Travelers at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) looking for some relief from the walk between the Link light rail station and the airport terminal could soon hop on a driverless shuttle.
The airport is currently testing a 90-day pilot program — the first of its kind at a major airport, according to a Port of Seattle spokesperson. A low-speed, electric-golf-cart-style vehicle is used to carry passengers and their baggage.
Made by a company called Carteav, the vehicles are widely used at resorts and theme parks around the nation. They rely on navigation technology, sensors and computer vision and are intended to work safely in areas with pedestrians. During the pilot, the carts are occupied by a quality assurance engineer at all times.
The program is running in conjunction with a current driver-provided cart between the light rail and the terminal.
According to SEA, the distance between the airport and the light rail station is 950 feet. That’s equivalent to a New York City block, 379 steps on a pedometer, or hole No. 6 at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Oregon, the airport says.
But that walk has been a sore spot for travelers who have expressed “a strong desire for more service between these two locations to help with mobility and accessibility, predictability, and ease,” according to SEA. A blog post on the airport website further explains why there’s no moving walkway, why the station wasn’t built closer to the airport, and more.
A new ground transportation center is included in the Port’s Sustainable Airport Master Plan and would feature an indoor moving walkway — as seen at 2:45 in this video.
The autonomous carts are scheduled to run Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. SEA will be gathering feedback from travelers on-site with surveys for pedestrians in the area as well as those who use the vehicle in testing.
Self-driving, electric wheelchairs are already in use at the airport for mobility challenged travelers.