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Another major blow came, Wednesday, for Uber, Lyft and public transportation, as Go X in partnership with Tortoise launched the world’s first self-driving e-scooter fleet for residents of Georgia, United States ‘SmartCity’ with full support from Curiousity Lab.
The global milestone is coming as Curiosity Lab at Peachtree Corners (CLPC) restated its full commitment to its avowed mission of solving many of the technology issues facing cities and municipalities across the United States of America.
Though for many, the term “smart city” is an unclear concept, for Peachtree Corners, Georgia, it’s about empowering the latest in emerging technologies to solve real-world problems. Put into action, the city has been working with two visionary companies, Go X and Tortoise, to revolutionise e-scooter mobility by solving the biggest issues, namely finding a scooter – and returning scooters to a home base for safe parking, charging and cleaning.
As a result, the world’s first fleet of teleoperated e-scooters – available for the public – has launched at Peachtree Corners.
And as regions begin to reopen from COVID-19 lockdowns, demand for alternative forms of mobility has gone through the roof – including scooters that have been sanitized.
Go X has reported 86 per cent growth, week-over-week,
for the last six weeks. And now, with the industry-first “Hail my
Scooter” app, you can have a scooter drive itself to your location.
When a rider wants to grab a Go X Apollo self-driving scooter, it’s as
easy as a push of a button in the app. After riders complete trips, the
scooters will drive themselves back to a safe parking spot. To make this
possible, the e-scooters are repositioned by Tortoise’s remote
teleoperators.
According to an official statement on the launch, the initial pilot will run for six months and marks the first time ever that teleoperated e-scooters will be deployed on public streets.
The statement noted that Peachtree Corners had passed an ordinance mandating that all shared
micromobility devices deployed are capable of automated repositioning to increase the accessibility of shared e-scooters, while avoiding the sidewalk clutter challenges that have plagued other cities.
It also maintained that Go X has implemented COVID-19 health safety measures in order to
provide the safest transportation solution today, adding that each vehicle is thoroughly disinfected upon being remotely repositioned to a home base, and every Go X Apollo employee is required to pass a daily COVID-19 health check.
Each scooter also gets a sticker that shows that it was thoroughly disinfected, and that it is free of COVID-19.
It is worthy to note that Curiosity Lab helps companies and startups such as Tortoise and Go X
develop, prove out and deploy emerging smart city or intelligent
mobility technology in a real-world, living environment.
With a single government entity owning and deploying smart city infrastructure, the world’s most innovative companies come to leverage 5G and various forms of cutting-edge connectivity, free use of the city’s infrastructure, intellectual property protection and the world’s first environment to feature general liability insurance for both driven and driverless traffic.
Commenting on the launch, Brian Johnson, city manager of Peachtree
Corners, said; “An important goal for us was to ensure that residents can enjoy the convenience of using e-scooters, while creating a world first in efficient, organized and advanced micromobility – right here in Peachtree Corners,” adding, “As a reflection of our commitment to making cities smarter, we didn’t hesitate to partner with Tortoise to launch the first-ever fleet of self-driving e-scooters to be available for public use.”
He maintained that “Curiosity Lab empowers innovators like Tortoise and Go X to collaborate and discover other partners to test, prove and deploy novel technologies in a real-world environment.”
Apparently happy at the launch, Alexander Debelov, CEO of Go X, said: “I am excited that we get to introduce the safest transportation solution for the post-COVID-19 world. While we made getting a scooter as magical and easy as ordering an Uber or Lyft car, we also went above and beyond to make sure that our vehicles provide the most virus-free ride out there.”
On his part, Dmitry Shevelenko, co-founder and president of Tortoise, said: “Smart city technology like Tortoise’s automated repositioning service is designed to make cities cleaner, safer and more sustainable for everyday citizens,” adding, “Curiosity Lab offers the unique opportunity for us to develop and deploy our technology in an environment where people live and work each and every day.”
The “smart city” is the first city to feature general liability insurance
for both driven and driverless traffic and the launch of the driverless e-scooters is coming as cities begin to reopen, with the public avoiding Uber/Lyft/public
transportation. And as people seek alternative forms of mobility because of the Coronavirus and the social distancing principle, these
self-driving e-scooters are changing the game, especially as they are disinfected after each ride.
Curiousity Lab at Peachtree Corners
Curiosity Lab is a 5G-enabled autonomous vehicle and smart city living laboratory located in Peachtree Corners, Georgia, a northern suburb of Atlanta and the first true smart city ecosystem in the United States.
The centerpiece of the lab is a 1.5-mile test and demo track which
provides a real-world environment to explore emerging technologies.
Additional infrastructure includes a network operations center, smart
poles, DSRC units, dedicated fiber and a 25,000 square foot tech
incubator.
Tortoise
Tortoise is on a mission to make shared micromobility a sustainable,
safe form of transportation for communities everywhere. Tortoise has developed an easy, cost-efficient way to reposition small vehicles –
starting with electric scooters – to the places where they’re needed
in real-time. Tortoise technology can connect with any light electric
vehicle and safely have a remote teleoperator drive the unit from a
location where it may be underutilized or obstructing the road, to a city-approved parking spot, a public transit hub, or even to your front doorstep.
