Sweeping change

Port Authority testing the latest autonomous vehicle tech to keep parking lots clean

By: Colleen Wilson
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

NEWARK - when Angel L. Rios started working for the Port authority of New York and New Jersey in 1987, the agency was beginning to introduce PCs to employees. Now, 36 years later, it;s testing an autonomous vehicle in his department.
..... Rios, the general manager of New Jersey marine terminals, said he's excited about the prospect of a driver-less cleaning streets, warehouses and parking lots throughout the ports. It's a short and sleek robot that acts kind of like a Rommba, the robotic vacuum that people buy for their homes.
..... Right now, the agency uses typical human-driven street sweepers to suck up garbage on the 60 miles of road across the ports in the two states, as well as 18,000 linear feet of public wharf space that a cleaning crew is responsible for cleaning of trash.
..... Those machines are limited because they aren't sued at night, when there's low visibility; they require someone to operate; they are too big to reach more complex areas, like the berths by the water; and they can't be used inside warehouses because of their size and because they run on diesel. the autonomous vehicle the Port Authority is piloting, which was manufactured by Finland-based Trombia Technology, would solve most of those issues as an all-electric smaller sweeper that doesn't require a driver.
..... "What surprised me was the safety factors. I walked near it, in front of it; I drove my vehicle in front of it. I was really impressed by how quickly it stops," Rios said.
..... "The other thing I was concerned about was: is this going to be something that just picks up gum wrappers and cigarettes? We've seen it pick up gravel, stone, sand, salt."
..... For the past two weeks, the agency has piloted the robot in the vacant lot, on a back road and in a warehouse, testing to see what kinds of debris it's able to pick up, how long it can last on a battery charge and whether it can operate safety.
..... Michael Bozza, deputy director of the port department, said innovating with new technology is key to achieving multiple goals the Port Authority has.
..... "We want to look at every technology that can help us be more efficient, do our jobs better, and we have limited staffing but the cargo volumes keep growing," Bozza said. "In order to address the needs of the ports, we want to leverage any and all - whether they be technologies or other operational efficiencies - that we can."
..... When the pilot program wraps up later this week, agency officials will start to dissect the data and see where the machine performed well and challenges that came up and will figure out next steps to determine whether a machine like this could be a cost-efficient investment.

Expand to airports, bridges and tunnels?

..... Seth Wainer the Port Authority's program director of innovation, said learning from the pilot will also help determine whether that technology can be applied elsewhere withing the agency's large purview, which also includes major airports, the PATH train service, bridges and tunnels, and the World Trade Center complex.
..... "We are actively looking at robotic maintenance opportunities, ways essentially for more with the same amount of resources." Wainer said.

Drone to carry cargo over the Hudson

..... Wainer's department spends about $3 million a year on pilot programs to test new technologies. Earlier this year, [2023] it demonstrated the first drone to carry cargo - a box of Raspberry Rally Girl Scout Cookies - over the Judson River. A second-phase pilot will get underway this summer [2023] to test autonomous vehicle at Kennedy airport to carry travelers from the parking lot to their terminal.
..... It's critical that public agencies start investing in technology innovation and not just leave it to the private sector to adapt, Wainer said, especially such agencies as the Port Authority that serve the traveling public.
..... "The public sector needs to think about what is the level of service customers are really used to as they go about their daily lives, and it's a pretty high level of service," he aid. "So we then have to use the same tools and sue automation, robotics, artificial intelligence."

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