The N.C. Department of Transportation has partnered with the University of North Carolina at Charlotte to bring a novel-design, low-speed autonomous shuttle to campus through the Connected Autonomous Shuttle Supporting Innovation program, or CASSI.
The shuttle runs on a continuous, six-stop route from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. until Dec. 22.
This is the most complex project under the CASSI program to date. It has the most traffic signals (four total), longest route (2.2 miles), longest duration (23 weeks), and most intense mixed traffic environment that includes bicyclist, scooter, pedestrian, motor vehicle, and transit interactions and shared stops with the existing campus bus fleet. The project advances NCDOT’s goal of incrementally increasing the complexity of projects based on prior successes and lessons learned with a focus on transit applications. NCDOT is collaborating with faculty, staff, and students to research and evaluate the pilot.
Manufactured by France-based Navya and operated by Lake Nona, Florida-based Beep, the shuttle relies on LiDAR, cameras and GPS technology to navigate on a fixed route.
The same shuttle was piloted at Cary’s Fred G. Bond Metro Park in 2023. A similar shuttle was piloted under the CASSI program on the Centennial Campus of N.C. State University in Raleigh in 2020 and at the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills in 2021.
Facts about the autonomous vehicle:
- There is no cost to ride
- Transports up to 8 people and an attendant
- Wheelchair accessible
- Fully electric
- Operates at speeds up to 12 mph