The University of Michigan will launch a driverless shuttle service this fall on campus after testing it for six months at its Mcity research facility.



WEMU's Jorge Avellan reports on the U of M's new driverless shuttle service.

You don't have to adjust your volume--that's how low the engine of the 15-passenger, autonomous shuttle will sound. It will transport passengers along a two-mile route that connects the North Campus Research Complex with the engineering campus.

Huei Peng is Director of MCity. He says they're doing this for research.

"We want to see how they are being used. Are they helping with the local mobility? Is there any issues that we didn't think about? So the learning experience will collect data helping us to understand human acceptance, human behavior."

Two all-electric shuttles from the French manufacturer NAVYA will be used.

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— Jorge Avellan is a reporter for 89.1 WEMU News. Contact him at 734.487.3363 or email him javellan@emich.edu