Driverless Vehicles May Soon Arrive in Dallas

DALLAS (KRLD) - A company is planning to start a six-month trial run, using driverless vehicles to deliver packages in Dallas. The city council held a hearing about the plan Wednesday.

Transportation Director Michael Rogers says the company would use 20 vehicles. They would stay on sidewalks and in crosswalks. During the six-month pilot project, a person would stay within 20 feet of the vehicle.

"What they can do is reduce the potential cost to businesses," he says. "The businesses are trying to get the goods to their customers as quickly as possible."

Rogers says driverless vehicles could reduce congestion on roads and free up parking currently used by trucks making deliveries.

"This is important because our region is non-attainment, so our air quality is not the best," he says.

Six other cities across the country are running pilot-projects, testing out driverless vehicles, including Arlington and Austin.

"The cities that are doing this are really just looking at insurance requirements and weight," Rogers says. "None of them are having any safety or other concerns. We wanted to really look at that."

The company plans to start deliveries later this month and continue the project through April. Then, the Dallas City Council may consider city-wide regulations.