Some local shoppers soon could see their produce pull up in a Prius in one of the first forays into autonomous vehicles in the Houston area, a move observers said is sure to spur more robot deliveries in the region.

Following its launch in suburban Phoenix, California-based robotics company Nuro will debut automated deliveries at Kroger supermarkets on Buffalo Speedway and South Post Oak, with each store serving two zip codes. Officials did not specify an exact date for deliveries to start, only that the vehicles are in place and operation will start before summer.

“We want to learn as much as possible when we are out there,” said Dave Ferguson, co-founder of Nuro.

The zip codes covered will be 77401 and 77096 at the South Post Oak store, and 77005 and 77025 from the Buffalo Speedway location.

Deliveries will cost a flat fee of $5.95 regardless of delivery size or value, said Matt Thompson, vice president of digital business for Kroger. In Phoenix, delivery is to one zip code around a Fry’s market, a Kroger subsidiary.

“We are really encouraged about the repeat rate we are seeing from the Phoenix area,” Thompson said.

Shoppers in Houston this week were mixed in their reactions to the idea of automated deliveries. Carrol Maddon, 56, said she would sign up to avoid quick trips to the store.

“There’s some things I want to pick out myself, but a lot of it, yeah, I just want it when I want it,” Maddon said.

Her friend Kathy Maines, however, doubted driverless cars darting around is a good idea.

“I think there is a lot to work out,” she said, noting even regular automobiles still have a host of defects, from airbags to accelerators.

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Ferguson, who started Nuro after working on Google’s autonomous car initiative, said that is why delivery businesses make sense as the first step in driverless vehicles. Unlike carrying passengers who may be in a hurry, deliveries can test the technology without people feeling the vehicles move too slowly. The vehicles also remove a trip that, to many, can be an annoyance, which Ferguson said even the least tech-savvy will embrace.

“These are not the people who rush out and are first in line for the Iphone,” he said. “These are busy families who want to avoid a trip to the store.”

Though autonomy is affecting numerous parts of the transportation industry, the movement of goods and local deliveries is receiving the most attention, said Christoper Poe, an assistant director of the Texas A&M Transportation Institute and the lead on the agency’s connected and automated transportation efforts.

“We are all watching to see how the market plays out in that area,” he said.

The belief is people gradually will grow accustomed to the service, as long as they see a benefit.

“People adapt to convenience pretty quickly,” Poe said.

He predicted the vehicles will not even be noticeable on local streets, unless they are different sizes and shapes.

“My guess is, they are going to follow the roads very carefully,” Poe said of the computer-controlled cars. “There is nothing you need to do differently as a driver.”

As Nuro did in Phoenix, deliveries will begin using converted Toyota Prius sedans. Customers will order their groceries online via Kroger and choose delivery instead of pickup. The store, working with Nuro, will load the vehicle and notify the buyer the delivery is on its way. Dispatchers hired by Nuro will monitor the trip from an office in Houston.

Eventually, the sedans will be replaced by Nuro’s own all-electric vehicle, the R1, which is built especially for deliveries. The vehicle, with a top speed of 25 mph, is capable of holding six grocery bags in a compartment, with two compartments per vehicle. The company is working on a second generation vehicle capable of holding ten full grocery bags in each compartment, with refrigeration built into the electric vehicle.

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Favorable conditions

Many things made Houston appealing as the second market to test the automated vehicles, Ferguson said.

“It has pretty reasonable weather, i.e. no snow,” Ferguson explained.

The region also enjoys pro-business regulations in Texas that allow autonomous vehicles to operate virtually unabated. State lawmakers in 2017 passed a law allowing widespread autonomy of cars and trucks if the companies were insured, obeyed all traffic laws and installed recording devices on the vehicles.

“The Texas economy fosters innovation,” said state Sen. Kelly Hancock, R- North Richland Hills, chairman of the Senate’s Business and Commerce Committee.

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Since then, researchers at Texas A&M Transportation Institute and private companies have tested a range of new technologies in Texas, including:

Waymo — a Google subsidiary — and Drive.ai tested computer-controlled cars in Austin and Frisco

Transportation institute researchers installed intersection gadgets aimed at helping driverless cars properly navigate Texas A&M’s RELLIS campus

Trucking companies and researchers studied the platooning of semi trucks in the state, in which one truck follows another, relieving the rear driver of keeping his eyes on the road.

Arlington officials offered the first robotic passenger rides via an autonomous shuttle

In January, the Texas Department of Transportation announced it was forming a connected and autonomous vehicle task force, aimed at coordinating driverless car projects and research.

“Our goal is to further build on the momentum already established,” TxDOT Executive Director James Bass said at the Jan. 24 announcement.

Meanwhile, the Houston area’s first step in carrying passengers in an autonomous vehicle is stuck in neutral until a vehicle can be obtained. Metropolitan Transit Authority, which won approval for a pilot project of an autonomous shuttle, planned to start operations in January along the Tiger Walk on the Texas Southern University campus. A lack of a viable vehicle, however, has stalled the project.

Officials are awaiting delivery of a shuttle from France, said Kimberly Williams, chief innovation officer for Metro. Once the agency has a vehicle, officials will determine when to begin accepting riders, she said.

Benefits and risks

The shuttle’s delay will make Nuro the first widespread use of autonomous vehicles on Houston-area streets, aside from previous demonstrations. It also will be the first test case in the Houston area on the effects autonomy could have on traffic.

Ferguson pointed to a study showing 43 percent of Americans’ vehicle trips are for shopping or running errands. Eliminating some of those trips by offering automated deliveries will improve traffic and emissions, he said. It also can produce less waste when it comes to grocery shopping as people order what they will use in smaller quantities and rely on more deliveries — with less hassle.

“You get all of that time back to spend at home,” Ferguson said.

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The certainty of that payoff, however, still is being studied, along with many other aspects of the expected move to driverless cars and trucks, Poe said.

“At the end of the day, they need to save money or provide benefit in some way,” Poe said of the deliveries, which could be helpful to seniors or those unable to drive in automobile-centric places such as Houston.

Whether the driverless revolution results in faster trips around the area is another matter, Poe said, noting that more autonomy could lead to the movement of more vehicles.

“To reduce congestion, you really have to reduce vehicle miles of travel,” Poe said. “We don’t know if these types of services will ultimately bring down vehicle miles of travel or induce more miles of travel.”

dug.begley@chron.com

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