The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) has announced that it will host a three-vehicle autonomous platooning demonstration at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in partnership with autonomous mobility company, Ohmio.
The pilot is scheduled to take place in June and will be the country’s first three-vehicle platoon to be tested at a US airport.
This follows a demonstration of two platooning eight-passenger electric autonomous Navya shuttles in October 2022 to showcase how such technology could benefit passengers at JFK.
“We had great success in 2022 with this technology, and this second demonstration will allow us to evaluate and test a larger platoon at faster speeds. At the same time, we are actively looking at where we can apply AV technology within our footprint.”
The Ohmio demonstration will deploy three eight-passenger driverless shuttles, which will travel in a platoon on a closed road at the JFK Long Term Parking Lot.
With these trials, the PANYNJ hopes to advance the use of autonomous technology in public transit to improve customer service, reliability and capacity.
In the airport environment, AV platooning can be used to transport passengers over short connections, such as to a commuter rail station, an airport rental car facility or from an AirTrain station to the far end of a long-term parking lot.
Following the Ohmio platooning pilot, the agency will look to deploy the technology for longer-term use cases such as moving passengers between parking lots and on-airport facilities.
“The Port Authority seeks to be a leader in the region in testing and considering the use of autonomous technology in public transit. We look forward to further testing of autonomous vehicle platoons, autonomous streetsweepers, and applying the technology to potential last-mile solutions in 2023 to advance how we as an agency can keep the region moving.”
