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

  • June 5, 2018
    MaaS must be seamless and invisible - or forget it
    MaaS experts from around the world converged on ITS International’s MaaS Market Atlanta conference to talk about how MaaS can be implemented in the US. Andrew Bardin Williams had a front row seat. Transportation experts from around the world gathered in the US earlier this month to discuss the future of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) and how it could be deployed in the US market. While most attendees at ITS International’s MaaS Market Atlanta conference were familiar with the MaaS concept, the US’s highly
    Read More
  • October 18, 2018
    Siemens enforcement solution for London primary schools made permanent
    Siemens Mobility says a pilot scheme to improve road safety outside three UK primary schools has been made permanent. Siemens is monitoring newly-created pedestrian zones outside schools in the London borough of Croydon by deploying an solution which is more commonly used to enforce bus lanes and moving traffic contraventions. The system, which uses automatic number plate recognition technology and features Siemens ITS LaneWatch cameras, operates during the morning and afternoon school runs. It appears
    Read More
  • August 29, 2014
    ATS report highlights school zone safety
    A report by American Traffic solutions (ATS), How to Help Eliminate Dangers of Traveling to and from School (and Keep Kids Safe), highlights the dangers children face as they travel to and from school and details some of the successes schools and cities are having with new solutions to both change driver behaviour and enhance student safety. Every year, on average, 100 children are killed and 25,000 are injured walking to and from school. Many of these tragedies can be attributed to drivers who are distr
    Read More
  • July 21, 2016
    Daimler launches its ‘bus of the future’
    Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz Future Bus made its first autonomous trip on a public road recently, when it was driven at speeds of up to 70 km/h on a section of a bus rapid transit route in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The 20 kilometre route, which links Schiphol Airport with the town of Haarlem, provided a challenge for the bus, with its numerous bends, tunnels and traffic signals. Although a driver was on board for safety reasons, for the most part the bus met the challenge autonomously, stopping at bus sto
    Read More

Highlighted Content