ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. — Driverless shuttles will be coming to another part of Central Florida.
Channel 9 previously reported that autonomous shuttles will begin operating in Orlando's Lake Nona neighborhood this spring. Click here to read more about that.
Come 2020, driverless shuttles will also run parallel to State Road 436 in Altamonte Springs. The shuttles will have an operator aboard.
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The shuttle's 3½-mile route will include stops at Cranes Roost Park, the Altamonte Springs SunRail station and the Majesty Building, better known as the I-4 Eyesore.
"The city of Altamonte Springs will not pay to operate this," City Manager Frank Martz said. "This is going to be privately operated, privately run, just like Uber."
Altamonte Springs was among 16 cities selected by Mastercard's City Possible program.
Martz said the city must carve out a path and create a road for the project.
He said the program will cost $8.7 million to run, but the city hopes to secure $2 million from the state for the construction of the path.
The rest of the cost would be covered by the private sector, the city said.
AdventHealth is one of the private partners needed to fund the project and one of property owners needed to provide land for the shuttle.
"It's a minimal part of the property, because you are not building a full (State Road) 436," AdventHealth CEO Tim Cook said. "You are building more of a cart path, and so it's fairly minimal. The value well exceeds what we are giving."
But not everyone is a fan of the project.
"I don't like it at all," resident Beverly Robinson said. "I will never like it."
The city said work will begin on the project this fall.
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