AUTONOMOUS SHUTTLE MARKET

KEY FINDINGS

1. The Global Autonomous Shuttle Market could be a key element which will improve the public transportation system thereby reducing private car ownership in the future.
2. Huge delivery volume, workforce shortage and rapid growth in the e-commerce industry along with the penetration of internet during the pandemic has created an opportunity for autonomous vehicle services to cope with the delivery demand and to curb the spread of the virus
3. The immense growth of the e-commerce industry has led to the opening of various warehouses and distribution centers for delivering goods faster to the consumers. The lack of employee shortage has created a massive logistical challenge but they used small autonomous shuttles as an alternative for moving goods inside a warehouse.
4. The autonomous last mile delivery is driven by changing consumer expectations for same-day delivery and increasing trend for contactless delivery solution in the online food delivery sector due to risk of virus exposure
5. China will be the market leader for autonomous shuttles with various players involved in the pursuit of L5 autonomous vehicles and various OEMs already set for mass manufacturing
6. In Europe, the growth of the autonomous shuttle market will come due to the increase in reliability of the technology, and customer satisfaction. The technology development is also focusing on improving performance for all weather conditions
7. The deployment of the L4 (Semi Autonomous) shuttles premiered across China, Europe, and USA. There are various services which claim to be L4 but aren’t deployed as L4 due to various regulatory pushbacks. In USA, only certain states allow driverless vehicles
8. The role of Tier-2 Suppliers will be massive in transforming level of autonomy step by step as they are capable on focusing minute details in the autonomous vehicles than compared to major OEMs
9. The autonomous shuttle market hasn't quite developed so far because these types of shuttles don’t exist in many countries. But by 2026, a sizeable portion of the world will have experienced them and maybe there could be a market for thousands of shuttles, globally
10. The lack of proper infrastructure, technical obstacles and stringent regulations by various governments has impeded the usage of autonomous delivery services. But the development of technological advancements in the upcoming years will plays a vital role in the adoption of autonomous delivery services
11. Deployment of the L4 (Semi Autonomous) shuttle premiered across China, Europe, and the USA. There are various services which claim to be L4 but aren’t deployed as L4 due to various regulatory pushbacks. In USA, only certain states allow driverless vehicles
12. Many Automobile OEMs have been exploring the potential role of hardware and its accessories in the Autonomous Vehicle Platform  
13. In US,the autonomous shuttle market is backed by the top technology giants in the country. The investments are for decreasing the major costs in travel, future licensing and services revenue opportunities, and to set up themselves as a leader in autonomous technology
14. MobileEye EyeQ5 is the leading ASIC-based solution to support fully-autonomous (Level 5) vehicles 
15. Huge delivery volumes, workforce shortage and rapid growth in the e-commerce industry along with the penetration of internet has developed an opportunity for autonomous last-mile services to cope with the delivery demand and to curb the spread of the virus

INTRODUCTION

Autonomous shuttles provide an attractive, flexible solution to move people around industrial campuses, city centres, or suburban neighbourhoods, connecting such areas with main mass transit systems, greatly improving public transportation. Many companies today are involved in the development of a variety of autonomous shuttle platforms.

Optimists predict that by 2030, autonomous vehicles will be sufficiently reliable, affordable, and common to displace most human driving, providing huge savings and benefits. However, there are good reasons to be sceptical. Most optimistic predictions are made by people with financial interests in the industry, based on experience with disruptive technologies such as digital cameras, smart phones, and personal computers.

The impact of autonomous cars on overall vehicle travel and accompanying traffic concerns is a critical planning issue. It has the potential to go either way. They can boost vehicle travel by increasing non-driver vehicle travel, enhancing travel convenience and comfort, lowering vehicle operating costs, creating empty travel, and promoting longer-distance commutes and more spread development.

AUTONOMOUS SHUTTLE MARKET DEVELOPMENTS AND INNOVATIONS

AUTONOMOUS SHUTTLE MARKET DYNAMICS

Autonomous vehicle implementation is just one of many trends likely to affect future transport demands and impacts, and not necessarily the most important. Their ultimate impacts depend on how autonomous vehicles interact with other trends, such as shifts from private to shared vehicles.

Vehicles last longer, cost more, impose larger external costs, and are more highly regulated than most other consumer goods. As a result, vehicle technologies take longer to penetrate markets than most other sectors. It will probably take decades for autonomous vehicles to dominate new vehicle purchases and fleets, and some motorists may resist using them.

Optimistically, autonomous vehicles will be safe and reliable by 2025, and may be commercially available in many areas by 2030. If they follow the pattern of previous vehicle technologies, during the 2030s and probably the 2040s, they will be expensive and limited in performance, sometimes unable to reach a desired destination or requiring human intervention when they encounter unexpected situations.

