AUSTIN, Texas — The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority will explore automated vehicle technology through evaluation demonstrations, with testing possibly beginning as soon as late July.

If testing is successful, a pilot service is expected to follow later this fall.

The announcement was made during a presentation at the monthly board meeting on Monday. Randy Clarke, CapMetro’s president and CEO, said that the agency is striving to be among the first transit agencies in the country to showcase the technology.

"I believe this will be the largest public [autonomous vehicle] bus pilot in the country. This is an amazing opportunity to better connect our customers and community while also shaping the future of transportation," Clarke said. 

Teams from Capital Metro, RATP Dev USA (a Capital Metro service provider), the City of Austin and autonomous vehicle manufacturers are working to initiate the pilot program.

Phase 1:

• Evaluate the performance of different autonomous bus vehicles from a few manufacturers. RATP Dev and the vehicle manufacturers will work with city officials to test signal components and on-street performance. The electric-powered vehicles can carry up to 15 passengers and will be ADA accessible. Operators will be on board while the vehicles are being evaluated and in service. The testing phase of the project is expected to take up to 60 days and will evaluate vehicle safety and the efficiency and performance of battery technology.

Phase 2:

• While the testing phase is underway, autonomous vehicle manufacturers will be able to submit proposals for Capital Metro to lease six vehicles for its in-service circulator pilot. CapMetro anticipates the selected fleet of pilot vehicles will be in operation late this fall. The vehicles are expected to be in service, picking up and dropping off customers, for a period of 12 months.

CapMetro has planned for the vehicles to serve City Hall and the Central Library, and help customers make easy connections to other transit services at the downtown MetroRail station and Republic Square. Tentatively, a five- to seven-minute frequency of service is planned during the pilot. The pilot is being supported, and costs are offset, by RATP Dev USA. Catching a ride on the autonomous vehicles will be free to customers during the pilot.

To deploy the pilot program, CapMetro will be exploring partnerships to help offset operating expenses.