Beep expects growth in Jacksonville, as Holon facility, U2C progress (Courtesy of the Jacksonville Business Journal) — As a new manufacturing facility in Jacksonville is expected to produce 5,000 autonomous vehicles annually, Beep, which provides autonomous vehicle software and services, expects to see major job growth in the area, its CEO said.
Beep, an Orlando-based company, will provide the services and software to deploy, manage and operate the AVs in Jacksonville.
The company expects to create “several-hundred” jobs in Jacksonville over the next 3-4 years to support AV deployment, said Beep CEO Joe Moye (pictured above).
“Jacksonville and the state of Florida are, frankly, a key piece of where we see many of the early deployments of these technologies,” Moye said. “So we’re building a large concentration of resourcing in the area.”
This resourcing includes staff for testing and deployment of the autonomous vehicles.
“If you’ve seen the renderings of the (Holon) facility, there’s a test track there. So as vehicles are produced and we begin testing them, we will support them in that process because if you think about the service delivery model that I described, we have to integrate into their vehicles,” Moye said. “We have to be able to provide that remote mission management, so there’s certainly a plan for us to have staff in the Jacksonville area that’s supporting the testing and ultimate deployment of those vehicles.”
Additionally, Moye said Beep plans to open a command center to manage day-to-day operations of the vehicles in Jacksonville and beyond.
Unlike autonomous vehicles running on tech from companies such as Waymo, the vehicles Holon and Beep are working on will transport more than a dozen people. Therefore, virtual attendants will be able to oversee and manage what happens within a vehicle.
“Picture virtual attendants that are there. If there is an issue where somebody needs to communicate with someone, you’ve immediately got remote attendants able to tap into the cab and able to speak to a passenger,” Moye said. “You can visually see them. So it’s that human in the loop, which you know we think is going to be critical, both for continuity of service and safety, and especially in public transit, where you’ve got these shared platforms, and you’re going to need to have the ability to provide that service governance and service management.”
The command center may also serve as the main point of contact for other regions in the Southeast using Beep’s technology.
“As I laid out, we see a real growth opportunity in Northeast Florida, and we’ve got the opportunity to leverage the Jacksonville command center to support folks outside of Northeast Florida,” Moye said. So you’re looking at several 100 jobs in the course of the next, you know, three to four years.
As Holon plans to complete its 500,000-square-foot facility in 2026, the Jacksonville Transportation Authority is on track to launch the first phase of its Ultimate Urban Circulator, the autonomous vehicle transit line commonly called the U2C.
JTA is testing shuttles with Beep’s autonomous vehicle technology through pilot programs at Florida State College of Jacksonville.
In August, the city approved a permit for construction of the Autonomous Innovation Center, the operation and maintenance facility for autonomous vehicles.
JTA plans to run AV service on The Bay Street Innovation Center, which will have the autonomous shuttles operating in curbside lanes along Bay Street on a route with 12 stops as part of phase 1 of the ultimate urban circulator project.
But while JTA has played an important role in bringing AV manufacturing to Jacksonville, Moye expects to explore other opportunities in the area as well.
“If you think of the service management layer that I described, there’s campus deployments at the Mayo Clinic, at all the local universities, at all the medical campuses, there’s planned development areas, you think about the Nocatee area as an example,” Moye said. “You think about downtown St Augustine, Fernandina Beach. Think about Mayport Naval Station and what these vehicles represent to provide a very cost effective service to have our military and their families have extended mobility options out there … it goes well beyond just the services of the Jacksonville Transportation Authority.”
Photo courtesy of PR Wire