A Service of UA Little Rock
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Arkansas governor prepares for future strides in mobility technology

Canoo CEO Tony Aquila shows Gov. Asa Hutchinson the inside of an electric truck after Tuesday's press conference at the Arkansas Governor's Mansion.
Michael Hibblen
/
KUAR News
Canoo CEO Tony Aquila shows Gov. Asa Hutchinson the inside of an electric truck after Tuesday's press conference.

At a time when the transportation industry is experiencing major advancements, Gov. Asa Hutchinson is hoping to prepare Arkansas to become a leader in futuristic technologies. He is tasking a new council to study how to best position the state for economic opportunities through things like electric cars, self-driving vehicles and delivery drones.

Through an executive order signed Tuesday, Hutchinson created the Arkansas Council on Future Mobility. Members have diverse backgrounds including transportation, business, economic development and engineering.

"This is about the future, it's about innovation and we know it's going to lead to some very sustainable changes for our transportation," Hutchinson said Wednesday in an interview with KUAR News. "It'll also look down the road even further and opportunities to change our lives and improve the quality of our lives even more down the road."

He noted electric vehicle manufacturer Canoo recently opened its headquarters in the state and the expansion of electric charging stations.

"What we're talking about in the future of mobile mobility is very concrete and actionable now," Hutchinson said.

In his State of the State address last week to members of the Arkansas General Assembly, the governor challenged the state to “lead in this world of innovation by focusing on the future of advanced mobility.” On Tuesday, he announced creation of the council during a press conference at the Governor’s Mansion and is asking for a report by the end of November.

Cyrus Sigari, chair of the Arkansas Council on Future Mobility, speaking during Tuesday's announcement.
Michael Hibblen
/
KUAR News
Cyrus Sigari, chair of the Arkansas Council on Future Mobility, speaking during Tuesday's announcement.

Members of the council are to identify legal barriers that restrict progress in mobility technology, find federal funding, evaluate workforce training and make recommendations on how to integrate the state with more technology.

The chairman of the council, Cyrus Sigari, is known for his work as a co-founder of UP.Partners, a company that invests in mobility technology. During the press conference, Sigari spoke about how unique of a position Arkansas is in thanks to companies that are located in the state.

“It can be argued,” Sigari said, “that Arkansas controls the movement of more physical things than any other region in the world.”

He added that Bentonville-based Walmart is responsible for the movement of hundreds of billions of individual items every year.

After the press conference, Hutchinson looked at several types of mobility technology, then spoke to reporters about the safety of self-driving vehicles.

“You think about the number of deaths that are caused today because of negligent operation of vehicles, well, it’s the human error side that causes deaths,” Hutchinson said. “Autonomous vehicles actually eliminate some of that human error.”

In his interview Wednesday, the governor expanded on the safety of such technologies and how to reassure a hesitant public.

“Confidence comes from experience,” Hutchinson said. “That's one of the reasons that we demonstrated the equipment yesterday, so people could visualize it more. Then this Council on Future Mobility, one of the things that they will be able to do is to show the public that we have oversight, that we're doing this in a safe manner as we look at changes in transportation. But it's going to take a lot of work and it's going to take a lot of time and experience.”

Brenda Mechia, manager of operations at Gatik, shows one of the company's self-driving trucks to Gov. Asa Hutchinson.
Michael Hibblen
/
KUAR News
Brenda Mechia, manager of operations at Gatik, shows one of the company's self-driving trucks to Gov. Asa Hutchinson.

Sigari added in an interview with KUAR News that the state is already experiencing changes.

In November, Canoo established its headquarters in Bentonville and has a facility under construction that officials say will provide 545 high-paying jobs. In Pea Ridge, Walmart is partnering with drone delivery company Zipline to fly health and wellness products to customer houses using its technology. The company says it has even tested the drone capabilities in remote corners of Africa where it has delivered blood and COVID-19 tests.

“Right now we have drone delivery companies, DroneUP and Zipline, that are doing drone deliveries for Walmart," Sigari said. "We’re seeing Gatik operating fully autonomous delivery trucks going from fulfillment centers to stores."

Arkansas Commerce Secretary Mike Preston said advanced mobility could change the job market in the state. He compared the new transportation advancements to similar advancements in automation. In the past, factories used human personnel to build products, but now many companies rely on machines.

“We need someone to fly that drone and code and program that autonomous vehicle,” Preston said, adding that these new technologies are just scratching the surface.

Remington Miller was an intern at KUAR News as part of the George C. Douthit Endowed Scholarship program. She later worked as a reporter and editor for the station.
Michael Hibblen was a journalist for KUAR News from May 2009 — December 2022. During his final 10 years with the station, he served as News Director. In January 2023, he was hired by Arkansas PBS to become its Senior Producer/ Director of Public Affairs.
Josie Lenora is the Politics/Government Reporter for Little Rock Public Radio.
Related Content