San Francisco based, Glydcars is bringing its fleet of driverless pods to Atlanta. The podcars are coming as part of a long-planned pilot program to the ATL Airport to explore alternative and innovative transportation options at the airport.
The self-driving pods will connect the airport SkyTrain to the Georgia International Convention Center in College Park. This pilot program is designed to fill in gaps in the transportation network that exist around the airport and in the south metro area as a whole. The concept of Glydways are autonomous vehicles that travel within the space of a bike lane and carry four passengers. They will operate in dedicated lanes, and promise rapid on-demand service. The infrastructure for Glydways costs about 10% of what other public transportation systems require
In the future, a route that wraps around Hartsfield-Jackson’s domestic and international terminals and to big employers like Porsche Cars and Delta Air Lines is envisioned, along with a separate leg that runs into Clayton County and possibly the beltline.
Autonomous transportation systems are not widely available in the U.S., but Glydways and other tech companies believe such networks could one day be an alternative to heavy or light rail. A few self-driving systems operate overseas in London, Abu Dhabi and Korea.
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