Jacksonville college is first campus in Florida to feature autonomous shuttle

U2C-FSCJ-beep launch FEB2024

The first autonomous vehicle shuttle service for a college campus in Florida was unveiled at Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ).

The Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) launched the shuttle service featuring the autonomous vehicle at the downtown campus of FSCJ. It’s the first autonomous shuttle carrying students and visitors for a Florida higher education school.

The shuttle vehicle, which can hold about a dozen passengers, is operated by an autonomous solutions company named Beep, based in Florida. It’s coupled with software that runs the self-driving vehicle from Oxa, a company specializing in autonomous technology.

The initial run of the autonomous shuttle is shuffling students, faculty, staff and visitors to FSCJ across its urban core campus that has four buildings stretching about a mile in downtown Jacksonville.

JTA CEO Nat Ford said the FSJC autonomous shuttle foreshadows many more public transit autonomous vehicles that will be coming to Jacksonville.

“We are eager for the FSCJ campus and wider Jacksonville community to experience these firsthand to see the benefits these vehicles bring,” Ford said at a news conference and ceremony marking the initial use of the boxy autonomous vehicle Tuesday at FSCJ.

The initial run of the autonomous vehicle at the FSCJ campus is the first sample of plans for residents and autonomous vehicle expansion in Jacksonville’s urban core. More vehicles are expected to be added in many areas of downtown into 2025. There have also been indications that the Automated Skyway Express, which spans the St. Johns River through much of downtown, will have its monorail passenger cars replaced with the automated vehicles.

FSCJ President John Avendano said he was thrilled to have the first in a series of automated vehicles operating at the downtown campus that has increased its commitment to science and technology in recent years.

“As the community’s college, we are committed to anticipating areas of opportunity and developing ideas to address them, all while elevating the workforce of tomorrow. This partnership is a perfect complement to our National Science Foundation grant, and we are excited for the progress we know it will bring about for our students and neighbors throughout the service area,” Avendano said.

Ultimately, JTA plans to have 10 miles of public transportation automated vehicles dedicated to passengers in the downtown area. Those vehicles will transport passengers to both sides of the St. Johns River along with business and some residential districts on the outskirts of the Jacksonville urban core.