Treasure Island looks at disabled needs for autonomous vehicles

Treasure Island is an island between San Francisco and Oakland and is about two miles long with Yerba Buena Island is attached to it. Treasure Island is very flat and Yerba Buena Island is very hilly.  A new 2023 pilot funded by the US DOT and San Francisco MTA will create an autonomous shuttle service in a 1.5 mile circulator around Treasure island.  It’s one of the first applications of a shared shuttle service on public roads in California and is an opportunity to test autonomous vehicles in a shared public environment compared to the private testing seen in San Francisco. The pilot is focused on data and research and how Autonomous vehicles will also bring benefits to workforce and local businesses and San Francisco County Transportation Authority. Currently the island is being redeveloped with new roadways and infrastructure to have about 8000 new housing units and 27% of those would be affordable.

The autonomous shuttles would connect the ferry terminal on the island with community destinations like supermarkets, and community centers. So people on the island could use the circulator for on-island trips and also folks coming in to visit could use the shuttle as a way to get around and visit local businesses as well.

Some interesting finding so far include:

• Enabling infrastructure such as WIFI and high-speed data needs to be consistent across communities and across cities so that everyone that uses these vehicles have equally reliable service.
• From the rider standpoint, vehicles vary greatly varying in how many people they can carry and how ADA accessible they are. And from the public standpoint it is important to consider what types of vehicles can operate in the community

Leading the autonomous vehicle shuttle pilot is Alisa Pires, principal planner at the San Francisco County Transportation Authority.