Riverside wants to become “the new Detroit”. Can this autonomous electric bus get there?

There is a small shuttle bus in the interior empire which is powered by large aspirations.

It is electric, ends at 25 MPH, and can only follow a pre-designed route set up by the Riverside Transit Agency.

But here is a socket – it also behaves.

Monday, riverside shuttle are the first in the country to travel a fully independent bus accessible to the public which is deployed by a public transport agency.

It is a small step for communities in public transport, and a giant jump to Riverside becoming the next city of Motor, at least hope the mayor.

“I like to say that I have no lesser ambition to be the new Detroit for the manufacture of vehicles,” said the mayor of Riverside, Lock Dawson. “Riverside is it, we will do it for the 21st century.”

In October 2023, the Riverside municipal council approved a two -year pilot program to operate RTA, the staff and maintain three fully electric Ohmio buses. The first bus began to serve Riverside municipal airport this week, followed by one in downtown Riverside and another at UC Riverside at the end of the first year of the program.

To date, other iterations of autonomous buses across the country are limited to private roads or properties, or count on drivers to lend the occasional hand or foot for certain parts of the route. But not riverside, where the managers say that the whole road is traced and the person behind the wheel is there for scenarios just in the case, helping the passengers and communicating with the registered office of RTA, according to the deputy director of the city Rafael Guzman.

Although the experience is not supposed to change a lot for passengers, it can always look like a sign of major changes to come.

“Now the robots are trying to replace us,” joked Bus pilot Patrick Gray, 32, while recently was waiting for a riverside stop for a traditional bus to work. “I am used to humans who lead things, operating things, with this new age of AI and robotic stuff, it’s just, you know, it’s crazy. … It shows us that we are entering an era of different life.”

A touch screen inside the autonomous autonomous shuttle of Ohmio controls everything.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

The program is funded by the Riverside Transit Agency, South Coast Air Quality Management District, Ohmio and the city of Riverside. As part of the agreement, Ohmio moved its registered office of New Zealand to the inner city of the Empire, which established it as research, development, tests and the point of sale of the company.

During its first five years, the company should produce between 500 and 750 buses, which would generate more than $ 2 million in sales tax for the city. Ohmio buses also operate in New Zealand, Australia, South Korea and Luxembourg. There was a pilot program in New York which lasted four months in the long -term car park of JFK International Airport, but that has since concluded.

The program will cost $ 2.5 million to move Ohmio operations to Riverside. The city and AQMD contribute to $ 1 million each and the RTA is shouting in the $ 500,000 finals. Each bus sale is expected to generate about $ 26,250 in sales tax income for the city, according to the announcement of the city’s partnership company. As part of the agreement, the Ohmio has committed to creating 25 local jobs during the first three years of the program.

Kimberly Quamina, an RTA worker for 39 years, one of the first staff members to work on Ohmio buses is one of the first members of the staff to work on the Ohmio buses. She spent on Tuesday morning learning the strings of her new role on the bus for the next four months while the riders went up and descended.

“I hope to retire on one of these buses, it will be good,” said Quamina.

One of her passengers, Nataly Zuniga, said that she and her family decided to get on the “funny” bus after having lunch at the Riverside Airport Cafe. Tuesday, the bus suddenly stopped when it detected a car on the other side of the intersection, surprising Zuniga and the other passengers.

“The detection is too far away,” said Zuniga. “I think they have to reduce it, he detects everything and that’s where (the bus) stops.”

Despite the sudden stop, she said that she felt safe on the bus and that she would certainly be open to mounting them on the busiest roads.

For the moment, however, their role in public transport is on the outskirts.

“In a place like California … These can help fill certain shortcomings that have been created,” said Juan Mutete, deputy director of the UCLA of the Transport Studies Institute. “This offers another option to make there a lower traffic rate to justify transit or maybe they want something that can circulate a little more in the small streets.”

The arrival of Ohmio to Riverside follows two other clean energy companies which also recently installed in the city: Voltu, which manufactures all medium -sized trucks; and Hyundai Rotem, which manufactures hydrogen trains.

Buses will follow the routes that will operate the loading infrastructure for electric vehicles already existing in the city and invoice at night or when they are not in service, said Zayn Mashat, director of commercial development of Ohmio, in an email. At the beginning, they drive at a maximum of 15 MPH, but will eventually accelerate, said business officials. They will collect data along the way and share it with the RTA, which transmits it to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Department of Motor Vehicles adherently with the law of the State and Federal, according to Guzman.

The fully electric mini-bus for zero emission will be operated by the Riverside Transit Agency and will move on a loop near the Riverside airport and the Riverside UC.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

They are also equipped with sensors to detect an environment and makes its preprogrammed stops, although they can be jumped if you needed by humans on board.

“We are very convinced that it will be a successful deployment and we have paid special attention, in particular the municipal council, with regard to security dimensions,” said Guzman.

Now operational, travelers should consider the Ohmio buses as their first or last stage of their trip, according to the officials. The first route operates on a new route, while the two following should mix the new and existing RTA roads.