The Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) is planning to introduce the first automated heavy-duty buses in revenue service in North America, with the project set to go live in approximately a year. The project includes the deployment of three battery-electric 40-foot New Flyer Xcelsior CHARGE™ vehicles. CTDOT is scheduled to take delivery of the first vehicle in December 2020.

The automated buses will operate on the CTfastrak bus rapid transit (BRT) guideway — a 9.4-mile dedicated BRT route connecting downtown Hartford and downtown New Britain. The guideway was built on current and former railroad rights-of-way owned by the State of Connecticut and Amtrak, allowing for the minimal taking of private land…

Because of the way the infrastructure is set in place on CTfastrak, CTDOT’s Transit Administrator Dennis Solensky says it is an opportune place to test several technologies including automated buses.
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