Google Expands to Kirkland and Possibly Contra Costa?

Burney Simpson

Google will begin testing its driverless cars in Kirkland, Wash., joining Mountain View, Calif., and Austin, Texas, as public laboratories for the revolutionary vehicle.

Kirkland is about 12 miles east of Seattle and home to a large Google campus, according to the Associated Press. Google said testing in hilly Kirkland will help its cars better learn how to navigate various elevations.

Meanwhile, farther south on the Pacific Coast, another city could become a test ground for the vehicles.

The California State Assembly may soon hear a bill that appears to have been written specifically to entice the Mountain View-based division of Alphabet.

The proposal, AB-1592, would allow for the testing of autonomous vehicles without a steering wheel, a brake pedal, an accelerator pedal, or a driver in the vehicle, as long as the vehicle goes less than 35 MPH, and the test is conducted at the GoMentum Station or a business park operated by the Contra Costa (California) Transportation Authority.

That pretty well describes the Google car, though it can go over 35, a little. In addition, Contra Costa is a short jaunt from Mountain View.

The measure’s sponsor is Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla, a Democrat whose district includes Contra Costa County. The proposal was sent to the Transportation Committee but a hearing hasn’t been scheduled.

NO OFFICIAL POSITION

For its part, Google doesn’t “have a view on (the proposal) at all,” said spokesperson Johnny Luu. “We are aware of it but have no official position on it.”

GoMentum is a 5,000 acre facility with 20-some miles of roads that calls itself “the largest secure test facility in the world.” Formerly a Naval weapons testing area, it opened for vehicle testing in 2014 and signed up Honda and Mercedes as clients.

This summer GoMentum will be part of a test of an Easy Mile EZ10 driverless electric shuttle at the nearby Bishop Park business park (See “Driverless Shuttle Gives Momentum to GoMentum Station”).

GoMentum got a lot of mileage out of a report last August from The Guardian that Apple might start testing a driverless car at the facility. Since then, however, no news.

GoMentum could soon become very attractive for Google as it expands.

According to a recent filing with the Federal Communications Commission Google has already chosen several other places to test (See “Google Reportedly Expanding Self-Driving Car Testing to 4 More Cities”).

Adding Google would be a coup for GoMentum as it competes with Michigan for driverless testing clients.

Michigan last month announced it would create a state-of-the-art autonomous vehicle testing facility in Willow Run, near the 32-acre Mcity, a test bed that opened last July and already is bursting at the seams with business, according to leaders there. (See “Michigan launches 330-Acre Autonomous Vehicle Test Site”).