An automated, all-electric shuttle has begun operating in the West Village neighborhood of the University of California, Davis (UC Davis).

A product of Shanghai Automotive Industrial Corporation’s (SAIC) Innovation Center, the shuttle is being demonstrated around a defined loop of the West Village community as part of an agreement between SAIC and UC Davis. 

​Expected to take place through June 1, the demonstration will allow researchers with the Institute of Transportation Studies (ITS-Davis) and its China Center for Energy and Transportation to conduct perceptional and behavioral surveys among residents and shuttle riders at no cost to UC Davis. 

“We want to see how residents respond to the vehicle before and after their experience with it to see if there are attitudinal changes,” explains Yunshi Wang, director of the UC Davis China Center for Energy and Transportation.

“We’d like to better understand how people embrace or resist vehicles like this and their potential to help with ride sharing or carpooling.” 

The six-passenger shuttle can drive autonomously, but a professional driver will be on board the vehicle ready to assist at all times. The shuttle will operate on a 1.3-mile route during the day at a maximum speed of 25 miles per hour.

Initially, the shuttle will carry SAIC personnel, but if the initial demonstrations are successful, it will expand to transport passengers along the route.

“SAIC's Silicon Valley Innovation Center is glad to bring our shared automated shuttle to UC Davis to help advance greener and more user-centered mobility,” says Maxwell Huang, president of SAIC USA and SAIC IC/VC.

“The project reflects the four pillars of our corporation's strategy: electrification, connectivity, intelligence and new mobility services.”