,300 EV fast-charging stations at more than 280 U.S. Facilities.