By Andrew J. Hawkins, The Verge

Nuro, the autonomous delivery startup founded by two ex-Google engineers, announced a dramatic expansion of its physical footprint. The company said it will spend $40 million on the construction of a manufacturing facility and test track for its fleet of self-driving robot vehicles. Both facilities will be located in Southern Nevada, which in recent years has become a hotbed for manufacturing and testing for the future of transportation.

Nuro, which is valued at $5 billion, was founded in 2016 by Dave Ferguson and Jiajun Zhu, two veterans of the Google self-driving car project that would go on to become Waymo. It is one of the few companies to be operating fully driverless vehicles — that is, vehicles without safety drivers behind the wheel — on public roads today. Its R2 vehicle is about half as wide as a compact sedan, shorter than most cars, and there’s no room inside for human passengers or drivers.

The R2 is an updated version of Nuro’s original R1 prototype, with around 50 percent more capacity (which translates into about 18 more grocery bags). The company plans on producing its third-generation vehicle at its Nevada facility once it is fully operational in 2022.

The new 125,000-square-foot factory will have the capacity to build “tens of thousands of delivery vehicles,” Nuro says. The vehicle’s powertrain, which includes the electric motor and battery, will be made in the US by BYD, a Chinese company that is one of the largest manufacturers of electric vehicles in the world. Nuro says it will develop all the autonomous software and digital infrastructure “from United States-based servers to ensure safety and privacy.”

Nuro says its $40 million investment will translate into $2.2 billion of “economic impact” for Nevada within 10 years and will result in the creation of 250 jobs. In April, the Reno Gazette Journal reported that Nuro will receive $170,519 in tax abatements over 10 years from Clark County. In exchange for the tax break, the company will create about 60 jobs within five years at an average wage of $28.80 per hour, the paper reported. The company also applied last September to receive an estimated $500,000 in tax abatements over a 10-year period from the Nevada Governor’s Economic Development Board, a spokesperson said.

Once the company’s manufacturing facility is up and running, Nuro will need a closed course to test and validate its vehicles safely. (As an example, Waymo uses a former Air Force base in central California which it originally leased in 2012.) Nuro said it is “taking over” 74 acres of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway to build a “world-class, closed-course testing facility that will allow sophisticated development and validation of its autonomous on-road vehicles.”

According to a spokesperson, Nuro will takeover the entire speedway for its testing facility. The race track was closed in November 2020 for COVID restrictions but has since been reopened for events. The South Point 400 race is currently scheduled for September 24th-26th.

The test track is also expected to be operational by 2022, at which point Nuro plans on putting its driverless robots through a battery of tests, including “avoiding pedestrians and pets to giving bicycles space on shared roadways, as well as environmental tests and vehicle systems validation.”

“This is a significant moment for Nuro,” said Zhu, Nuro’s co-founder and CEO, in a statement. “Building on our tremendous momentum—including strategic partnerships with industry leaders such as Domino’s, Kroger, and FedEx and operations in three states—we are now able to invest in the infrastructure to build tens of thousands of robots.”

The company is relatively unknown compared to its rivals in the autonomous vehicle space, mostly because of its focus on delivery and not ferrying human passengers in robotaxis. Still, Nuro has made incredible progress on the regulatory front, becoming the first company to receive a special exemption from certain federal safety requirements and recently getting the green light to charge money for its deliveries in California.

By Let’s Talk Autonomous Driving

When we think of transportation and the way we move as a society, we may think of it as a singular monolith that works the same way for everyone. In truth, not all mobility access is equal. Some people and communities have fewer transportation options and face greater risks while getting from “point A” to “point B.” These difficulties are often due to a systemic injustice called transportation inequity. It can affect every aspect of life, from accessing health care to getting to school and work. It also affects how long some people can expect to live.

The symptoms of transportation inequity, such as higher pedestrian fatalities and fewer transit options, often affect low-income and minority communities the most.

But it doesn’t have to be like this. Autonomous driving technology has the potential to provide safe mobility options for road users and pedestrians and complement existing public transportation networks to close transit gaps, enabling more people to get to school, work, and healthcare.

Problem: Higher pedestrian fatalities in communities of color

From the moment they walk out of the door, people of color may face more obstacles in reaching their destinations and threats to their safety while in transit. A 2015 study by Portland State University in Oregon and the University of Arizona found that drivers are less likely to stop for Black pedestrians trying to cross the street.

Because of factors like lack of pedestrian infrastructure and poor road design, there are more pedestrian fatalities in poor communities and communities of color. According to research by Smart Growth America, the pedestrian fatality rate for Black people is twice as high as white people in the U.S. on average, and up to three to nine times higher depending on the state. And the poorer a community is the more likely pedestrians are to die, according to an analysis by Governing.

Complicating everything, as a transportation planner pointed out in Bloomberg CityLab, planners do not always consult representatives from communities of color when implementing street safety programs, failing to get buy-in while also failing to address the root causes of transit inequity.

Opportunity: Autonomous driving technology holds the potential to improve road safety

Autonomous driving technology holds a strong promise for road safety. It can be designed to be constantly vigilant, follow traffic laws, and predict what other road users may do next. All this means autonomous driving technology can, in a split-second, make billions of driving decisions that take the safety of road users – including pedestrians to cyclists – into account.

Problem: Communities of color have fewer transit options, face larger distances between transit hubs

Where local transit, especially public transportation, options are limited, residents face bigger challenges in  reaching the places where they learn, work, and seek healthcare. The Urban Information Lab at the University of Texas-Austin estimates up to 4.5 million people in 52 U.S. cities live in “transit deserts” where residents, who are largely low-income people of color, need more transportation than what is available to them.

