Southwest Austin - Dripping Springs | April 2024

Transportation

BY KATY MCAFEE

By the end of 2024, Texas drivers could look over to see a semitruck traveling down the highway with no one in the driver’s seat. Leading the charge in the Austin area is autonomous truck company Kodiak Robotics, which is already hauling IKEA furniture and Tyson Foods chicken daily on Texas roads. Currently, Kodiak trucks have a “safety driver” monitoring the truck as it carries freight for hundreds of miles. By the end of the year, Kodiak will send trucks out unmanned. Kodiak joins the likes of other autonomous vehicle companies in Austin, including Waymo which debuted on March 6. Cruise was also operational in Austin but ceased its taxi operations in October. Driverless semis take on Texas

The breakdown

Dan Go, head of policy at Kodiak, said autono- mous trucks dier from cars as they have more pre- dictable driving patterns and fewer obstacles, such as pedestrians, cyclists and stop lights, compared to taxis. Cruise and Waymo also have larger eets than autonomous truck companies do. “The Kodiak system doesn’t get tired, it doesn’t get distracted, it doesn’t check its phone, it doesn’t have a bad day and take it out on the road,” he said.

Autonomous vehicle companies are required to self-report any crash incidents to the National Highway Trac Safety Administration. Waymo and Cruise take the lead in collisions among 39 companies with 240 and 151 crashes respectively, according to data collected from July 2021 to Feb. 15 by the NHTSA. Third in line is Gen- eral Motors, which owns Cruise, with 144 crashes, according to NHTSA.

Autonomous vehicle crashes

Waymo

240

Cruise

151

Car

Semitruck

General Motors

144

From July 2021 to Feb. 15, Waymo, Cruise and General Motors self-reported the most crash incidents among the autonomous vehicle companies that self reported nationwide.

Kodiak 3 5 Aurora

100

150

200

250

SOURCE: NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATIONCOMMUNITY IMPACT

The why

What's next?

Go said Texas’ roads have been an ideal place to launch autonomous truck technology as the state covers some of the most lucrative freight routes in the nation. November data from the American Trucking Associations revealed trucks will haul 3 billion more tons of freight annually by 2034, securing trucking as the dominant mover of goods in the nation. Despite those projections, Go said the grow- ing industry faces a “signicant” labor shortage that autonomous vehicles could remedy. Go said autonomous vehicle companies have also been well received by Texas legislators. Texas’ supportive regulatory culture sprouted from Senate Bill 2205, a law passed by the Texas Legislature in 2017 that prohibits cities from regulating autonomous vehicles due to their economic potential. We face real challenges around trucking, around people not wanting to drive trucks and there being a shortage of truck drivers. ... If you can automate those 1,000-mile stretches, it will have a real impact on our economy.” DAN GOFF, HEAD OF POLICY AT KODIAK

Gatik, which specializes in medium-length trips from single digits to 150 miles long, will also begin going “freight only” in Texas by the end of the year. The company already transports goods for Walmart, Tyson, Kroger and others without a driver in Ontario and Arkansas. Autonomous truck company Aurora will chart a similar path by year’s end, removing drivers. The company currently has routes in Houston, Fort Worth and El Paso with plans to expand to Central Texas. To accommodate the inux of driverless semis in the Austin-area, the Texas Department of Transportation has a plan to establish a "smart corridor" on SH 130 from Georgetown through Del Valle. The stretch will be equipped with sensors and cameras to help the vehicles navigate road conditions and hazards, according to road technology company Cavnue. “SH 130 is one of many advanced toll roads in Texas with several technologies already like ber, cellular, cameras and tolling facilities,” said Darran Anderson, TxDOT’s director of strategy and innovation. Details on when the smart corridor will ocially launch have not been announced.

Georgetown

183

Hutto

Round Rock

45 TOLL

Smart Corridor Technology along SH 130 will assist navigation of autonomous trucks.

130 TOLL

290

Manor

MOPAC

183

Austin

Del Valle

Buda

45 TOLL

SOURCE: TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION CAVNUE COMMUNITY IMPACT

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