City of Altamonte/Facebook
Altamonte Springs residents will have the opportunity to experience CraneRIDES, a new autonomous vehicle
Offering alternative transit and solutions for the area’s changing economic and urban landscape, CraneRIDES will launch its first trips July 24.
CraneRIDES is a multi-year AV shuttle network project, with an environmentally friendly and proactive initiative to extend mobility for residents, visitors and businesses, according to the city.
This three-year phased project will provide connectivity to Altamonte Mall, the AMC theater, the Renaissance Center and the city’s Cranes Roost Park, traveling at speeds up to 15 mph.
The shuttle is scheduled to run Sunday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and then start up again from 5 to 9 p.m. On Fridays and Saturdays, the morning to afternoon time is the same, but the evening schedule will be from 5 to 10 p.m.
By 2025, the shuttle's speed will pick up to 30 mph and it will start taking passengers to AdventHealth hospital, Center Pointe complex and the SunRail station east of the city, according to the city officials.
Lake Nona-based Beep will provide the technology and shuttles to make the project possible. Each bus will hold up to 11 riders.
Altamonte Springs’ new autonomous bus service follows Beep’s 2019 shuttle project in Lake Nona, called Move Nona. More recently, downtown Orlando announced plans to offer a similar free autonomous bus service that will travel to parts of Parramore and Creative Village, and link to Lynx’s downtown bus station.
The State of Florida’s Department of Transportation is paying half of the $2.4 million project. They chose the city to serve as a testbed for the AV shuttle project. In return, the city of Altamonte Springs will provide data on ridership numbers as part of the program.
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