The Mountain Express Automated Shuttle recently began transporting passengers at the United States Army installation in Fort Carson, Colorado.
The shuttle service is part of a year-long project to test automated vehicle technologies and to collect data for transportation modeling on smart military installations, according to a news release. Kicking off in 2019, the Smart Transportation Testbed is a $4 million project that’s run by US Ignite, a nonprofit working to accelerate the smart community movement. The project is funded and managed by the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC).
First Transit will operate the shuttle, which is an electric Polaris GEM equipped with the TONY (TO Navigate You) autonomy kit from Perrone Robotics. The vehicle will run a three-mile route every night, with an operator on board who can take over if necessary.
Precautions have been implemented to protect against COVID-19, including a clear barrier between seat rows and full cleaning wipe-downs after each loop. Passengers are also required to wear face coverings.
“We are excited to debut the Mountain Express shuttle service and see it as an opportunity to extend research on automated vehicles in ways that will benefit both military installations and smart communities pursuing advanced transportation solutions,” US Ignite Director of Autonomous Vehicle Programs Eric Werner said, according to the release. “This project has already progressed rapidly, and we look forward to further developments and research insights now that the shuttle has entered an operational stage.”
