Self-Driving Shuttles Deliver Covid-19 Tests for Mayo Clinic

Autonomous vehicles are now being used to transport medical supplies and COVID-19 test samples at the Mayo Clinic in Florida. Amid the strain on healthcare resources and staff, the Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) has teamed up with Beep and Navya to deploy these driverless vehicles. Their primary task? Safely transferring COVID-19 tests collected from a drive-through site at the Mayo Clinic.

“This is a landmark moment for the Jacksonville Transportation Authority,” said Nathaniel Ford, CEO of JTA. “Working with Beep, Navya, and Mayo Clinic, we’ve applied knowledge from our three-year Ultimate Urban Circulator program. Our innovative team saw an opportunity to use technology to address this crisis in northeast Florida and improve the safety of COVID-19 testing.”

Last month, four autonomous vehicles began transporting test samples from the drive-through site to a processing lab on Mayo Clinic’s campus. These shuttles operate in full autonomous mode without attendants. Healthcare professionals place the test samples in secure containers before loading them onto the shuttles.

“During this time of rapid change and uncertainty, the ability to think innovatively alongside JTA, Navya, and Beep has strengthened our teams through community collaboration,” said Kent Thielen, CEO of Mayo Clinic in Florida. “Using artificial intelligence helps protect our staff from exposure to the virus and frees up time for direct patient care. We are thankful for the partnership with JTA, Beep, and Navya during these challenging times.”

JTA, Beep, Navya, and Bestmile collaborated to create, test, and deploy the autonomous vehicle routes. These paths are designed to avoid pedestrians, traffic, and staff. A mobile command center closely monitors the service to ensure safe operation.

“Mayo Clinic is a leader in health care innovation,” said Joe Moye, CEO of Beep. “Partnering with them to tackle this critical challenge is both humbling and exciting. Working with JTA, Navya, and Bestmile, a fleet orchestration and optimization company, we are proud to support this important cause.”

Beep transported the shuttles from Lake Nona, Florida, an innovation hub roughly 150 miles away, where the company is headquartered in Orlando. Another shuttle is being used from JTA’s Ultimate Urban Circulator program.

Since 2017, the Jacksonville Transportation Authority has been testing autonomous vehicle technology in preparation for transforming and expanding Jacksonville Skyway into a network powered by these vehicles.

“The chance to collaborate with these organizations to provide dedicated COVID-19 testing aligns with our company’s goal to create more accessibility during critical times, be it a crisis or a shortage in manpower and resources,” said Étienne Hermite, CEO of Navya.