(Boursier.com) — Navya announced a new partnership in the United States with the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT), AECOM, and the city of White Bear Lake, MN, for the deployment of a Navya Autonom Arma shuttle. This one-year project will provide a new transportation option in the community of White Bear Lake. The shuttle will serve a 2.5 km route connecting several residential facilities to the Youth Center (YMCA) as well as PAI, The Boulders and Willow Wood Apartments. Community members and partners have named the shuttle ‘Bear Tracks’ because it creates a whole new service in an area that until now did not benefit from a shared transport solution.
The autonomous Navya Arma shuttle, 100% electric, is equipped with numerous sensors such as 2D and 3D Lidars, GPS and odometry to determine its location on the route, as well as to detect and observe any obstacle, pedestrian or vehicle. . The shuttle being completely autonomous, it has neither steering wheel nor pedals but benefits from the presence of a security operator who can intervene manually and provide a service to passengers. This ‘Bear Track’ shuttle is also equipped with a mobility ramp that meets the standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act (DCA). It will circulate from Monday to Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and its access will be free for the public.
AECOM will be the prime contractor for Bear Tracks, MnDOT will finance the project and Newtrax Transportation will supply the operators who will be trained by Navya. The project fits into the MnDOT’s Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAV) Strategic Plan, including promoting increased mobility for people with disabilities, better travel options for communities of seniors, and greater public awareness of technologies automated vehicles.
A unique aspect of the project is an academic partnership with White Bear Lake High School and the University of Minnesota to provide students with first-hand experience with connected and automated vehicles as well as job development support.
Other key participating partners include Ramsey County, Newtrax, schools in the White Bear Lake area, the Minnesota State Transportation Center of Excellence, and the area Chamber of Commerce.
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