Another significant problem is how much potential value can be realised when only a fraction of vehicle trip is autonomous. Some benefits, such as increased mobility for rich nondrivers, may occur while autonomous cars are rare and expensive, but many potential benefits, such as lower congestion and pollution rates, reduced traffic signals and lane widths, need that vehicles operate autonomously.

AUTONOMOUS SHUTTLE MARKET SEGMENTATION

The Global Autonomous Shuttle Market can be segmented into following categories for further analysis.

AUTONOMOUS SHUTTLE MARKET By Level of Autonomy Type

• Fully Autonomous
• Semi-Autonomous
• Hybrid Autonomous
• Considerable Partial Autonomous

AUTONOMOUS SHUTTLE MARKET By Seating capacity

• under 5
• 5 to 10
• More than 10

AUTONOMOUS SHUTTLE MARKET By Regional Classification

• Asia Pacific Region - APAC
• Middle East and Gulf Region
• Africa Region
• North America Region
• Europe Region
• Latin America and Caribbean Region

AUTONOMOUS SHUTTLE MARKET RECENT ACQUISITION

Optimus Ride, a Boston-based business creating SAE Level 4 autonomous vehicles, has sold its technology, intellectual property, and other assets to Magna International, a Canadian developer of car mobility technologies (AVs).

More than 120 new Optimus Ride employees are joining Magna's workforce. The business intends to leverage their knowledge to improve its capacity for sophisticated driver assistance systems (ADAS).

Optimus Ride opened its doors  after spinning out of MIT.  Its objective was to develop electric, communal, and sociable AVs. A low-speed, electric, autonomous shuttle was unveiled as its first prototype.

As a result of the Optimus Ride staff staying in Boston, Magna will establish a Boston-based engineering centre. There will be no longer be an Optimus Ride.

With early MassDOT AV permission, Optimus Ride started testing their vehicles on the streets of Boston. The following year, Union Point in Weymouth, Massachusetts, saw the debut of its first residential community mobility pilot programme.

The business started offering mobility services in New York and Virginia. Optimus Ride reconfigured their fleets to distribute more than 6,000 free meals to those in need in Washington, D.C. in response to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Department of Energy granted the firm funding to use its autonomous fleets and work with Clemson University, UC Berkeley, and Argonne National Labs on AV research.

AUTONOMOUS SHUTTLE MARKET RECENT MARKET TECHNOLOGICAL TRENDS

Autonomous Shuttles have been the changing trend in the most recent technological interventions being made into the Autonomous shuttle markets. Technology has been playing a major role in the autonomous requirements of the shuttles. There have been various forms of technologies being brought into existence through continual improvement in the technologies existing within the market.

Leddar Pixell, the most robust LiDAR on the market, offers a comprehensive detection "cocoon," enabling dependable object and vulnerable road user identification as well as excellent robustness and endurance. This 3D solid-state LiDAR is an excellent choice for autonomous shuttle applications.

Many businesses are now working on the development of various autonomous shuttle systems. The market for LiDARs for autonomous shuttles is still in its early stages, but it is anticipated to grow more than 50% over the next five years. The sensor configuration varies greatly amongst autonomous shuttle platforms and can range from 3 to 12 LiDARs.

There has been evolving technology in driverless autonomous vehicles. To do this, the deep learning machine learning technology is utilised to interact with the vehicle in order for it to learn by example without the presence of a human attendant on board. This includes actions such as recognising a stop sign or distinguishing between a pedestrian and a lamppost. As part of the process, the technology interacts with several next-generation radars, cameras, and lidar sensors. It crunches data from these in real-time for a 360-degree view of the vehicles' surroundings.

AUTONOMOUS SHUTTLE MARKET NEW PRODUCT LAUNCH

After California regulators approved the expansion of robot axis despite traffic and safety concerns, San Francisco has launched an autonomous shuttle service. The free shuttle will operate every day on a predetermined path known as the Loop around Treasure Island, a former U.S. Navy facility in the heart of San Francisco Bay.

The Loop travels seven stations, linking shopping malls and community centres with residential areas. An attendant is present in the all-electric vehicle, which lacks a driver's seat and steering wheel but can still be operated via a handheld controller if necessary. The county is providing the shuttle service as a part of a grant-funded pilot programme to examine how autonomous vehicles can enhance the current public transportation network.

A rising number of cities across the world are putting self-driving car technology to the test to see how safe they are and how they might change how people get around. One of those towns is San Francisco.

