Travelers can now hitch a ride on free driverless shuttle buses at JFK airport: ‘Wave of the future’

Self-driving shuttles are taking off at JFK airport.

Travelers can now hitch a free ride in two driverless buses around the Queens airport parking lot under a pilot program launched by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Tuesday.

The futuristic experience seemed to intrigue some passengers — while others were more skeptical.

“A little terrifying, but cool,” Maria Rosiello, a 57-year-old educator from New Jersey said of the trip. “Very clean, but it’s also brand new. It was interesting, the wave of the future.”

Another traveler, Terri-Anne, of Brooklyn, said that she prefers “human judgment,” but “if it’s just a short route, I think I can manage it.”

“I’d rather drive my own car,” said Doug Lake, 72, a financial advisor from Suffolk County, who was walking to his car from the air train stop. “I’m not a fan of it [self-driving technology]. I’d rather be a controlled driver.”

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The eight-passenger shuttles – about a third of the size of a standard bus – will embark on a route around parking Lot 9 to bring customers closer to their parked cars. The journey takes about 25 to 30 minutes to complete the loop at 10 mph, PANYNJ officials said.

The buses make 15 stops total, including those for AirTrain JFK stations at Howard Beach and Lefferts Blvd.

The futuristic people-movers were supplied by Ohmio, which has developed autonomous vehicle programs in New Zealand, Australia, China and South Korea, according to its website.

“It keeps everything on a schedule and it runs consistently,” Terri-Anne, who didn’t give her last name, noted, “so I think that’s a good thing, as opposed to waiting for someone to use the bathroom or if they need a break.”

Riders aren’t the only ones eager to get to the airport faster: the PANYNJ said the driverless vehicles will allow more passengers to get around the premises more quickly.

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“If you have one bus driving around the lot, you can carry a lot of people on that bus, but you might be waiting a long time for that one bus to show up,” Seth Wainer, Innovation Supervisor at the Port Authority, told The Post.

“If you take that same one bus and you cut it in half, or you cut it into thirds, your wait time is then cut in half or cut into thirds … we at the Port Authority believe that self-driving technology is going to be a key component of providing mass transit in the 21st century.”

Despite the pilotless platoon ride, safety rules will still be enforced, PANYNJ said.

All passengers are instructed to remain seated with a seat belt. All vehicles will also be staffed by unionized drivers – who currently operate airport shuttles – and will serve as safety monitors.

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“There is a very real risk that technology will eliminate jobs, and you can look at other sectors and you can see technology eliminating what a human used to do,” Wainer said. “We are committed to not doing that. So there is very little risk in the Port Authority eliminating jobs because we are going to do this all very responsibly.”

The three-month test is PANYNJ’s fourth attempt at self-driving technology at its major airports.

Previously, the agency has tested autonomous platoon vehicles at JFK’s Aqueduct Parking Lot for the last two summers; a self-driving vehicle in mixed traffic was tested at Newark Liberty International Airport in 2023.

JFK became the first airport in North America to demonstrate a self-driving platoon of three vehicles last year.

With the success of the program, PANYNJ is considering using driverless vehicles to move passengers between an AirTrain station and airport facilities like car rental offices.

Eventually, two or three shuttles will be operating 24/7, with a possible button at each station to possibly request a shuttle, PANYNJ officials said.

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