Autonomous buses start in Jacksonville: Revolution for local transport!

Autonomous buses start in Jacksonville: Revolution for local transport!

Jacksonville, Florida, USA - in Jacksonville, Florida, an exciting new step in the world of autonomous mobility has started. BEEP, a provider of solutions for autonomous, common mobility, has started operating an autonomous vehicle service for the Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA). The project, which is secured with a five-year operating and maintenance contract (O&M), is part of the Ultimate Urban Circulator (U2C) program that aims to modernize the city and at the same time improve local public transport. The first phase of the U2C program is operated by BEEP with a fleet of 14 electrical, autonomous Ford e-transit vehicles that meet the requirements of the ADA (Americans with disabilities Act) and meet the "Buy America" ​​rules. The electrical shuttle will run along the 3.5 miles long Bay Street Innovation Corridor in Downtown Jacksonville - with a total of 12 stops that are intended to facilitate access to the city center.

An important challenge that the city wants to tackle with this new service is the population explosion in urban rooms, which according to McKinsey McKinsey reported will increase to almost 70%. This brings a number of problems such as traffic jams, long pendulum times and pollution. With its innovative approach, BeEP could shorten the ways of people and thus improve both the quality of life of the citizens and the environmental conditions on site.

partnerships and financing

For the Bay Street Innovation Corridor project, JTA selected the Balfour Beatty Vision 2 Reality (V2R) team. This step was decided by the JTA board members during a meeting in August. The goal of this project, which is part of the U2C program, is to modernize the existing Skyway automated passenger transport and to expand it to a ten-mile-long section of the route. "This is an important step for the U2C and downtown JackSonville initiatives," explains JTA-CEO Nathaniel P. Ford Sr. In view of the great challenges and opportunities that are in urban traffic projects, it is crucial that all actors work together in the mobility ecosystem to be successful.

Financing for the Bay Street Innovation Corridor initiative amounts to around $ 44 million, financed by local, state and federal funds, including a build scholarship of $ 12.5 million, which was awarded in 2019. The partnership with companies such as Superior Construction Company Southeast, Beep, Inc. and urban planning experts ensures that comprehensive designs and technological innovations are combined to improve mobility in the region.

Unrestrained mobility for all

With the implementation of autonomous vehicles, an important aspect of accessibility is also emphasized. BeEP aims to promote multimodal transit options and ensure that all citizens, regardless of their skills, have access to these new technologies and services. At a time when the population lives in urban spaces, it is important to find a balance between progress and social justice. The new mobility solutions must be inclusive to meet the needs of all people - a challenge that also face other cities worldwide, such as Amsterdam and Paris.

The technology of BEEP, which is supported by the autonomos system, not only offers a driving service, but also a comprehensive platform for the management of the vehicle operation and for monitoring operating processes. This innovative strength will be necessary to meet the increasing requirements in urban areas. In his report, McKinsey explains that in addition to technological progress there is also the need to make urban mobility sustainable and to significantly reduce the associated CO2 emissions.

With the start of the autonomous driving service in Jacksonville, we see significant progress in intelligent urbanization, which could improve the quality of life and redesign the urban space. It remains exciting to see how this model will develop in the future and what other cities could follow the example.