Skip to main content

nuTonomy to test self-driving cars on public roads in Boston

US self-driving car startup nuTonomy is to begin testing its growing fleet of self-driving cars on specific public streets in a designated area of Boston. The company, which launched a self-driving car trial in Singapore in September, has been given permission to operate its vehicles in the city’s Raymond L. Flynn Marine Park. nuTonomy equips its vehicles with a software system which has been integrated with high-performance sensing and computing components, to enable safe operation without a driver.
November 22, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
US self-driving car startup nuTonomy is to begin testing its growing fleet of self-driving cars on specific public streets in a designated area of Boston. The company, which launched a self-driving car trial in Singapore in September, has been given permission to operate its vehicles in the city’s Raymond L. Flynn Marine Park.

nuTonomy equips its vehicles with a software system which has been integrated with high-performance sensing and computing components, to enable safe operation without a driver.

The company’s technology system out of research conducted in Massachusetts Institute of Technology labs run by nuTonomy co-founders Karl Iagnemma and Emilio Frazzoli.

During the Boston road tests, nuTonomy’s software system will learn local signage and road markings while gaining a deeper understanding of pedestrian, cyclist, and driver behaviour and interaction across a complex urban driving environment. nuTonomy plans to work with government officials to expand the testing area to other parts of the city in the near future.

The testing in Boston will enable nuTonomy to build on the knowledge it has gained from the public road tests and public trials it has been conducting in Singapore, where it plans to launch its self-driving mobility-on-demand service in 2018.

Related Content

  • Don’t drive drunk – or use a hands-free phone
    August 29, 2019
    Despite law changes, drivers’ bad habits have been creeping back in. TRL’s Dr Shaun Helman tells Adam Hill why using a phone at the wheel is just as distracting as driving after a few drinks esearch from as far back as 2002 (see box) suggests that driving while making a phone call – either hands-free or holding a handset to your ear – creates the same amount of distraction as being drunk behind the wheel. While it is notoriously hard to predict how alcohol will affect an individual (due to the speed of
  • UK Government fast tracks driverless cars
    July 30, 2014
    UK business secretary Vince Cable has announced two new measures today that give the green light for driverless cars to take to UK roads from January 2015. UK cities can now bid for a share of a US$16.9 million competition to host a driverless cars trial. The government is calling on cities to join together with businesses and research organisations to put forward proposals to become a test location. Up to three cities will be selected to host the trials from 2015 and each project is expected to last
  • Right urban design can cut traffic accidents – report
    August 28, 2015
    Building and retrofitting urban environments and reducing vehicle speeds are the key to creating safer streets and cutting traffic fatalities, a new report says. Cities Safer by Design, by the World Resources Institute (WRI) Ross Center for Sustainable Cities, offers practical guidance for urban planners and policymakers, and includes more than 30 specific urban design recommendations.
  • Modernising India's bus travel
    August 29, 2012
    Award-winning ITS initiatives are promising modernisation of bus travel as a key part of development plans for cities of the Indian state of Karnataka. The Indian state of Karnataka is poised to launch the next stage of a major rollout of ITS technology on its bus network following the August 2012 go-live of an award-winning passenger information system. The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), which is owned by the state government