FHWA Awards $4 Million Grant to South Carolina’s Greenville County for Automated Taxi Shuttles

Federal Highway Administration
4 October 2017

FHWA 17G-17
Wednesday, October 4, 2017
Contact: Nancy Singer
Tel.: (202) 366-0660

WASHINGTON – Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) officials today awarded a $4 million Advanced Transportation and Congestion Management Technologies Deployment (ATCMTD) grant to South Carolina’s Greenville County for its automated taxis.

“Technology is the future of U.S. transportation,” said Acting Federal Highway Administrator Brandye L. Hendrickson. “These funds will help Greenville County lead the nation into a future with more driverless vehicles, which will improve mobility for some and reduce traffic congestion for all.”

County officials will use the funds to deploy an integrated system of “taxi-shuttles,” known locally as “A-Taxis,” on public roads. These are driverless taxis providing shuttle service to and from employment centers–expected to improve access to transportation for disadvantaged and mobility-impaired residents.

FHWA’s ATCMTD program funds cutting-edge technologies that are ready to be deployed to enhance existing traffic capacity for commuters and businesses. This year, the program funded 10 projects valued at nearly $54 million that that range from advanced real-time traveler information for drivers, public transit riders and freight shippers, vehicle-to-infrastructure communications that will enhance safety and pave the way for autonomous vehicles, and congestion-relieving traffic management systems.

The ATCMTD program was established under the “Fixing America's Surface Transportation” (FAST) Act. State departments of transportation, local governments, transit agencies, metropolitan planning organizations and other eligible entities were invited to apply under the program.