/ Featured / Stantec Signs Contract with Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART) for the Downtown Tampa Autonomous Transit Project – The Nation’s FIRST Shared Autonomous Project!

Stantec Signs Contract with Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART) for the Downtown Tampa Autonomous Transit Project – The Nation’s FIRST Shared Autonomous Project!

Parul Dubey on November 13, 2017 - in Featured, Transit, Transportation

TAMPA, FL (November 13, 2017) NYSE, TSX:STN: The Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART) recently selected the Stantec/Coast Autonomous team to provide Autonomous Mobility Services for the Marion Street Transitway. HART is a regional transportation authority charged with planning, financing, constructing and operating public transit facilities and service within Hillsborough County. The Marion Street Transitway project will be funded by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT).

 

This project includes the first deployment of shared automated vehicles (SAV) by a US transit agency that will function in an open environment with live and mixed traffic.  SAV deployments to-date in the United States have been on private land, and therefore have not interacted with mixed traffic outside of the private property.

 

On behalf of the HART/FDOT partnership, Stantec will provide program and project management and related infrastructure planning and design. Coast Autonomous is providing and operating its all new designed P-1 shuttle that is driven by Coast’s complete suite of autonomous software that includes mapping & localization, robotics & AI, fleet management and supervision systems. Quest Corporation will organize public outreach and education efforts.  Koorosh Olyai, senior principal with Stantec said, “Through this project, Tampa is demonstrating their leadership in the push to deploy urban-speed automated vehicles. We’re excited to be part of the team that helps HART set the standard for other agencies to follow across the nation.”

 

The Marion Street project is unique because it uses an existing transitway, yet crosses live traffic at eight signalized intersections, an active railroad, and will provide two electric self-driving vehicles along a half-mile north-south roadway in the center of downtown Tampa.  Currently, between the weekday hours of 6 a.m. and 7 p.m., the corridor is for exclusive use of buses and emergency vehicles, so this presented a great opportunity to offer a space for an urban-speed, automated first and last mile shuttle service to function with limited mixed traffic.  The service would address mobility needs downtown by connecting the Marion Transit Center and parking to employment, and act as a catalyst for further automation in transportation throughout the Tampa Bay region.

 

The project will include the rollout of Coast Autonomous’ P-1 self-driving shuttle, which will be equipped with lidar sensors, stereo cameras, GPS, and V2X technology to transport passengers along the corridor during daytime hours.  Coast’s founder and chief technology officer, Pierre Lefevre, the father of low speed AV technology and inventor of the world’s first commercially available autonomous shuttle, says, “With the HART project, we are rolling out our all-new Coast P-1 Shuttle, which Coast has designed for safe, passenger-friendly transportation.  With incorporated flexibility for size and shape, redundant safety applications, and a ground-breaking “built for autonomy,” electric drivetrain, the Coast P-1 Shuttle sets an entirely new standard for the industry and allows us to cater proactively to our clients’ changing needs.”

 

As part of the project, the team will also study corridor improvement needs and deliver recommendations to HART. This program will operate in conjunction with HART’s broader public transportation network. Using this experienced team, HART is helping Tampa evolve their mobility options to bring Automated Driving System (ADS) forward within a Connected Vehicle (CV) environment to Tampa.

 

In Florida, Stantec has 14 Florida offices that include professionals providing services in: program and project management; environmental services; civil, transportation, and electrical engineering; landscape architecture; and construction engineering and inspection. For further information, visit www.stantec.com.

 

 

About Stantec

We’re active members of the communities we serve. That’s why at Stantec, we always design with community in mind. The Stantec community unites more than 22,000 employees working in over 400 locations. Our work—professional consulting in planning, engineering, architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, surveying, environmental sciences, project management, and project economics—begins at the intersection of community, creativity, and client relationships. With a long-term commitment to the people and places we serve, Stantec has the unique ability to connect to projects on a personal level and advance the quality of life in communities across the globe.

 

About Coast Autonomous

Coast Autonomous is a driverless software and technology company at the center of one of the fastest and most profound disruptions to impact the transportation and logistics industries. Coast provides Transportation-as-a-Service (TaaS) solutions to cities, theme parks, campuses, airports and other low speed (up to 25 mph) environments using a variety of vehicles equipped with its best-in-class Autonomous Vehicle (AV) technology.  Based in Pasadena, California, Coast’s team is recognized for its experience and expertise in all aspects of implementing and operating fleets of AVs, while prioritizing safety and user experience. 

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