A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Self-driving taxis are hitting the road more often in cities such as Phoenix, Los Angeles and Austin. They hadn't been seen much, though, in the snowy Upper Midwest until now. Now, one local transit system is trying out autonomous vehicles in northern Minnesota. Here's Chelsey Perkins of member station KAXE.
(SOUNDBITE OF VEHICLES DRIVING BY)
CHELSEY PERKINS, BYLINE: A fleet of autonomous vehicles is the star of the day at a launch celebration in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Snowflakes fall as a parade of vehicles drive slowly by, headlights flashing, and a local driving instructor breaks out in song.
UNIDENTIFIED DRIVING INSTRUCTOR: (Singing) The future of transit is now in hand with self-driving vehicles across the land.
PERKINS: This is goMARTI 2.0. MARTI stands for Minnesota's Advanced Rural Transit Innovations - a free, on-demand transportation program. And for those without their own vehicles or with mobility issues, it can be life-changing. Seventy-six-year-old Myrna Peterson is a wheelchair user and one of the regular riders.
MYRNA PETERSON: I've put many miles on my chair, about 1,600 a year. And whether it's raining or snowing, I'm usually out there in my wheelchair.
PERKINS: Peterson is one of the dynamic forces behind the launch of the goMARTI program, along with local and state partners and federal grants.
PETERSON: This literally gets me off the street because it's a warm ride, plus an opportunity to visit with these amazing operators.
PERKINS: GoMARTI 2.0 is an expansion of the program, which began three years ago. There's now more hours of operation, 70 more stops and three new handicapped-accessible electric Volkswagen vans named Buzz, Polly and Pickle. And it also serves the neighboring Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Reservation.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Go.
(CHEERING)
PERKINS: The crowd cheers as Peterson, the guest of honor, presses a button that shoots confetti in the air, and she's a little teary-eyed.
PETERSON: I'm all about quality of life, opportunities for all ages and all abilities. I just think it's great that this will get people to the grocery store, to their medical appointment, to the...
PERKINS: All of the autonomous vehicles have a navigation system developed by May Mobility, a Michigan-based company. Spokesman Karsten Kutterer says the vehicles take stock of their surroundings.
KARSTEN KUTTERER: Here's a pedestrian right up here walking a dog. So it notices all of that, and then every second, it's analyzing thousands of potential scenarios of what could happen. Is this person possibly going to cross the street, or is this car going to turn in front of me?
PERKINS: While the AVs operate autonomously about 90% of the time, Minnesota law requires a licensed human driver to help operate the vehicles. Meghan Horak is one of them. On this day, she's taking people on ride-alongs in a vehicle named Meeru.
MEGHAN HORAK: Honestly, since it's a small town, you see the same people, a lot of the same riders or repeat riders - nearly everyone. And so you get to know them.
PERKINS: Michael Reyes is a planner with the Leech Lake Band Tribal Development Office and helped to bring the service to the reservation. He says transportation barriers are especially acute for tribal populations.
MICHAEL REYES: We all complain about it. We all know it's a problem, but nobody did anything. GoMARTI came forward.
PERKINS: Now those autonomous vehicles are becoming better at handling snowbanks and icy roads, learning that's necessary for providing a critical transportation service for rural residents in northern climates.
For NPR News, I'm Chelsey Perkins in Grand Rapids, Minnesota.
(SOUNDBITE OF MARVIN GAYE'S "SONG #2 (INSTRUMENTAL)") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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