Autonomous Vehicle Projects Usher in a Sci-Fi Future for Transit
4/15/2025
The idea of autonomous vehicles smoothly shuttling passengers through an urban landscape, free of traffic congestion, is unquestionably transformative.
MJ Maynard-Carey, APTA chair and CEO of the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada, envisioned “fleets of shared, on-demand AV shuttles,” moving seamlessly between services and modes. “Creating this kind of future for public transportation is not just a question of technology,” she said. “It’s really a question of having the will.”
Speaking at the start of the Vehicle Automation: Big Breakthroughs in 2025 session of the APTA Mobility Conference, Maynard-Carey introduced and led a panel discussion with three leaders working toward that future.
Garrett Eucalitto, commissioner, Connecticut DOT (CTDOT), is advancing automation plans for CTfastrack, the agency’s BRT service. CTDOT converted an abandoned rail corridor to create the service a decade ago, he said, and realized “it’s a great test bed for technology because it is a dedicated guideway.” CTDOT buses are now being outfitted with automated driving solutions, for testing on the guideway later this year.
Nathaniel P. Ford Sr., CEO at Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA), FL, boasted about his agency’s Ultimate Urban Circulator (U2C), a 10-mile autonomous service loop set to launch phase one in June. The three-phase project repurposed an abandoned aerial roadway for autonomous vehicles, and has fostered technology innovations in cybersecurity, AI, and solar-powered microgrids to power JTA’s Autonomous Innovation Center.
Gregory Winfree, director, Texas A&M Transportation Institute, discussed some of the AV safety advances his team’s research work has led to, with live implementations now in vehicles, travel corridors, and handheld devices. Referring to “an intersection communication system that aids and de-conflicts transit with respect to pedestrians,” he said, “it’s all about vulnerable road-user safety at intersections.” The latest innovation is a mobile app for people with low vision, available on Apple now and Android soon.
What response are these projects getting from the public, Maynard-Carey asked, and how are they building trust in AV?
Winfree stressed providing abundant information and “messaging, messaging, messaging,” early and often as a key to public acceptance. He cited seatbelt safety campaigns targeting schoolchildren as an example. “The kids are getting in the car with mom and dad, then shaming him or her to put the seatbelt on, right?”
Eucalitto answered a question about labor concerns, saying CTDOT union leadership became partners in the process, once they understood “This was not about replacing the drivers, the operators of the vehicles, it’s actually to help protect them… We’re always going to need an operator in the vehicle. They do so much more than just drive.”
Meeting the federal Buy America requirement for buses, which Maynard-Carey likened to finding a unicorn, was not easy for Ford’s JTA, either. Without a compliant manufacturer, he said, the team retrofit an existing vehicle to be project-ready for phase one of U2C. “We had to become developers and designers and be able to deal with the different hurdles that came along.”