Members of the Automated Bus Consortium (ABC) – an association of transit and transportation agencies designed to investigate the feasibility of implementing test-pilot automated bus projects across the USA – have announced their proposed candidate pilot projects at a private industry forum.
The event, hosted by infrastructure firm and ABC programme manager Aecom, and founding agency member, Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT)/PlanetM, brought together over 100 attendees including representatives from member agencies, bus manufacturers and technology companies.
Each member agency shared their proposed pilot projects and draft specifications for deployment of full-sized automated, accessible buses in live service environments across a variety of geographies and a range of vehicle applications, including bus rapid transit, shuttle service, arterial rapid transit, express service, fixed-route service and maintenance depot automation.
In total, a dozen different US transit and transportation member agencies presented potential pilot projects while Aecom presented draft automated bus specifications developed by ABC members for manufacturing industry representatives’ comment and discussion.
The forum allowed ABC members to solicit input directly from industry manufacturers regarding their ability to supply automated buses that could achieve the desired efficiency within each proposed pilot project.
ABC’s plan calls for a 12-month feasibility phase, followed by implementation within a two-year time frame, currently estimated to begin in 2022. Each agency participant will make their own independent decisions regarding future automated bus purchases and deployment following the completion of this feasibility phase.
