What to Know
- Driverless cars will help connect people between The Star, Hall Park and Frisco Station
- Town hall begins at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at Frisco City Hall
- In the initial part of the testing phase, someone will sit behind the wheel, acting as a backup driver in case of emergency
On Wednesday evening, inquiring minds can get the answers they seek regarding the self-driving vehicles that are currently crawling along some select city streets in Frisco.
As of this month and through the end of the year, driverless cars will help connect people between The Star, Hall Park and Frisco Station. Developers from all three partnered with the city, Denton County Transportation Authority and drive.ai out of Silicon Valley to make this a reality.
From 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, people can come to City Hall to see one of the autonomous vehicles, hear from representatives with the City of Frisco, as well as drive.ai, and ask questions regarding the program.
According to a representative from the City, the Q & A session alone lasted for approximately 45 minutes at a previous Town Hall session from this past Saturday.
“A lot of questions like, ‘How does it work? Why start with a small area? Why not expand? What should a rider expect?’” Brian Moen, Assistant Director of Engineering Services for the City of Frisco, related about some of the common questions he heard.
Moen said the primary focus on this pilot program is about safety – the safety of the passengers in the vehicles as well as the potential for increased safety on the roads once the human element is removed from driving.
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“And that safety really boils down to – in this country we have nearly 40,000 fatalities in a single year and 90 percent of them, over 90 percent of those crashes or fatalities, involve human error,” Moen said.
To be clear, however, humans will still be involved in the process in Frisco. They will monitor the riders through cameras in the back to ensure that they buckle up. In the initial part of the testing phase, someone will sit behind the wheel, acting as a backup driver in case of emergency.
