In July 2018, the Denton County Transportation Authority (DCTA) and Drive.ai rolled out a pilot program of self-driving vehicles in Frisco, Texas. The pilot program was the first of its kind for the state, having the vehicles operate in a public setting.
Kristina Holcomb,DCTA deputy CEO, explained, “The reason why [Drive.ai] selected Frisco was because they had newer road infrastructure and traffic devices to make for a good AV deployment. They were also impressed with the collaboration of Frisco Transportation Management Association (TMA). The TMA really offered a fully-comprehensive pilot program because the TMA represents different areas, which include a large office park, an entertainment district, as well as a new high-density residential development. From Drive.ai’s perspective, their location needed to have good infrastructure and they wanted to be able to have a fully comprehensible pilot program that provides a good case study more than one market.”
“Drive.ai’s partnership with DCTA and the Frisco TMA was the result of collaborative engagement in late spring of 2018. As Drive.ai was looking for a location for its first deployment, the state of Texas, and specifically the Dallas/Fort Worth area emerged as an ideal location, thanks to 1. a clear regulatory framework in the state, 2. an ability to address real transportation challenges within the local community and 3. the eagerness of partners like DCTA to work together transparently while educating stakeholders,” said Bijit Halder, Drive.ai CEO.
An autonomous plan
“The Frisco pilot program was initially scheduled to run from July 2018 through the end of January 2019, serving the Hall Park area of Frisco’s North Platinum Corridor and connecting employees at the office park with retail, entertainment and dining options in the area. The pilot was ultimately extended through the end of March 2019, due to its popularity and regular usage by riders,” said Halder.
The area that the pilot serviced was a high traffic area for both office workers and retail business.
“Hall Office Park has nine buildings that are all located within a certain geographic area. Any of the tenants within those buildings could use the service to get over to the Star entertainment district. It could be a half mile to a mile depending on which office park they are coming from. The Star is actually in pretty close proximity to Hall Office Park, but just a little too far to walk, so this was a great pilot program for us to deploy to connect those complementary developments,” said Holcomb. “Hall Office Park offered up to 10,000 employees for their entire park and the Star has numerous restaurants, like for lunch time and for people to go for meetings, those two just complemented each other to go back and forth. Once we introduced the residential area, clearly those residents that wanted to have access to entertainment – or if they worked at the Hall Office Park – that was another complementary element.”
Holcomb explained that the TMA, which is comprised of the city of Frisco, DCTA, Frisco Station, Blue Star, the Star Development and Hall Group, is a collaborative group.
“That collaboration is really focused on enhancing connectivity and mobility for employers and employees that are in that Frisco North Platinum Corridor. By the TMA partnering with Drive.ai, it allowed for the launch of the self-driving pilot program in Frisco,” said Holcomb.
Since the launch of the pilot, Drive.ai provided around 5,000 trips to both tenants in the Hall Office Park and visitors to the area.
“It really has been an incredible partnership to be a part of, because the driverless car partnership program was not only a milestone for all parties involved in this partnership, but also for the state of Texas. This marks the first time that members of the public had access to an on-demand, self-driving service on public roads. They always say that the state of Texas is AI friendly, which is another reason that Drive.ai selected Frisco, the state allows for pilot programs like this, where a lot of states are not AV friendly. This program has just been a joint partnership with Drive.ai and the TMA and it’s been an incredible partnership for us,” said Holcomb.
Introducing a new technology
Introducing autonomous vehicles can sometimes seem like a daunting task, but with the partnership both DCTA and Drive.ai informed the public as to what it would mean for their transportation options.
“Prior to the launch, we had many community forums and open house events to talk about these self-driving programs that were going to be coming on-board to answer any concerns. The response was very positive. Many community members came out to those events and they were excited about the technology that was being deployed within their city. They were excited about what that could mean in the future. They were disappointed to hear that this program was focused for those tenants at Hall Office Park. They wanted to know when it was going to come to their neighborhood. I think that was really exciting to see, because when you deploy a new technology, you do sometimes have a perception of what the public perception might be, so it was pleasantly surprising to see how the public responded,” said Holcomb.
The technology that Drive.ai launched was focused on benefiting the community.
“Drive.ai is a self-driving vehicle company transforming the relationship between people and transportation with a people-centric safety approach to self-driving. Using deep learning, a sophisticated branch of artificial intelligence, Drive.ai integrates the raw data from sensor hardware – such as radar, lidar and full-surround cameras – with proprietary AI software to develop self-driving systems from the ground-up,” said Halder.
In the initial conception of the program, the community asked about the safety of the vehicles and relying on the autonomy to stop the vehicle in the event of an obstacle.
“The day we had demo rides there was an incident where someone ran out in front of the vehicle and the vehicle stopped. The two people who were in the vehicle got out and said ‘if I was driving, or if I was distracted, I don’t know if I would have missed that pedestrian’,” said Holcomb.
“Drive.ai uses detailed mapping, annotation and simulations to further train and develop the cars’ self-driving ‘brain,’ improving the cars’ ability to distinguish other vehicles and pedestrians, as well as driving environments and scenarios, to safely and effectively navigate through the world,” Halder explained. “Drive.ai’s vehicles are also equipped with external communication panels, which indicate the vehicles’ intended actions to others on the road, based on situational context. For example, when the car stops at an intersection, it will flash a ‘Waiting for you’ message to a pedestrian who wants to cross the street.”
Benefiting the transportation infrastructure
The self-driving pilot program saw great success in the area.
“Drive.ai’s self-driving shuttle program in Frisco helped address a pressing transportation issue in the DFW area by offering a last-mile solution. The pilot program enabled riders to travel distances that are too far to walk, but too close to drive, and connected them with dining, entertainment and retail destinations,” explained Halder. “Especially in the hot Texas summer, Drive.ai was able to provide a practical, easy-to-use transportation option for members of the community. Drive.ai’s service is quicker than driving alone, since riders don’t have to look for a parking spot.”
The pilot was extended for an additional two month extension to the original plan.
“The pilot program in Frisco was, by all accounts, an overwhelming success. Rider surveys show widespread adoption and enjoyment of Drive.ai’s self-driving technology. Survey data showed that 98 percent of riders felt safe during the ride, over 96 percent said they were happy with the service, and 94 percent said they’d ride again. The Frisco deployment saw a high repeat rider rate –– 20 percent of riders used the service more than once a week. There were no safety or technology issues to report, and Drive.ai learned a lot about deploying and marketing a fleet of autonomous vehicles,” said Halder.
The city is still looking towards the future for transportation options.
“The AV program [ended] Friday March 29, right now the Frisco TMA is deciding what to do next. We’ve been able to review some lessons learned, what worked and what didn’t work to evaluate the service and determine what worked for that area. Although the pilot has come to a close they’ll still focus on mobility applications for the users there,” said Holcomb.
