San Francisco, CA — In a historic leap for public transportation, the autonomous vehicle technology company Eye on the Road has announced the deployment of its advanced AI bus-driving system across all public buses in the Bay Area. This rollout follows 15 years of rigorous testing, data collection, and human-AI collaboration in real-world urban environments.
The company’s AI system—specifically designed for the complexities of city bus transit—has been under continuous development since 2010. What began as a fringe experiment in controlled environments has evolved into a robust platform capable of navigating dense city traffic, complex intersections, and daily transit chaos with remarkable consistency.
Learning the Bus Driver’s Craft
Over the last decade and a half, Eye on the Road has trained its AI system not just to operate a vehicle, but to replicate the intuition and discipline of a seasoned bus driver. The company achieved this through a unique human-in-the-loop system where licensed drivers remained behind the wheel while the AI gradually took over more driving tasks.
These test routes were repeatedly driven under varying conditions—day and night, rain and shine, rush hour and late-night—to expose the AI to the full range of urban driving scenarios.
“What we’ve built is more than autonomous driving—it’s route memory, rider sensitivity, and situational awareness in one cohesive platform,” said founder and CEO Renata Holmes. “It took 15 years because we did it the right way: with the drivers, not in place of them.”Infrastructure + AI = Seamless Integration
A major factor in the success of Eye on the Road’s rollout has been the repainting and reconfiguration of dedicated bus lanes across key corridors in San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose. These changes were not just cosmetic—they were engineered in collaboration with Eye on the Road’s AI team to optimize lane detection and ensure consistent vehicle performance.
Now, buses equipped with Eye on the Road’s technology can operate on pre-mapped routes without a human driver at the controls, although new routes will still require a human operator in the seat until the AI completes a supervised learning period.
Retrofit, Not Replace
Unlike most autonomous tech that requires purpose-built vehicles, Eye on the Road offers a modular retrofit kit that works with existing buses. This significantly lowers the barrier for cities and transit authorities to adopt the technology.
Each bus is outfitted with:
Sensor units
AI processing hardware
Lidar scanners
High-resolution cameras
Driver interface modules
Redundant safety systems
“This isn’t about scrapping what we have,” Holmes said. “It’s about elevating existing fleets into the 21st century, affordably and sustainably.”Looking Beyond the Bay
Eye on the Road has its sights set far beyond Northern California. The company is already in talks with transit authorities in Chicago, Seattle, Atlanta, and Boston, and is lobbying for federal support to help meet its ambitious goal of retrofitting every bus in the United States within the next 10 to 20 years.
Holmes emphasized the importance of federal infrastructure collaboration:
“This isn’t a tech fantasy. It’s a scalable, shovel-ready solution for public transit in the age of labor shortages and climate urgency.”Mixed Reactions from the Public
Reactions from riders have been largely positive, especially among younger passengers who view autonomous transit as a natural progression. However, transit unions have voiced concerns over job displacement, prompting Eye on the Road to reassure stakeholders that human drivers will still play a key role in training and supervising AI for years to come.
A spokesperson for the Bay Area Transit Workers Alliance commented:
“We’re cautiously optimistic. We appreciate that this rollout doesn’t push drivers out, but instead integrates them into the future of the job.”The Road Ahead
As the first wave of fully autonomous buses rolls out this month, the streets of the Bay Area may never be the same. Eye on the Road’s commitment to retrofit innovation, long-term training, and city partnerships positions it not just as a disruptor—but as a potential cornerstone of the future of American transit.