Autonomous Shuttles Debut at This US Airport

• John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) airport has started a three-month-long trial of driverless shuttles in its parking lots.

• The SAE Level 4 shuttles are able to carry eight passengers, and will serve a route with 15 stops around JFK.

• A number of robotaxi developers have revealed designs of similar shuttle buses that could be used as parts of ride-pooling services in cities, though they have yet to be fielded in conditions with real-world traffic.

Automated trains used by airports between terminals and parking lots ceased to be a curiosity long ago, seldom inviting questions about safe operations.

But can driverless shuttles go mainstream as well in such settings?

Starting this month, travelers at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) airport will be able to try SAE Level 4 shuttles, as part of a pilot program for its large on-site parking lot. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has obtained permission from the NHTSA to carry out a three-month-long trial of the autonomous shuttles developed by New Zealand's Ohmio, with the program marking the fourth test of autonomous vehicles by the agency.

The eight-passenger shuttles will serve JFK’s long-term parking Lot 9, making 15 stops as part of their route. Just two shuttles will be part of this pilot program, and the rides will be free for airport travelers.

However, during the brief journeys passengers will have to wear seatbelts and remain seated.

"We are preparing today for the future by moving forward with our tests of self-driving technology within safe, controlled environments such as our airports, which also happen to be the exact facilities where we want to put this technology into use," said Port Authority Chairman Kevin O'Toole.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has already carried out other tests over the past couple of years, including autonomous platooning using retrofitted buses in its special bus lanes.

Given the fact that SAE Level 4 robotaxis are already a common sight in several US cities, the prospect of a driverless shuttle making several stops around a major airport doesn't seem particularly futuristic, except for one detail: Airport shuttles frequently require verbal communication between a driver and passengers even when following a pre-set route, to give passengers enough time to disembark with their luggage or to pick out stopping points.

This role will still be played by humans, as the shuttles will feature safety attendants on board who regularly work as bus drivers at the same airport. So the use of these shuttles will not be a job-cutting program, at least not at this particular stage.

If successful, such a program could be expanded to a larger fleet of shuttles that could serve a greater area around the sprawling airport, the Port Authority has hinted.

"Other potential uses of self-driving shuttle platoons include moving passengers for first-mile/last-mile trips such as journeys between an AirTrain station and a distant airport facility such as car rental offices," the Port Authority noted.

At the moment, SAE Level 4 tech that could allow driverless shuttles to serve airports is more a question of industrial scale, as a number of robotaxi developers have been working on autonomous shuttles that could mix with city traffic without safety monitors on board. But driverless shuttles such as these will also have to make financial sense to airports and other venues that currently use shuttle buses.

As with robotaxis, we are now in that experimental period where autonomous tech has to prove itself on a practical scale before business considerations begin to dictate fleet purchasing decisions.

Will autonomous shuttles of this type become commonplace toward the end of the decade, or will this tech remain relatively niche for some time? Let us know what you think in the comments below.