People in these communities often face what planners call the “first-mile, last-mile” problem, or difficulty reaching the first public transit stop in their journeys or getting home from the final stop because they lie outside the range of what is considered walkable, which is typically defined as a quarter mile. This problem may also be compounded by a lack of safe infrastructure for them to reach the stops.

Opportunity: Autonomous driving technology could help with first-mile, last-mile transit

Autonomous driving technology could help local transit agencies address the “first-mile, last-mile” problem by complementing existing public transportation networks. For example, planners in Phoenix have explored partnerships with companies like Waymo to provide more people with safe, reliable, and convenient options to reach public transportation stops. Waymo currently operates an autonomous rideshare service in Phoenix, called Waymo One.

According to the Mobility Equity Framework from the Greenlining Institute, making transportation accessible means improving affordability, accessibility, efficiency, reliability, and safety into account while reducing air pollution.

For transit agencies and passengers, fully autonomous driving technology could help expand on existing infrastructure, bring new mobility options to underserved populations and neighborhoods, add greater convenience and reliability through on-demand models, and improve road safety. Autonomous driving technology could help bridge the “first-mile, last-mile” gap to connect more people with transit. It may also one day reduce emissions and improve air quality by providing more efficient passenger and freight transportation.

Transit equity and long-term environmental impact

Long term, shared mobility through autonomous fleets could have a positive environmental impact. Climate change-fueled heat waves and air pollution hit communities of color the hardest. People of color are three times more likely to live in a community with fewer parks and green spaces that could absorb heat and mitigate increasingly common heat waves, driving a phenomenon called the urban heat island effect.

Where autonomous ride-hailing continues to advance, it could eventually free up spaces in cities that are currently used for large parking lots for housing, grocery stores, healthcare facilities, and parks. Low income communities would benefit disproportionately from this.

In its 2017 Framework for Equity in New Mobility, TransForm urged cities and planners to take autonomous driving technology, which they refer to under the umbrella of “new mobility,” into consideration when planning for the future. All these potential opportunities mean that autonomous driving technology could be part of reducing air pollution in the future while allowing cities to transform urban heat islands, resulting in positive benefits for many different communities.

While autonomous driving technology is not the only answer for issues affecting transit equity, it could hold the promise to make roads safer and more accessible for all.

Compared to other industrialized nations, Americans spend far more time behind the wheel than drivers in other nations. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, the average American drives 13,000 miles each year. That is equal to one trip around the Earth, and 18 full days spent in the car every two years.

However, the American affinity for automobiles was not always a given. Abandoning the horse and buggy for self-propelled vehicles was met with reasonable cynicism, as reported by the New York Times in 1928. At the time, the New York Times argued a horseless carriage would be significantly faster, and, therefore, inherently more dangerous. Moreover, they argued that because a horse is a living, breathing animal with instincts and a sense of direction, it is not likely to run into brick wall, even at the behest of a rider.

In some respects, the dangers articulated by the Times were realized. Although the automobile has contributed to the advancement of our society, this advancement has come at the cost of precious human life. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), on average, over 100 people die every single day due to traffic collisions. Furthermore, NHTSA has also found that human error is involved in 94–96 percent of all accidents.

However, this statistically morbid reality does not discourage Americans from driving. Instead, we soberly acknowledge these risks when we get behind the wheel of a vehicle, and as a society, have created seatbelts and other safeguards to minimize these risks.

Yet, despite all the precautions that can be taken, they all fail to address the elephant in the room when it comes to driving — the same elephant that existed when Henry Ford rolled out his Model T all those years ago: human error is an innate factor when driving a vehicle that can result in bodily harm and death.

Transitioning to autonomous vehicles, or self-driving cars, could eliminate the human error that is responsible for thousands of deaths each year. Furthermore, according to NHTSA, “the safety benefits of automated vehicles are paramount.”

Beyond the benefits of leading to a reduction in death and injury, autonomous vehicles also have the potential to yield significant economic benefits. NHTSA estimates that in 2010, vehicle crashes resulted in a $242 billion loss in economic activity and a $594 billion cost due to loss of life and decreased quality of life due to injuries.

Transitioning to autonomous vehicles and eliminating the human factor that contributes to loss of life would presumably eliminate significant costs to our national economy and overall wellbeing. Moreover, it has been estimated that up to tens of thousands of jobs could be created with the rise of self-driving cars, further stimulating the U.S. economy. Additionally, autonomous vehicles hold the promise of giving greater independence for those currently unable to drive, for example allowing seniors and people with disabilities to lead lives of greater self-sufficiency and independence.

The benefits of self-driving cars are significant. However, similar to the early 20th century, technological advancements give legitimate reasons for individuals to be skeptical. That is why this week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce will hold an important hearing on the state of autonomous vehicles in the U.S.

During this hearing, we hope to critically examine the risks and benefits of autonomous vehicles and more specifically, the risk of the U.S. drifting too far behind its global competitors. Although the U.S. is currently ahead of China when it comes to self-driving cars, we could lose that momentum and our position if we do not make this a national priority as they have.

In any event, our approach to autonomous vehicles cannot be driven by the same anxiety and apprehension of those who feared the demise of the horse and buggy. When it comes to self-driving cars, change is coming, and we can either lead from the front or be left in the dust.

U.S. Rep. Bobby L. Rush (D-Ill.) represents Illinois’ 1st District and is a senior member of the House Energy & Commerce Committee and a former chairman of the then-Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection. Dr. Larry. Bucshon (R-Ind.) represents Indiana’s 8th District and is a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

View the article in TheHill.com.