A.G. Gancarski
Could self-driving shuttle buses come to Jacksonville in the near future? A bill filed in the Florida House may make that happen sooner than later.
HB 3831, filed by Rep. Jason Fischer, seeks $500,000 for a local deployment of the Olli minibus, a Local Motors vehicle made in part with 3D printing and powered by IBM Watson technology.
The Watson technology allows passengers to communicate with the vehicle, much as an iPhone user might with Siri.
That half a million dollars would bring two Olli shuttles to Jacksonville and Baptist Health Complex as the first working example of this technology anywhere in Florida.
The shuttles would be used for medical transport — Elite Parking Services of America would, in conjunction with Baptist Health, start up this two shuttle system.
The system would be the first in Florida, and could serve as a pilot to see if the program is practicable in areas of urban density.
The program is supported locally, including by the Jacksonville Transportation Authority, home of the downtown automated Skyway system, a people mover that was expected to be a prototype for a future that didn’t exactly arrive.
Elite Parking Services is a name known beyond Jacksonville; its owner and proprietor, Dane Grey, is a connected Jacksonville Republican who was honored by Gov. Rick Scott in 2016’s State of the State address.
Grey, who also received a gubernatorial Young Entrepreneur award, is an unlikely candidate for the veto pen, should this bill clear the Florida Legislature.
The lobbyist of record on this bill: Kevin Doyle of Wexford Strategies.
