Golden's Mines Rover: The Electric, Autonomous Shuttle

August 18, 2021

Golden Mines Rover: The Electric, Autonomous Shuttle

The Mines Rover was unveiled on August 11, 2021. This excit­ing new mode of trans­port, based in Gold­en, Col­orado, is ful­ly elec­tric, autonomous, and free to the pub­lic. The Dri­ve Elec­tric Col­orado Team was able to attend the pub­lic reveal of the Rover along­side its devel­op­ers, part­ners, and stu­dents. We also took one of the first rides ever in the dri­ver­less shuttle. 

Pho­to cour­tesy of AvCo

The Mines Rover project is a part­ner­ship led by Col­orado Smart Cities Alliance, Easy Mile, and the Col­orado School of Mines with part­ners RTD, the City of Gold­en, Stan­tec, Siemens, and Pana­son­ic. There are nine Rovers in this fleet, mak­ing it the nation’s largest fleet of low-speed, autonomous elec­tric shut­tles. The City of Gold­en is also the first city in Col­orado to offer this type of micro­tran­sit. EasyMile senior vice pres­i­dent Sharad Agar­w­al said, "Autonomous vehi­cles are com­ing. It's not a mat­ter of if — it's when." The Rover con­nects Col­orado School of Mines’ cam­pus, ath­let­ics com­plex, and down­town Gold­en along three fixed routes with 18 stops. It's ADA acces­si­ble and can hold six seat­ed pas­sen­gers. The Rover uses advanced sen­sors to adjust its speed (max­i­mum 12 mph) based on its sur­round­ings, with the option for man­u­al takeover if necessary. 

Rib­bon cut­ting at the Rover unveil­ing on August 11, 2021.
The Mines Rover

Golden's Mines Rover paves the way for more zero-emis­sion tran­sit through­out the state. AvCo plans to deploy oth­er shut­tles in Green­wood Vil­lage and Col­orado Springs next. The Rover reduces tran­sit-asso­ci­at­ed car­bon emis­sions and improves safe­ty and con­ges­tion. We agree with Col­orado School of Mine Pres­i­dent, Paul C. John­son, "It's cool and it's the future." 

Addi­tion­al Sources:

https://www.mines.edu/rover/

No Dri­vers Need­ed: Mines Rover Fea­tures Clean Ener­gy To Shut­tle Stu­dents Around Campus

https://www.minesnewsroom.com/news/nations-largest-fleet-autonomous-electric-shuttles-launches-colorado

https://kdvr.com/news/local/driverless-mines-rover-shuttles-students-on-campus/

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