JTA, Beep start autonomous vehicle service in Jax (Courtesy of the Jacksonville Business Journal) — Autonomous vehicles have hit the roads of Jacksonville.
Beep announced it began operating Jacksonville Transportation Authority’s autonomous vehicle service, the Neighborhood Autonomous Vehicle Innovation on Tuesday.
Under a five-year operations-and-maintenance contract, Beep is set to operate and maintain NAVI.
The NAVI service is part of the JTA’s Ultimate Urban Circulator program.
Beep is running a customized fleet of 14 Ford electric, autonomous vehicles, which are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act and Buy America Act as part of the first phase of the U2C.
The E-Transit vehicles are integrated with Oxa’s automated driving system. Vehicle deployment and command center operations with Beep’s proprietary technology are taking place from the JTA’s new Autonomous Innovation Center.
Vehicles will travel the Bay Street Innovation Corridor, a 3.5-mile route in downtown Jacksonville with 12 stops from the Central Business Core to the Sports and Entertainment District.
“Beep is proud to be improving safety, expanding access, and optimizing public transit in Jacksonville with the first fully autonomous system in the nation. Building this system is a significant milestone to achieve fully sustainable, smart cities,” said Kevin Reid, chairman of the board and newly appointed CEO of Beep. “Our strong, long-term partnership with the visionary leaders at the JTA has laid the groundwork for the transformation of mobility and accessibility across the nation.”
Beep also closed on $52.7 million in a funding round led by Intel Capital and Blue Lagoon Capital.
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