Free Driverless Shuttles Are Officially A Thing in Grand Rapids

As of today, Friday, July 26^th, you can now use the driverless shuttles running along a 3.2-mile route in Downtown Grand Rapids, according to WOODTV.

For the next year, the 4 door, 6 seat driverless shuttles will be following the DASH West bus route and will shuttle passengers to 20 different stops from the Heartside Downtown area to the city’s west side, including the YMCA, Bridge Street Market, and Van Andel Arena.

Josh Naramore, director of Mobile GR, told WOODTV,

“So where the pink sign is, you can get that anywhere on the DASH West. There's 20 stops.”

It’s free to take a ride in one of the shuttles, which makes it more convenient to park outside of the downtown area, and then shuttle in.

While the vehicle holds 6 passengers, the “driver” seat will be occupied by an attendant that will have control over the car if needed.  And according to WOODTV, the company that makes the vehicles are in Michigan, so the vehicles have been developed to handle all the weather Grand Rapids can throw at it.

WOODTV says that the officials behind bringing the driverless car project to Grand Rapids are hoping people will really take advantage of the free shuttle service over the next year. The Shuttles will operate Tuesday through Friday 7 am to 7 pm and on Saturdays from 10 am to 7 pm.