East Lansing-based ADASTEC will bring the bus to the national lakeshore by Monday, park Superintendent Scott Tucker said.
Engineers will then spend two weeks programming the bus and running it through the 7.4-mile Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive with the help of a safety driver (but no passengers).
"So this is a unique opportunity to bring this technology to a national park and that it may prove beneficial for the numerous national parks across the system that have a bus and shuttle system," he said.
Starting in mid-August, park visitors can book a tour on the bus throughout its 45-day trial run at the park, Tucker said. The Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant vehicle can carry about 21 people, and free reservations will be available a week in advance.
Tucker said ADASTEC's project at the park is the culmination of a partnership between the NPS and the state of Michigan after the state issued a challenge to create alternative transportation systems. The company hopes the popular route can put its technology through its paces in dealing with slow speed limits, traffic congestion, weather, trees, wildlife and visitors.
"And so to see how an autonomous bus can merge into traffic, parking a parking spot and facilitate even its regenerative braking on the hills of the scenic drive, it's going to be a great opportunity to see how the technology can adapt to a recreational setting," he said.
ADASTEC CEO and cofounder Dr. Ali Peker said the bus will be running on company technology already called flowride.ai, which was tested during a two-year trial at Michigan State University. That gave engineers a chance to experience rainy and snowy conditions.
Success at MSU caught the attention of several customers in Europe, with ADASTEC deploying its technology in Finland, Norway, Germany and Turkey, Peker said.
On Monday, Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, II, announced a $250,000 grant from the NPS Mobility Challenge Program for ADASTEC's project at Sleeping Bear Dunes. Electric low-floor bus maker Vicinity Motor Corp. and autonomous vehicle consulting firm ARIBO are partners on the project.
Gilchrist announced the project along with several others, including $240,000 to install electric vehicle chargers in Grand Marais, Hancock, Marquette and Munising — all adjacent to or not far from national parks.
For ADASTEC's bus pilot, Pekar said the money will offset some of the company's costs in buying, outfitting and transporting the bus.
Sleeping Bear Dunes is another opportunity to test the company's technology in a seasonal environment, Peker said. A safety driver will be on board to assume control if needed, but otherwise won't touch the controls.
He added it'll be the first U.S.-made, ADA-compliant and autonomous electric bus.
"It'll be the first of its kind, so we hope that it will be replicated throughout the nation, so we are very excited," Peker said.
Once the trial run at Sleeping Bear Dunes is over, ADASTEC will move the bus to Michigan State University, Peker said. There, it'll resume the shuttle route previously handled by a bus the company brought from Europe. That bus transported students from a commuter lot south of the main campus to MSU Auditorium, according to the university.
Several national parks could be the ideal spot for an autonomous shuttle, Tucker said. They range from Harpers Ferry Historic National Park where Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia meet, to Zion National Park in Utah.
Sleeping Bear Dunes isn't on that list, although it might get one someday, Tucker said. For one, the technology is new and there's no room in the park's budget for a shuttle system. For another, shuttles on park roads are typically an either-or situation versus visitors driving themselves.
"Usually you have a shuttle or you don't," he said. "If you have a shuttle, then you need a massive parking lot to park visitors' cars, which we don't have that opportunity right now."
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