You will be able to ride in a driverless shuttle at NC State University starting Friday
Note: N.C State University says the public rides scheduled for Saturday have been canceled due to “storm issues.”
A driverless shuttle that will carry people around N.C. State University’s Centennial Campus through this spring will make its debut on Friday and will be available for public rides on Saturday as well.
The shuttle, known as CASSI, uses a combination of cameras, radar, GPS and laser sensors to steer itself on a pre-programmed route. It will make a regular one-mile loop with several stops around Centennial Campus from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and occasionally on weekends for special events.
CASSI, which stands for Connected Autonomous Shuttle Supporting Innovation, is a model EZ 10 from EasyMile, a French company that is one of several developing self-driving vehicles. The N.C. Department of Transportation is leasing the shuttle for a year so it and the public can see how the evolving technology works and begin thinking about using it in North Carolina.
It will spend six months at Centennial Campus, and NCDOT is looking for one or two other places in the state where it can be used the rest of the year.
The electric-powered shuttle can carry up to 12 people at a time — six seated and six standing or leaning. It has a top speed of 12 mph, but NCSU says it will go no more than 8 mph at Centennial Campus.
While there is no driver — and no driver seat — CASSI will have an “ambassador” on board throughout its time at N.C. State to answer questions and deal with any problems.
NCDOT and NCSU have already learned some things about autonomous vehicles as they got CASSI ready to make its rounds, said Julie White, deputy secretary of transportation for multi-modal programs. For example, before CASSI arrived NCSU trimmed trees along the route to keep branches from interfering with the shuttle’s radar and laser sensors. But in some cases it wasn’t enough and some branches would still bring the vehicle to a stop.
NCSU chancellor Randy Woodson and state Secretary of Transportation Jim Trogdon are scheduled to take the inaugural ride on CASSI, starting in front of the Hunt Library at 9 a.m. Friday. After other dignitaries and the media have a turn, the public will be able to ride the shuttle through 4 p.m. Friday and again on Saturday, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
There’s plenty of parking on Centennial Campus for visitors on weekends, but during the week much of it is reserved for students and faculty. There’s a pay visitor lot across from the Hunt Library. For an interactive map of the campus that shows the locations of public parking, go to maps.ncsu.edu/.
This story was originally published February 6, 2020 at 12:14 PM.
