May 19, 2021 — Kill Devil Hills, NC
New AV pilot project in North Carolina
We are excited to announce that we have launched a three-month autonomous vehicle pilot at the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina.
The pilot launch at the end of April is in partnership with TransLoc, a subsidiarity of Ford Mobility, and the North Carolina Department of Transportation.
This pilot marks the first autonomous vehicle to be used at any U.S. National Park. The AV will shuttle visitors between the Wright Brothers National Memorial Museum and the First Flight bronze sculpture.
The vehicle being used, the Connected Autonomous Shuttle Supporting Innovation (CASSI), was first introduced at the 2020 Transportation Summit in Raleigh and later piloted at North Carolina State University’s Centennial Campus. During the testing period, a trained Transdev customer service operator will be onboard at all times.
The information collected during the pilot will help the national park service evaluate opportunities on how to potentially deploy similar AVs safely and effectively at other national parks across the country.
