CTS Webinar: Unlocking Autonomous Transportation Potential—Key Insights from the goMARTI Shuttle Pilot

About the Event

This webinar offered an in-depth exploration of the groundbreaking goMARTI shuttle pilot, one of the first autonomous, rural, on-demand public transportation initiatives in the United States. The project was launched two years ago in Grand Rapids, MN, with funding from the Minnesota Department of Transportation and a broad range of public, private, and academic partners.

This webinar reviewed key lessons learned, including the challenges and opportunities of integrating autonomous vehicles as a rural mobility option, passenger safety and accessibility considerations, and real-world data on ridership and performance. Project leaders and experts shared their experiences, discussed how these findings can shape the future of autonomous transportation solutions, and talked about what’s next for this project.

The webinar was held in conjunction with a joint meeting of the CTS Transportation Safety and Mobility Council and CTS Transportation Planning and the Economy Council.

Speakers

Frank Douma is the director of state and local policy and outreach for the Institute for Urban and Regional Infrastructure Finance at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs and a research scholar at CTS. His research focuses on policy and legal issues related to transportation technologies, including telework, tolling and other transportation finance tools, safety, and self-driving vehicles. 

Justin Johnson is the director of technology for The PLUM Catalyst, a strategy and innovation consulting firm focused on future mobility and next generation transportation initiatives. Johnson is the deputy PM for the autonomous vehicle deployment goMARTI and is actively involved with various connected and autonomous task forces across several state and national consortia. He holds 28 patents for his work in technical fields.

Tammy Meehan Russell is president and chief catalyst at The PLUM Catalyst. She is a communicator, program leader, and mentor for implementing innovative solutions, bringing out-of-the-box thinking while facilitating public/private partnerships with emerging technology companies. She brings extensive knowledge of the innovation processes, ITS and future mobility technologies, community engagement, policy, research, partnerships/ecosystem, and planning. 

Thomas Johnson-Kaiser is the CAV planning and policy manager at MnDOT, where he leads the development and implementation of CAV policy and CAV-related public and stakeholder engagement. He previously served as the public engagement manager for MnDOT's Communications and Public Engagement office. In that role, Johnson-Kaiser helped provide tools, resources, and training to MnDOT public engagement practitioners and consultants who conduct public engagement on MnDOT's behalf. Prior to that, he served as the CAV engagement and project manager and as a project coordinator in MnDOT's Office of Research and Innovation.

Questions?

Please contact Samantha Hahn-Douville at [email protected].