DATE: 9-11 a.m. Monday, June 4, 2018

EVENT: A media availability and opportunity to ride the Mcity Driverless Shuttle, a research project designed to gauge consumer acceptance of driverless vehicles. The shuttle project launches to passengers on June 4.

This is the first driverless shuttle project in the United States with a primary focus on user behavior research and data collection.

Beginning June 4, 2018, Mcity’s Driverless Shuttle will operate on the University of Michigan’s North Campus. Photo by Roger Hart, Michigan Photography

The project will use two fully automated, 11-passenger, all-electric shuttles manufactured by French firm NAVYA. The shuttle will cover a roughly one-mile round-trip route contained to the North Campus Research Complex, carrying students, faculty and staff to the complex from more distant parking, and providing easy access to the U-M/Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority bus stop at Hubbard and Hayward streets. Future plans include route expansion and accessibility research.

Mcity will study how passengers and others react to the driverless shuttle as a way to gauge consumer acceptance of the technology. Interior cameras will record the reactions of riders inside the shuttle. This includes the use of video and audio recordings and photographs from the videos. Exterior cameras will capture the behavior of other road users, including other vehicles, bicyclists and pedestrians.

Working with J.D. Power, Mcity will also survey riders about their experience. The data collected will help researchers understand user trust over time, as well as how to design safer vehicles and how to operate them more efficiently.

The shuttles will run on U-M roads roughly every 10 minutes from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, weather permitting. There will be no cost to ride.

Mcity is a U-M-led public-private partnership to accelerate advanced mobility vehicles and technologies.

Large cameras with tripods will not be permitted on board the shuttle for safety reasons. All riders, including media, will be required to use seat belts.

These Mcity and U-M leaders will be available for interviews:

• Huei Peng, director of Mcity and the Roger L. McCarthy Professor of Mechanical Engineering and principal investigator of the Mcity Driverless Shuttle project
• Carrie Morton, deputy director of Mcity
• Greg McGuire, Mcity lab director
• Kristin Kolodge, executive director, driver interaction and human machine interface (HMI), J.D. Power
• Lisa Boor, senior manager, Global Automotive, J.D. Power
• Pierre Bourgin, general manager, NAVYA Inc.

REGISTRATION: Media must register by sending an RSVP to Nicole Casal Moore at ncmoore@umich.edu. The deadline for registering is 5 p.m. Thursday, May 31.

PLACE: Media check-in will be outside the visitor’s entrance to the North Campus Research Complex (NCRC), 2800 Plymouth Road, at Building 18, near one of the shuttle stops. View map.

PARKING: Complimentary parking will be available in the N100 structure directly across the street from Building 18 at NCRC. Follow signs for Mcity event parking. Tell the attendant at the garage you are there for the Mcity Driverless Shuttle event. View parking map

RELATED LINKS:
Mcity
Mcity Driverless Shuttle