On a recent Friday evening, a white Toyota Sienna minivan with a cylindrical sensor mounted on its roof slowed to a stop in front of the only hospital in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, population 11,000. The door opened, and I took a seat behind the driver: a computer rack mounted in place of the passenger seat. Next to it was a friendly young operator who sits behind the steering wheel and ensures that this self-driving rideshare doesn't suddenly skid into a snowbank or a pedestrian. Then we were on the way, passengers in the first autonomous vehicle pilot to run in a cold and icy rural environment.
It's a pressing need. There are more than
Rural Americans aren't the most obvious early adopters for robo-taxis. But right now they need transit innovations far more than people in more densely populated communities, and are far more willing to accept them. For autonomous technology companies, that's an opportunity to establish the reliability and usefulness of technologies that have
The Demographics Problem
Located 180 miles north of Minneapolis, Grand Rapids is the biggest town in sparsely populated
In 2021,
That creates a dilemma. Car-less or not, seniors and disabled rural residents still have places to go. Non-emergency medical appointments and grocery shopping are critical to maintaining health and independent living. Community-oriented activities, from churchgoing to family get togethers, boost quality of life and reduce pressure on scarce caregivers.
In cities and suburbs, public transit buses can meet some of these needs. But due to their low population density, rural areas are more difficult and expensive to serve well, especially in the evenings and during weekends. For example, the last bus departs Grand Rapids' only hospital at
Transit Equity
In 2019, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz appointed a
Around this time, May Mobility, an autonomous shuttle company based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, was looking for a rural community "where we could really demonstrate that we could help," explains Edwin Olson, May's chief executive officer, in a phone call. The help, as Olson views it, comes down to replacing or supplementing low-performing buses with May's on-demand, point-to-point, autonomous shuttles. Olson tells me the cost of May's shuttles are on par with typically inefficient rural bus services, while providing better service hours and lower wait and trip times.
Much, but not all of the time, that service will be autonomous. GoMarti's Siennas are equipped with
Minnesota's Autonomous Rural Transit Initiative (
Snowbank Encounters
On a recent evening I took several goMARTI rides around Grand Rapids, getting a look at the town and the service. It was a seamless and often dull experience. I watched the shuttle change lanes, turn, stop at stop signs and even negotiate busy intersections. It really didn't feel much different from being a passenger in a regular car.
For May Mobility, achieving those uneventful rides has been far more challenging. One example: Autonomous vehicles that operate in cities often rely on tall buildings as navigational aids. In a rural setting there are fewer such landmarks. So May Mobility erected what CEO Olson called "totem poles" — simple visual markers — along featureless stretches of the goMARTI service area.
Then there's the Minnesota weather. On particularly cold days, tailpipe exhaust can look like "mobile obstacles" to autonomous vehicle sensors. Snow and ice present more obvious challenges. Human operators take over when roads are coated. Yet even when the roads are clear, the vehicles struggle with other ubiquitous elements of winter. During one of my evening rides, a shuttle began to veer into a snowy shoulder, possibly confused by the road's boundaries. Later that same evening, a shuttle dropped me off in a snowbank where, in warmer weather, a sidewalk would be.
When shuttle operators encounter incidents like these, they hit a button on the console to log a record for review by programmers and engineers who will seek to make improvements. Olson calls Grand Rapids "the crucible" where the company will learn to handle snow and ice. So far, it's learning, and even improving, on human performance in some crucial areas. Two operators told me that shuttle sensors have detected deer about to jump into the road —
Measures of Success
Ultimately, goMARTI can be judged a success if the people of Grand Rapids feel comfortable and safe choosing to use it. The early returns are promising. According to May Mobility, the shuttles have served 687 people (in a town of 11,000), more than 75% of whom are repeat riders. Equally important, roughly 30% of all rides have included a wheelchair.
Longer term, questions about affordability will inevitably challenge whether such a program is worthwhile. GoMARTI is a free service, but transit subsidies are not unusual in rural or urban areas (New York City's subway couldn't operate without them). If, as May Mobility claims, the cost of providing autonomous services is competitive with the most inefficient transit services already offered in rural regions, the upgrade — even with an operator — is worthwhile. Minnesota and Grand Rapids aren't the only places thinking this way. In Japan, the
Meanwhile, in the US, the
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Adam Minter at