Arlington: May Mobility Begins Mapping Downtown Streets For City’s Future Autonomous Vehicle Public Transportation Pilot Program

Press release from the City of Arlington:

September 09, 2020

Using a high-tech vehicle, May Mobility will begin mapping streets around Downtown and The University of Texas at Arlington this week in preparation for the City of Arlington’s future autonomous vehicle rideshare program.

The one-year public transportation pilot program, called Arlington RAPID (Rideshare, Automation, and Payment Integration Demonstration), is set to launch next March. Arlington RAPID will integrate fully autonomous electric shuttles into the City’s existing Via on-demand rideshare service. The pilot program will include a wheelchair-accessible autonomous vehicle and free autonomous vehicle rides for UT Arlington students.

The City of Arlington was awarded a $1.7 million grant earlier this year through the Federal Transit Administration’s Integrated Mobility Innovation Program for the project.
More details about Arlington RAPID pilot program will be announced later this year. The autonomous vehicles will operate on the Via platform, so riders will book and pay for rides through the existing Via platform. If the ride parameters fit the operating area and the passenger opts in, an autonomous vehicle will be dispatched to complete the ride, instead of one of the standard Via vans.

As part of its ongoing efforts to Enhance Regional Mobility and Put Technology to Work, the City of Arlington has already managed two successful autonomous vehicle deployments. The Milo off-street pilot program with EasyMile was conducted from August 2017 to August 2018 and the on-street pilot program with drive.ai vehicles was conducted from October 2018 to May 2019.

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This press release was produced by the City of Arlington. The views expressed here are the author’s own.