JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — What’s being called the first fully autonomous (or self-driving) public transportation system in the U.S. is now on the road in downtown Jacksonville.
Read: Passengers stranded for hours on hot Amtrak train, some hospitalized
The Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) launched its first fleet of 14 self-driving shuttles on Monday morning.
They’re called NAVI shuttles, which stand for Neighborhood Autonomous Vehicle Innovation, which run through 12 stations between LaVilla and Everbank Stadium.
The $65 million project is part of JTA’s “Bay Street Innovation Corridor” initiative.
Action News Jax has been investigating JTA and its finances for more than a year now and found that the $39.5 million in local money toward the project is much more than the $5.5 million initially budgeted toward the project.
The NAVI shuttles are also using drivers behind the wheel, even though they are labeled as autonomous.
Ryan Smith, senior vice president at Oxa, the company that fitted the shuttles with the tech to allow them to drive themselves, says those operators are there mostly as a safety precaution.
“The driver can take control through the brake to the accelerator, through a button on the steering wheel, and through the steering command itself,” Smith said, “there’s multiple ways that they can take control if something were to come up.”
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Action News Jax rode inside the NAVI shuttle with two separate operators in the hours after it launched. It wasn’t able to start along its planned, 3.5-mile loop through downtown because part of it was still flooded from Sunday’s rain. The driver had to manually detour the shuttle to the section of the route starting along Newnan Street, then later had to take over to drive around a man walking along the side of the road by EverBank Stadium.
The second time we rode the shuttle, which is a Ford E-transit van fitted with self-driving technology, the operator drove the entire route manually rather than using the autonomous function.
But Smith says the technology in the shuttles is still being tested, and improvements are still being made.
“We use camera laser, and radars collectively to provide a 360-degree view around the vehicle,” said Smith, “we’re tracking hundreds of objects all at the same time. All around the vehicle.”
JTA says the NAVI shuttles stop at 12 stations, nine of which are along Bay Street. We’re told the shuttles will run Monday through Friday between 7:00 AM - 7:00 PM.
Until September 30th, the rides will be free. Afterwards, they’ll cost $1.75 per ride.
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