Self-driving shuttle left, but not really missed, in PSL's Tradition community | Opinion

If part of the fun of home ownership is keeping up with the Joneses, then what could be better than having a self-driving car to tool around the neighborhood?

Residents who live in Tradition, the master-planned community on Port St. Lucie's west side, would seem to have that covered. They have access to Tradition in Motion, or TIM, driverless electric shuttles that travel a fixed route to designated stops within the community.

Until Elon Musk or somebody else can figure out how to make self-driving cars a practical mass-market option, Tradition residents (who I'm calling Traditionalists) appear to be ahead of the curve.

Apparently, though, being on the leading edge of innovation isn't always what it's cracked up to be. One of the TIM shuttles, which strongly resemble characters in the animated movie, "Cars," had a bit of a mishap late last year.

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It wasn't as spectacular as the crash from the movie, "Demolition Man," in which a self-driving car carrying Sylvester Stallone's character turned into a "giant cannoli." But a TIM shuttle did get into a fender-bender with another vehicle in early December.

At that point, Mattamy Homes, the developer overseeing Tradition's operations, decided to send the smiley-faced shuttles back to the garage for a little fine-tuning.

"We’re committed to making mobility around Tradition convenient, reliable, and above all — safe," Dan Grosswald, president of Mattamy's southeast Florida division, wrote in response to my questions about the shuttle's status. "We voluntarily paused the service, following the TIM incident in December to diagnose the issue while also refining the creation of new routes — including a path dedicated exclusively to TIM. Our service provider, Beep, worked closely with the U.S. Department of Transportation, on a software upgrade solution and instituted an additional safeguard for redundancy via a new manual controller."

Grosswald went on to explain the upgraded equipment was subjected to testing. The shuttles were scheduled to go back into service Thursday, following a more than two-month absence from the community's roadways.

However, judging by the comments I've seen on social media pages, Traditionalists haven't been missing TIM all that much.

"If TIM's upgrades don't include the ability to travel the same speed of regular vehicular traffic, all you'll do is aggravate drivers who are stuck behind these creeping mini buses. Please load 'em up and send them to some other Mattamy community," one commenter wrote in response to a post on the "Tradition Talks" Facebook page, announcing plans for the shuttles' return.

"The reality is that most people living in Tradition would have to drive and try to find an ever elusive parking spot to take the TIM to wherever, which completely defeats the object," another commenter wrote. "Yes, TIM serves a purpose which is to drive prospective home buyers around Mattamy’s properties and to check out Tradition Town Square. And for that, residents are inconvenienced stuck behind a 4 mph vehicle which has been known to crash."

Those comments are representative of others I've seen. Many residents complain the shuttles are of limited value, except for people who live within easy walking distance of Tradition Town Square and don't have anywhere specific to go. Others complain that, although the shuttles are driverless, each comes staffed with a human attendant in case problems arise.

According to Mattamy's website, TIM shuttles have top speeds of 15 miles per hour, although their actual speeds vary depending on route conditions. They are monitored from a command center in Orlando and while each shuttle has an emergency stop button, they're not equipped with steering wheels or control pedals.

Mattamy claims the shuttles have reduced more than 9,000 traditional car trips and eliminated many metric tons of carbon emissions during their two years of operation.

Costs associated with the shuttles' operations are funded through fees collected in Tradition's community development districts. According to Mattamy, each community development district's board of directors can choose to have TIM service expanded to its neighborhood.

Mattamy officials didn't provide details to me on expansion plans for the shuttles. The existing route connects the town square to the Manderlie community.

According to a map provided on the "Tradition Talks" page, future routes will serve the Cadence, Seville and Emery communities on the west, while another spur will extend south to serve Telaro, Stars & Stripes and points beyond. No timetable has been announced for when the route expansion might happen.

To be fair, TIM also has its share of fans.

"I look at this a little bit differently," one commenter wrote. "Mattamy Homes invested millions of dollars in Tradition and will continue to do so. They are not destroying Tradition, but bringing lots of innovation and public spaces to the community. ... 16,000 people riding on TIM is a lot. I also believe that as TIM's route grows, more people, especially those that can no longer drive, will have the ability to go shopping and dining in our community without having to drive their own vehicles and find parking in downtown."

Others have suggested the TIM haters need to get with the times.

"I’m sure horse and buggy people said the same thing about cars," one wrote. "You can’t stop innovation … self driving cars are coming whether we like it or not. Best is to be a part of the change so you can help guide/direct it. Just think of all the people who shouldn’t be driving, now have another option."

I don't know if TIM represents the future or not, but I certainly won't stand in its way. At least not until we're sure Mattamy has worked all the glitches out of its operating system.

This column reflects the opinion of Blake Fontenay. Contact him via email at blake.fontenay@tcpalm.com or at 772-232-5424.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Tradition residents aren't pining for self-driving shuttle | Opinion