This new UH shuttle bus isn’t just electric. It will (almost) drive itself

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - There’s a new member of UH-Manoa’s Rainbow Shuttle service.

And this bus isn’t just electric, it will also mostly drive itself.

“What we think makes it a very cool van is we put our autonomy kit inside,” said Nick Pilipowskyj, of Perrone Robotics. His company designed the zero emission van with new developments in artificial intelligence

It was unveiled at a state Department of Transportation news conference in Waikiki earlier this week.

“The vehicle is going to navigate, public roads, mixed traffic on its own without any validation from the driver,” said Pilipowskyj. Due to Hawaii State law, it will still require a driver to intervene in emergencies.

Other than that, it’s on its own.

“So it’s navigating based on this kind of GPS bread crumb idea right where we map the route, we lay down these wave points for it to follow and track,” he adds.

The van can can hold up to 14 passengers and is ADA compliant.

It will save more than 660 gallons of gas yearly.

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