A Coast Autonomous P-1 shuttle navigates the scene at Tampa’s University of South Florida. Credit: Photo via Twitter/@CoastAV

The University of South Florida’s autonomous test drive into the future went well overall, but it hit a minor speed bump just after Valentine’s Day.

From February 11-15, the campus allowed students to take test rides in a COAST Autonomous bus. 

The COAST P-1 Shuttle — a bi-directional, self-driving vehicle that is designed to operate in pedestrian areas or in mixed traffic up to 25 mph— was traveling between the campus library and rec center. Adrian Sussmann, president of COAST Autonomous, told the campus newspaper that the shuttle “provided over 500 autonomous rides during the week in an area densely populated with skateboarders, bicyclists and pedestrians.”

Sussmann also acknowledged a February 15 incident in which a student said that an autonomous bus struck her from behind before she fell to the ground and twisted an ankle. A University Police Department report said that the driver from Autonomous Coast switched over to manual mode when he noticed that the student was getting too close. The shuttle — which was traveling at 5 mph — immediately stopped after the student was hit. 

“This was an unfortunate event that happened under manual operation at less than 5 mph and we will evaluate training protocols and make any appropriate adjustments,” Sussman said, adding that the collision would not have happened under the autonomous mode due to sensors that identify when people get too close to the shuttle.

“There’s a safety operator on board that often changes to manual in order to test the mode in case any threat to safety happens,” Sussmann said. “The whole purpose of the project is that you want to get into a point where there are no operators on board at all controlling the shuttle, but until then we want to guarantee the safety of everyone.”

The student told the USF Oracle that her insurance is currently covering hospital costs. She does hope that COAST Autonomous or USF’s Center for Urban Transportation Research (which was conducting the demonstrations) will offer additional support.

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This article appears in Feb 28 – Mar 7, 2019.

Read his 2016 intro letter and disclosures from 2022 and 2021. Ray Roa started freelancing for Creative Loafing Tampa in January 2011 and was hired as music editor in August 2016. He became Editor-In-Chief...