WASHINGTON -- Fully autonomous self-driving cars could hit the streets of D.C. within the next three years.
Mayor Muriel Bowser and Sherif Marakby, the CEO of Ford Motor Company’s Autonomous Vehicles LLC, made the announcement Monday afternoon at The Wharf.
Ford, with the help of its partner Argo AI, plans to roll out its self-driving cars in several phases over the next few years. First, they’ll be in testing mode and mapping the city’s streets through 2021. After that, the autonomous vehicles could offer ridesharing services and possibly deliveries.
Argo AI first told WUSA9 in early October that it was working to see if its cars would compatible with D.C. streets after one of its vehicles were spotted in the city’s Capitol Hill neighborhood.
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Marakby said the company was impressed by Mayor Bowser’s willingness to open D.C. to autonomous vehicle testing. He also said he believes District residents need another transportation option to help the city reduce its traffic problems.
"With a growing population, billions of commuters, a large public transportation infrastructure, with buses and metro and high demand for ride hail and delivery services, DC has a broad array of transportation needs and options,” Marakby said. “The first quarter of next year is when you’re going to start seeing the vehicles in autonomous mode, with a safety driver.”
The mapping of D.C.’s roads will start around Ward 5 before moving to other parts of the city. Marakby said 5 to 10 cars could ultimately drive around D.C. Those cars would be housed in a terminal around the Costco in Ward 5.
In 2021, Ford would like to see fully autonomous cars eventually travel around the city. Marakby said those cars could be used for rideshare and other private business partnerships.
“At the times where the car is not used, we would also use it for goods movement,” he said.
Mayor Bowser said the city’s partnership with Ford is not exclusive. However, she added she is excited to begin working with the company.
“We're growing and we want to be growing,” she said. “And, we need to explore all transportation modes."
Brian Kenner, D.C.’s deputy mayor for planning and economic development, said D.C. has also been a part of the Bloomberg Aspen Global Autonomous Vehicle Working Group for the last two years. He said that group has provided the city the opportunity to learn about how handle autonomous vehicles from other international cities that are also testing them.
Kenner said he is hopeful they will make the streets of D.C. safer.
“The opportunity to reduce fatalities, to reduce crashes, is actually the intent of autonomous vehicles,” he said.
But, many people have their doubts that autonomous vehicles are a safe mode of transportation. Over the last few years, the cars have also made headlines for being involved in several fatal accidents.
Marakby said Ford’s vehicles will undergo multiple testing procedures to make sure they are safe on the road. He added they are built with numerous safety redundancies.
"If something goes wrong with the steering, we have a back-up steering system,” he said. “If something goes wrong with braking, we have a back-up breaking system,” Marakby said. “So, all that is built into this vehicle."
D.C. is the second city that Ford will have tested its autonomous vehicle in. It first conducted testing in Miami, Florida.
