Microsoft Vans Would Reduce Congestion

The June 17^th Seattle Times, B1 page Traffic Lab article Bellevue envisions fleet of driverless vans to relieve congestion” exemplifies an inept approach to a possible way to reduce the  “cars that clog Eastside highways each work day.” 

The article is unclear as to what the Bellevue driverless van concept would entail.   One approach is, “A 1- to 2-mile loop in downtown Bellevue that would move people between the downtown transit center and nearby workplaces and restaurants”.   Another, “Hundreds of vans where you could book a ride through an app, (presumably from home) switching times on days when you have to work late, or leave early”.

Transit vans reduce roadway congestion by attracting up to 12 commuters willing to share a ride to a common destination.   Each route requires up 12 commuters living within reasonable distance of each other who need to reach destinations within reasonable proximity to each other at about the same time.

The article claims, “The city wants major employers to chip in; that a fully realized program could cost hundreds of millions of dollars to build out”.  It’s not clear what they need to “build out” since a 12-passenger van with a driver reduces congestion the same as a driverless van. 

One of the major employers that should be asked to “chip in” is Microsoft.  They recently announced plans to expand their Redmond campus to accommodate 8,000 more employees to the 47,000 currently working there.  The added workforce is surely going to exacerbate the current “clogging” on all the major roadways east of I-405 for much of the day from those already working there.  

 Microsoft needs to be “persuaded” to dramatically increase their “Connector” transit capacity with hundreds of additional 12-passenger van routes.  (Or forced by permitting process to limit the number of “on-campus” parking stalls.)  The large numbers of employees provides the numbers of riders living within reasonable distance of each other, all going to the campus, to effectively use vans on hundreds of routes.  Microsoft could arrange for their work schedules to be compatible and allow vans to schedule multiple routes throughout the day. 

Again, they don’t need to be driverless to reduce congestion so they could begin operation within 6 months not 6 years.  Microsoft could eventually decide to supplement the van routes by also providing off-campus P&R lots with increased Connector bus routes.  Both vans and buses could be even more effective by providing them with Wi-Fi access.

Those advocating for “driverless” vans need to recognize eliminating the driver does nothing to increase van capacity and only delays their implementation.