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Self-driving shuttles hit downtown Detroit streets beginning Monday

Posted at 5:59 AM, Oct 09, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-09 06:22:28-04

On Monday, a small fleet of self-driving vehicles are hitting the streets of downtown Detroit to test the technology with the help of some Detroit employees.

The shuttles from a start-up called May Mobility will take Bedrock employees from the office to the parking garage.

"We're trying to be the first self-driving vehicle that will not have a safety driver," CEO Edwin Olson said. 

The company is operating the two vehicles in and around the Bricktown and Greektown areas.

The six-seater autonomous shuttles will go a maximum of 25 mph from 7-10 p.m. Monday through Friday this week.

"We're learning all about the environments where customers want to operate these vehicles," he said. "That will tell us what tricks the vehicle needs to learn next."

Polaris built the vehicles, then May Mobility made some technological adjustments installing software and sensors, essentially teaching the shuttle to be its own driver.

For this test pilot, there will be an engineer in the driver's seat.