Visitors at Jacksonville, Florida's revitalized waterfront will soon be able to experience the future of fully autonomous public transit. T-Mobile (NASDAQ: TMUS) and Miller Electric Company today announced a collaboration to use a 5G private network to connect a fleet of autonomous vehicles (AVs) along the city’s waterfront and urban core as part of Jacksonville’s Ultimate Urban Circulator program.
Jacksonville-based Miller Electric will use a 5G private network from T-Mobile’s Advanced Network Solutions (ANS) to support the operations of the new bus-shaped, fully autonomous shuttles that will transport visitors along a 3-mile stretch from the home of the city’s professional football team, EverBank Stadium, to the new waterfront hub.
“5G connectivity provides the highest bandwidth and lowest latency communication between the AVs and the control center,” said Craig Bowman, Director of Technology, Miller Electric. “This turnkey solution will enable the vehicles to navigate the streets alongside other vehicle traffic and will ensure the bandwidth we need is available to stream real-time video surveillance and two-way audio and video communications between passengers and employees.”
Advanced 5G technology is key for cities and organizations looking to implement smart city initiatives such as AVs. Other solutions, such as Wi-Fi, have limited reach and can limit the reliability and scalability of an autonomous fleet.
Here's how the technology works: The T-Mobile 5G private network connection will deliver highly secure, reliable two-way communications between the shuttles and the command center. This includes real-time telemetry data from onboard sensors as well as audio and video feeds to connect employees with passengers — all on the largest and fastest 5G network in America.
“5G is the key that will unlock the autonomous vehicle future that science fiction has teased us with for years,” said Mishka Dehghan, SVP, Strategy, Product, and Solutions Engineering, T-Mobile Business Group. “Because T-Mobile 5G offers the flexibility to build dynamic solutions like a 5G private network, our customers can actually build the future they envision, not just imagine it. I’m excited to see how this solution will support a thriving urban corridor and give visitors convenient and futuristic transportation options.”
The 5G private network infrastructure will be built alongside the already planned power and fiber solutions that support the rest of the waterfront project. This means that T-Mobile can deliver the network performance and security Miller Electric requires for the AVs into the future without any additional infrastructure.
The autonomous shuttles are projected to be on the road by mid 2025 and represent the first out of three phases of the city’s planned Ultimate Urban Circulator. This initial phase lays the foundation for the expansion of automated shuttles to connect to adjoining neighborhoods.