Robots start measuring Pleasanton sidewalks for the city's ADA plan

Small robots started rolling along Pleasanton sidewalks this week. They belong to Daxbot, and the city has them out as the first fieldwork for its ADA Self-Evaluation and Transition Plan.

The city is running the survey with Bureau Veritas and Daxbot. The robots travel at walking speed and record the condition of sidewalks and trails, curb ramps, signalized intersections, transit stops and other pedestrian facilities. That is the inventory that tells a public works department where a wheelchair or a stroller cannot get through.

The scope is the reason for the machines. Over the course of the project the assessment covers roughly 360 miles of sidewalks and trails, 1,850 curb ramps, 125 signalized intersections and 266 transit stops. The city says robotic collection lets the project team gather the same information the same way across an area that large.

What the robots collect is limited to the pedestrian infrastructure itself. The city says they do not store personal information and are designed to operate in shared public spaces.

The sidewalk work is one piece of the broader ADA Self-Evaluation and Transition Plan, which also takes in parks, buildings, parking lots and other public spaces. The city says the results will shape which accessibility improvements get planned and prioritized, and will support applications for grants tied to that work.

Residents will see the robots in different parts of town as the survey moves around. They are expected to be on Pleasanton streets through the end of November.