Beep beep! There's a new people mover at Honolulu airport. A driverless shuttle called Miki launched Wednesday morning, operating alongside the current Wiki Wiki Shuttle that travels between gates and terminals.
The all-electric service is a first for state transportation officials. It's the latest effort to electrify our vehicles to meet statewide green goals.
The 18-month test run will include four autonomous vans to shuttle less than a dozen passengers at a time — with carry-on luggage. Seat belts are recommended and no standing is allowed.
The vans, made by autonomous transportation company Beep, travel at a max speed of 10 miles per hour and run for about four hours on a single charge. While the vans are automatic, an attendant will be on board in case it needs to be taken over manually.
"The safety attendants will act as ambassadors to be able to tell passengers about what to expect, make sure that we're enforcing all the safety things that are required. And then they're also an additional set of eyes just to make sure that in these mixed cases of traffic flow, the vehicles are operating safely," said Beep Chief Revenue Officer Toby McGraw.
McGraw said Beep operates vans in about a dozen sites nationwide, but this is the first airport project. He said the airport setting is a more controlled environment with tight geofenced zones.
"We'll try this out, see if it fits our airport operations. If it does, we'll expand to make sure that we build out our efficiency and build out our electric fleet," said State Transportation Director Ed Sniffen.
During an airport tour with U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in February, we also noticed Tesla Model 3s quietly zipping around the tarmac.
The state Department of Transportation has 56 Teslas throughout the islands and expects to add about 150 more electric vehicles later this year.
"The great thing about that is our sustainability partners, they own the vehicles, they're responsible for maintaining them to ensure that they're in good working order," he said.
The department purchases the service of the vehicle, not the vehicle itself. And when maintenance was taken into account, Tesla was the cheapest package compared to similar vehicles from Nissan and Chevrolet.
"The concerns that our staff had about electric vehicles, the need for the charge, the potential for upset in operations, once we started running the vehicles, all of those concerns went away," Sniffen said.
Sniffen said the department is trying to be a leader in going green.
"We're doing well with our electric conversion, and we're helping other state agencies and county agencies do the same," he added.
In addition to the driverless shuttles and the Tesla utility fleet, the DOT is also testing electric street sweepers. They are in use in Kona and Hilo.
Hawaiʻi isn't the only state to turn to Tesla. The California Department of Transportation recently made the largest single order for EVs to date.
Getting back to the driverless shuttles, Miki apparently means agile in Hawaiian. To be honest, a test ride on Tuesday was not that smooth — more herky-jerky. But the next time you are at the airport and you get the chance, jump on a Miki van. You be the judge. DOT wants your feedback.
This interview aired on The Conversation on April 17, 2024. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1. Sophia McCullough adapted this story for the web.
