Transdev trials autonomous school shuttle in Florida

Public transport operator Transdev is to launch a driverless shuttle for school children in Florida. The autonomous service will run this autumn at Babcock Neighbourhood School in the new town of Babcock Ranch, north-east of Fort Myers. The 12-person Easy Mile Ez10 Gen 11 shuttle will operate at 12mph and brake automatically when it detects obstacles or manoeuvre around them safely. A ‘safety attendant’ will remain on board. Transdev has confirmed it will test the shuttle with students and families on t
September 6, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
Public transport operator 8574 Transdev is to launch a driverless shuttle for school children in Florida.


The autonomous service will run this autumn at 8412 Babcock Neighbourhood School in the new town of Babcock Ranch, north-east of Fort Myers.

The 12-person Easy Mile Ez10 Gen 11 shuttle will operate at 12mph and brake automatically when it detects obstacles or manoeuvre around them safely. A ‘safety attendant’ will remain on board.

Transdev has confirmed it will test the shuttle with students and families on the run-up to the pilot.

Dick Alexander, executive vice president of mobility innovation at Transdev, says the service will offer an important mobility option for children.

The company intends to eventually offer a service which allows students and parents to book on-demand and door-to-door shuttles based on individual needs.

Babcock Ranch is a newly-built solar-powered community, which will eventually include 19,500 homes and six million square feet of commercial space.

The partnership has been offering an autonomous shuttle service since the town opened in January to provide an alternative to travelling by cars.

Related Content

  • November 14, 2017
    West Midlands pilots the UK’s first MaaS
    Mobility-as-a-Service is being piloted in the UK’s second largest metropolitan area and will shortly be opened to the travelling public. A fully operational Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) offering is being piloted in the West Midlands region of the UK. Covering seven local authorities which make up the West Midlands metropolitan area and population of 2.8 million, the service is being provided through a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Transport for West Midlands (TfWM), Finnish company MaaS Global
    Read More
  • April 2, 2021
    Transit takes on demanding role
    Community transport - or paratransit - has historically formed the basis of demand-responsive operations. But with new routing technologies, David Crawford sees wider potential
    Read More
  • March 1, 2017
    Renault-Nissan Alliance and Transdev to partner on self-driving vehicle development
    The Renault-Nissan Alliance and Transdev have agreed to jointly explore development of mobility services with fleets of electric driverless vehicles for public and on-demand transportation. The companies will collaborate to develop a comprehensive, modular transportation system to enable clients to book rides, and mobility operators to monitor and operate self-driving car fleets.
    Read More
  • March 8, 2019
    Transdev and Ericsson team up on AV cybersecurity project in France
    Transport operator Transdev and telecoms firm Ericsson have teamed up in France on an autonomous vehicle (AV) cybersecurity project. The companies have deployed high-speed private network LTE data communications to demonstrate secure mobility operations with AVs. The Rouen Normandy Autonomous Lab (RNAL) project is an on-demand shared and autonomous mobility service operating on open roads with four Renault ZOEs and, soon, with an i- Cristal Transdev Lohr shuttle. Franck Bouetard, head of Ericsson Franc
    Read More

Highlighted Content