What’s New

• On November 7, 2024, FTA posted the Transit Bus Automation Quarterly Update Q3 2024 that highlights transit bus automation activities from the third quarter of calendar year 2024 (July - September).
• On August 29, 2024, FTA posted the Transit Bus Automation Quarterly Update Q2 2024 that highlights transit bus automation activities from the second quarter of calendar year 2024 (April - June).
• On May 13, 2024, FTA posted the Strategic Transit Automation Research Plan 2.0: 2023-2028 (Report 0264), a successor to the original 2018 STAR Plan published by FTA. It builds upon the work accomplished from the 2018 STAR Plan (referred to now as STAR Plan 1.0) and provides strategic research and demonstration framework for the next five years to advance driving automation systems that meet public transportation needs.

Overview

Advancements in technology are rapidly transforming the transportation system and provide the potential to improve transit systems. To support the development and deployment of automated bus transit services, FTA developed the five-year Strategic Transit Automation Research (STAR) Plan 2.0, an update of the 2018 STAR Plan (now referred to as STAR Plan 1.0) that outlines FTA’s research agenda on transit bus automation technologies. The plan is built upon extensive stakeholder consultation and use case analysis and is informed by a rigorous literature review.

While STAR Plan 1.0 sought to advance transit readiness for automation, STAR Plan 2.0 seeks to advance automation technology to meet the needs of public transportation by:

• Conducting enabling research on safe, equitable, and effective transit automation deployments
• Demonstrating nearly-market-ready prototype technologies in real-world settings
• Learning from and sharing knowledge with the transit stakeholder community

Objectives

STAR Plan 2.0 has a continued emphasis on communicating and leveraging complementary public-sector, private-sector, and academic work. By providing leadership and guidance at the Federal level while incorporating the strengths of external stakeholders and partners, the plan will help close the gap between the transit bus industry and earlier adopters of automation technologies while continuing to maintain a secure and equitable transportation system. The activities highlighted in the STAR Plan 2.0 will support the primary objectives of FTA’s transit bus automation research, which are to:

• Improve safety, including the deployment of automated vehicles and integration of automated technologies
• Increase efficiency and productivity of transit operations
• Enhance customer experience and satisfaction through improved service frequency and flexibility

Use Cases 

FTA’s transit bus automation research will build upon automation research throughout the transportation industry. Through extensive coordination and collaboration with transit grantees and stakeholders, FTA identified transit bus automation research activities that address 14 use cases that fit into the following five technology packages, which include:

• Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS)
• Automated Shuttles
• Maintenance, Yard, and Parking Operations
• Mobility-on-Demand Service
• Automated Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)

Progress to Date 

Due in part to the role of federally funded research, transit bus automation research in the United States has progressed significantly since the publication of STAR Plan 1.0. FTA has been able to address fundamental research questions that:

• Address policy questions from industry (e.g., on topics such as Buy America, Useful Life, Bus Testing, Americans with Disabilities Act, and Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards)
• Analyze the business case for deploying transit bus automation
• Review the state of the practice concerning the technology, market, insurance, and accessibility as they relate to transit bus automation
• Provide resources and support to aid in survey and evaluation of demonstrations
• Help the domestic transit bus automation market to grow through demonstrations

Reports from FTA’s transit bus automation work to date are in the Transit Automation Research Resources section of this page.

Statutory Reference

FTA Public Transportation Innovation Program (49 U.S.C. § 5312)

Featured Resources

FAQs

Report

Webinar

Type	Title and Description
​​​​ ​	Summary of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Convening on Transit Bus Automation - January 2024 FTA's Office of Research, Demonstration and Innovation hosted a convening with transit stakeholders to discuss issues and challenges related to research, planning, piloting, demonstrating, or deploying automated transit buses in revenue service. Participants shared their automation visions, including use of novel-design automated vehicles (AVs), and concerns for discussion. Participants also discussed key Federal regulatory and policy challenges related to deploying automated vehicles and explored scenarios for operating AVs on public roadways for transit service.
	Lincoln Tunnel Exclusive Bus Lane Connected Automated Bus Proof-of-Concept Demonstration Project (Report 0258) - September 2023 This report presents the results of the Society of Automotive Engineers' designated Level 3 connected automated bus proof of concept demonstration project to improve the operation of the contraflow Lincoln Tunnel exclusive bus lane along NJ Route 495.
	Transit Bus Automation Market Assessment (Report 0255) – September 2023 This report details the current availability, capabilities, and limitations of automated transit bus technologies at all automation levels.
	Arlington Rideshare, Automation, and Payment Integration Demonstration (RAPID) (Report 0244) - July 2023 This report presents the results of the Arlington Rideshare, Automation, and Payment Integration Demonstration (RAPID) project. This project integrates a shared, dynamically routed automated vehicle (AV) fleet into an existing public rideshare system in Arlington, Texas.
	An Evaluation of the Valley Metro–Waymo Automated Vehicle RideChoice Mobility on Demand Demonstration (Report 0198) - August 2021 This report documents the evaluation of Valley Metro Regional Public Transportation Authority's (Valley Metro) pilot that used Waymo autonomous vehicles (AVs) as certified vehicles for Valley Metro’s RideChoice program, a subsidized curb-to-curb individual mobility service (via taxi or ride-hailing services) for paratransit-certified people under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and for older adults ages 65 and over living in Greater Phoenix.
	Transit Bus Automation Policy FAQs – July 2019 This document addresses numerous inquiries by the transit industry on Federal policies concerning automated transit buses.
	Determining Requirements for Automation Transit Bus Test Facilities: Considerations for Practitioners (Report 0131) – February 2019 This report lists 91 requirements that provide resources and references for selecting facilities with the appropriate and necessary characteristics for the testing of automated transit buses for all levels of automation.
	Transferability of Automation Technologies (Report 0125) – October 2018 This report examines the feasibility of transferring 13 current automated systems technologies from light-duty vehicles and commercial trucks to diesel transit buses.

Visit the Transit Automation Research Table for a full list of available resources.
 

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