🔒CT hopes to test self-driving buses on CTfastrak in 2020

Autonomous buses could soon be carrying passengers between Hartford and New Britain.

The state Department of Transportation last month applied for a $9.3-million grant from the Federal Transit Administration to fund a two-year pilot program that would test three electric-powered, 40-foot self-driving buses on the 9.4-mile CTfastrak busway, DOT Public Transit Administrator Dennis Solensky said.

If the pilot, which would be done in partnership with bus maker New Flyer of America Inc., is funded and proves successful, it could be just the beginning of a larger automated-vehicle program for Connecticut’s public-transportation system, Solensky said.

The hope is that driverless technology could one day provide more reliable service and improve rider and pedestrian safety by taking humans out of the equation.

“Having the ability to bring that technology here … allows us to pick the uses that are most beneficial in other places in the state,” Solensky said. “All the things that we learn could hopefully be implemented once we’ve tested it successfully in our control environment.”

New Flyer declined to comment for this story.

Solensky said he is optimistic about the state’s chances of receiving the FTA funding, and expects three autonomous buses to be put on the busway during the first quarter of 2020. Those buses would be built at a New Flyer plant, and tested in Baltimore before being delivered to Connecticut.

Using the busway would eliminate many of the concerns that have arisen from testing autonomous vehicles on public roadways. Only DOT buses are allowed to drive on the CTfastrak line, which has 10 stations providing service to New Britain, Newington, West Hartford and Hartford. The bus line is protected by guardrails on each side so no other vehicles can veer onto it.

During the pilot, drivers would sit in the driver’s seat, but allow automated technology to control most of the trip, except for parts of the route through heavily trafficked downtown Hartford, Solensky said.

“The great thing about being on the CTfastrak guideway is it’s basically closed to all other traffic,” said Eric Jackson, a UConn professor, and director of the Connecticut Transportation Safety Research Center, who advised DOT on its FTA proposal. “It’s kind of a safe space for these vehicles to operate and test without risking too much.”

Those buses would also collect data that New Flyer plans to share with UConn, Jackson said.

Unique position

While the new pilot program would be one of the few in the country, it’s not Connecticut’s first attempt to test autonomous vehicles. The state in 2017 launched a Fully Autonomous Vehicle Testing Pilot Program, which hopes to allow four cities and towns to partner with manufacturers and fleet-service providers to test driverless cars on public roadways. The program, however, hasn’t gotten off the ground yet.

DOT developed its autonomous bus program over the course of a year, and negotiated with different bus manufacturers for about five months before submitting the grant proposal, Solensky said. Several other bus companies expressed interest, and the busway could become a venue for others to test their autonomous-bus technology, he said.

Connecticut is uniquely positioned for this because very few states have a dedicated bus rapid transit system that runs through a downtown area, Jackson said. Additionally, the ability to track rider reaction would likely prove invaluable to bus manufacturers testing automation.

“Getting that public, real-world feedback is going to be huge for a lot of these companies as they start testing and developing,” Jackson said. “So, this very well could serve as a really unique research facility that could bring in new economic opportunities for the state.”

The New Flyer buses used for the proposed pilot would also be built in a way that allows new technology to be added as its developed, rather than having to buy new buses as automation advances, Solensky said. The hope is the buses will eventually be safe for all roadways, including operating autonomously in downtown Hartford.

In addition to autonomous driving, pilot buses will test precision-docking technology, which uses sensors and automation to pull buses directly up to station platforms, ensuring it stops close enough so riders don’t have to step over a large gap.

DOT Public Transportation Chief Rich Andreski said the proposed pilot could put Connecticut at the vanguard of public-transportation advances, at a time when customer expectations have rapidly evolved.

“[Customers are] expecting service to be more frequent and flexible and meet their needs,” Andreski said. “So we think automation is going to continue to push the boundaries in terms of how consumers use transportation, both public and private.”