This Solar-Powered Town Is Home To America’s First Self-Driving Shuttle Network

Later this year, if someone moves into a house in Babcock Ranch–a newly built, fully solar-powered town in Florida–they’ll be able to take an autonomous shuttle to the grocery store. The shuttles (powered by electricity from the community’s own massive solar farm) will be part of the first autonomous network in the country.

The shuttles are also the first step in an array of mobility options that residents will eventually be able to access from an app: autonomous pods that carry one or two people, larger autonomous buses, car-sharing, bike-sharing, and charter transit. The town, which will eventually be home to nearly 50,000 people, is also designed to be walkable. The long-term goal: If you live here, you’ll decide you don’t need to own a car.