Remember those groovy VW microbuses? Well, they're back, but now they're electric, autonomous, and ferrying Floridians around Orlando without a human at the wheel. Beep, a company specializing in autonomous mobility, is teaming up with Volkswagen's Moia to launch a new microtransit service later this year. Because apparently, that's where we are now.
The goal? To unleash up to 5,000 of these self-driving ID.Buzz vehicles across Florida, the Southeast, and eventually, the entire country. That's according to Beep CEO Kevin Reid, who probably has a very interesting daily commute.
Think of it as the sweet spot between public transport and your usual ride-hailing app. These little buses are designed to plug the gaps, getting people to and from train stations or fixed bus routes. Beep plans to offer both on-demand and scheduled rides, promising more flexibility and a lighter hit to your wallet than traditional ride services. Sascha Meyer from Volkswagen Autonomous Mobility calls it a key step, which, if you think about it, is both impressive and slightly terrifying.
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Start Your News DetoxWheels on the Ground (Without Hands on the Wheel)
Right now, six of these four-passenger vehicles are zipping around Lake Nona, a planned community in Orlando. For now, they've got safety drivers on board, just in case the bus decides it wants to take a detour to Disney World. As the service grows, some of these futuristic rides will even come equipped with wheelchair lifts and ramps, because accessibility is important even for robots.
Beep's already been running a similar shuttle service in Jacksonville since July, and apparently, it's a hit. CEO Reid reports strong ridership and on-time performance hovering in the mid-90s. Let that satisfying number sink in.
For cities looking to jump on the driverless bandwagon, Beep's Chief Revenue Officer Toby McGraw suggests a two-year planning horizon. Apparently, getting the infrastructure ready – things like transit signal priority and private cellular networks for optimal vehicle chat – makes a big difference. Beep, for its part, is ready to expand as fast as humanly (or robotically) possible. Because the future, it seems, is already here and it's driving a VW.
