Editorial
Advisory Board
Andrew Johnson
General manager
Connect Transit
Gary Thomas
President/
executive director
Dallas Area Rapid Transit
Keith Jones, P.E.
General Manager
M-1 Rail
Kristen Joyner
Executive director
South West Transit
Association
Matthew Tucker
Executive director
North County
Transit District
Patrick LeClerc
President & chief
executive officer
Canadian Urban
Transit Association
Paul Larousse
Director
National Transit Institute
EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK
Walking the Line
There’s a delicate balance when using
the latest technologies for improving service.
A
utonomous buses, vehicles, drones, Uber Elevate, Hyperloop, Sea
Bubbles, there are stories in the news everyday about tomorrow’s
mobility options being tested, pursued and used today.
Th e technology is being developed for various reasons, including
improved safety, improved effi ciency and getting people to where
they want to go faster.
Th e research and testing is creating a lot of discussion. How will
these technologies improve safety or effi ciency? How much do they
cost? What are the infrastructure requirements? What kind of regulations
need to be in place?
I recently got back from riding in a couple of autonomous shuttles
at the UITP Global Public Transport Summit in Montréal, Canada.
It’s novel, it’s fun, it’s easy and in the right setting it would be a great
way to move around.
Some of these technology discussions are also creating a lot of
response from planners, engineers and transportation professionals,
pointing out that for the cost and infrastructure upheaval, there are
current options that could provide more economical and effi cient
mobility for the communities they serve.
With what’s going around on social media, I’ve had friends and
family comment about driverless buses coming to the streets. People
are visualizing the typical 40-foot fi xed-route bus making its way
through the city sans driver.
While it could lead to driverless buses, utilizing the technology as
an enhancement with an onboard driver, is still transformative. And
with city streets and transit operations being a complicated environment,
it’s likely there would still be someone onboard, whether as a
driver or more of a customer service/safety role.
Enhancing the information to the operator for obstacles he or she
may miss, and providing real-time information on the vehicle’s many
systems to keep everything running or to notify maintenance before
a component failure.
I’m usually one wanting to see what the latest technological advances
can do. While buses on the road is the biggest responsibility
of the majority of our readers, I know it’s important to also focus on
what the other impacts are, such as bike share or TNCs or Hyperloop
and autonomous technology.
It’s a delicate balance between fl ashy and practical. Enough to catch
Leah Harnack/Mass Transit
8 | Mass Transit | MassTransitmag.com | JUNE 2017
people otherwise not inclined to consider
transit, but not too much extravagance
that it wastes an unnecessary amount of
money that could be used to otherwise
increase service levels.
Leah Harnack, Editor
AT THE UITP Global
Public Transport
Summit in Montreal,
Canada, Transdev
operated Easymile’s
EZ10, a driverless,
electric shuttle that
can carry up to 12
people.