Knight AV Initiative Update!
It’s been a minute since we’ve provided an update on the Knight AV Initiative, but that’s because we’ve been busy behind the scenes preparing to launch a cohort-wide delivery pilot and we’re pleased to share that the pilots are now up and running! With support from the Knight Foundation, Pittsburgh, San Jose, Detroit, and Miami-Dade County have partnered with the robot delivery operator Kiwibot to pilot sidewalk robots in all four locales. The pilots are slated for 6–12 months depending on the place with up to 10 sidewalk robots deployed in designated areas.
The shift to sidewalk delivery robots was propelled both by the increasing demand for delivery in response to COVID-19, as well as the fact that more and more state governments are taking preemptive action and choosing to legalize personal delivery devices (PDDs) or sidewalk robots. This technology is still in development, however, and there are so many things we do not yet know. How many should be on one block at a time? Where can they travel given the current state of the technology? Where can they not travel? What are the potential benefits as well as the potential challenges? It seemed the best way to begin to answer these questions was, simply, to pilot PDDs in each of the cohort communities with a partner willing to work in close collaboration with city staff.
The key objectives of this pilot effort are to:
- Provide the cohort with an opportunity to learn about the technology and gain an understanding of both the technical and programmatic issues, opportunities and challenges.
- Engage community members through thoughtful piloting in order to promote education/learning about these technologies, as well as to better understand how the application of these technologies aligns — or does not align — with community needs.
- Identify the levers that cities have to proactively, rather than reactively, shape how autonomous technologies are deployed in the public right of way, in pursuit of the public good/desired outcomes.
- Work collaboratively with early-stage testers in the private sector to identify challenges and opportunities, and further dialogue on how to align incentives to deliver positive societal outcomes.
It is important to note, however, that this pilot is not trying to solve transportation inequities with new technology, but we do think that communities need to better understand the potential opportunities and challenges of these technologies in order to maximize the public good and minimize the externalities. We also think that engagement with the private sector is important to influence business models, use cases, and regulatory understanding.
We, in partnership with Cityfi and the cohort, are excited to be embarking upon these pilots and look forward to sharing what we’re learning. Stay tuned for updates!