The first-mile, last-mile, and short connector routes are designed for these shuttles. A bus system is not meant to be replaced by them. Due to its lack of distractions, the autonomous vehicle will have a quicker reaction time than a human and provide a more reliable service.

The shuttle operated in autonomous mode for a test drive, moving cautiously and slowly. A utility truck was blocking part of the road, so the driver had to manually manoeuvre the car around it. Following the approval of two competing robotaxi businesses by the California Public Utilities Commission, the autonomous shuttle pilot project was started.

New Autonomous Vehicle Shuttle Launched by Altamonte Springs City.  By connecting people to important activity centres, this state-of-the-art AV shuttle pilot offers practical and environmentally friendly transportation solutions. Hop on to experience the future of this developing technology for locals and visitors who live, work, and play in Altamonte Springs.

Despite the fact that millions of people pass through Altamonte Springs annually as a result of its location at a major intersection in the region, locals and visitors now have other options for getting about quickly and efficiently while saving time by avoiding clogged roads or needing to find parking several times.

There will be local destinations close to the AV shuttle stops. The City was chosen by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) to act as a test site for the AV shuttle project and to offer information on adopting the technology in other municipalities.

To make this possible, Beep will supply the necessary technology and shuttles. In cities from Florida to California, Beep has tested and safely deployed autonomous shuttles.

Altamonte Springs residents and visitors will have first- and last-mile connection from Uptown Altamonte, the city's primary retail business district, to the Altamonte Springs SunRail Station, which is where the commuter rail service for Central Florida terminates, within three years thanks to the city's 100% electric AV shuttle network. With the intention of putting their city on the map for the future, Altamonte Springs has a long history of being at the forefront of numerous high-profile initiatives.

The information gathered and the lessons discovered through this endeavour will serve as a guide for other cities looking to use autonomous shuttles to improve accessibility for all citizens.

On a nearly 1.5-mile route connecting Altamonte Mall, Renaissance Centre, Cranes Roost, and AMC Theatre, two electric AV shuttles will be tested as part of CraneRIDES' first phase.

The AV shuttle network offers seven days a week service to locals and visitors that utilise one of the four stops along the route. With the addition of these new vehicles, future phases of the Altamonte Springs project will enhance and expand passenger services and extend connectivity to the AdventHealth Altamonte campus, the Altamonte Springs SunRail Station, and CenterPointe, a planned 55-acre mixed-use development with a hotel, retail space, and residential housing.

AUTONOMOUS SHUTTLE MARKET COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Autonomous vehicles (AV) in the form of shared transport services (e.g. car sharing and ridesharing) can form a viable alternative to the personal car. If the user uptake of shared AVs is high, they can have a substantial impact on traffic related to personal mobility in cities. One specific service application of shared AVs is to form a first/last mile connection with a mass public transit hub. In the current paper, we refer to this type of service as an autonomous shuttle service.

Neolix has been one of the most influencing brands amongst the Autonomous Shuttle manufacturing stakeholders in the global scale of operations. Beijing-based start-up Neolix recently closed a $29 million financing round and is using autonomous vehicles to deliver food to households, especially in the areas that were worst affected by the epidemic. The company is primarily based in the capital, but the main production facility is in Changzhou, around 700 miles south of Beijing, with an annual capacity of around 10,000 vehicles.

The Neolix operates a custom-made autonomous shuttle requirements, which is a 2.4 x 2.4 x 2.4-metre shuttles move around using a mix of sensors, including lidar sensors and HD maps, and can go up to 60 miles on a single charge, up 20-degree inclines, and at a peak speed of 31 mph. The shuttles are Level 4 autonomous vehicles, which means they can handle the bulk of driving scenarios on their own, but they still have a cockpit and telecommunications systems.

LeddarTech has been another stakeholder in active recognition throughout the market with a modernisation of prospective technologies being integrated at each step of requirements. LeddarTech is involved in propagating manufacturing of integrated approaches towards LiDAR based Solutions.

They rely on a mechanical-scanning LiDAR sensor that is placed on top of the shuttle, which provides long-range detection and 360 degrees of coverage. Flash LiDAR, such as the new Leddar Pixell Cocoon LiDAR, offer considerably better mean-time-between-failures (MTBF) than mechanical scanning LiDAR, as well as 100 percent light density and total coverage of the field of view.

AUTONOMOUS SHUTTLE MARKET COMPANIES PROFILED

• Leddar Tech
• Nuro
• Navya
• Local Motors
• Udelv
• Easy Mile
• Yutong
• Toyota
• Coast Autonomous
• Transdeve
• Go
• Polairs
• Neolix
• Softbank
• Auro