July 18, 2020 2:30
(WGTD)---A driver-less shuttle bus could soon be traveling the streets of Racine.
The city, the UW-Madison College of Engineering and Gateway Technical College are funding an experimental program under Racine’s ‘Smart Cities’ initiative. The premise is that a driver-less municipal bus system would be a much more efficient way to get workers to places of employment. "This (the experimental program) allows us to begin to look at how we reconnect folks to opportunity, and to be able to do it in a much more efficient way than to have a 40-passenger bus be the only option for folks who do not have their own personal transportation," said Racine Innovation Officer William Martin at a city council committee last week.
Under the plan, the city, UW-Madison and Gateway will each kick in $250,000 to fund the program. Gateway's contribution is expected to be in-kind.
Gateway instructors would use the program as an opportunity to teach students how to retrofit vehicles, and then maintain them, putting Gateway and its students on the ground floor of new technology.
The proposal is expected to go before the Racine City Council for review Tuesday night.
-0-