Mayor of Houston Sylvester Turner and The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO) have unveiled a brand-new autonomous shuttle and given an update on the Agency’s progression to a zero-emission fleet.
The new shuttle, FutureLink, forms part of the second phase of METRO’s autonomous vehicle (AV) testing programme, which is expected to run through October 2024, with a final report completed by March 2025.
Capable of seating up to 14 passengers (including two wheelchairs), FutureLink is a fully autonomous zero-emission vehicle built for operation on city streets, providing services between Texas Southern University and METRO’s Eastwood Transit Center.
The event also showcased METRO’s new electric bus, which forms part of the Authority’s ongoing Climate Action Plan toward a completely emission-free fleet in the future.
Mayor Turner said:FutureLink represents the intersection of innovation and sustainability.
METRO continues to pioneer change and today, we celebrate METRO's commitment to advancing our city's vision for the future in which transportation is safe, equitable, and resilient.
Funding for the Agency project has been provided by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) as part of its Accelerating Innovative Mobility programme, a scheme promoting improvements in transit financing, planning, system design and services.
