Beep is a Florida-based autonomous mobility solution company delivering the next generation of services for passenger mobility to fleet operators in planned communities and low speed environments across the public and private sector, including transportation hubs, medical and university campuses, town centers and more. From route planning to interactive managed services, Beep's offerings are designed to drive differentiation and innovation, and delight the passengers of its customers.

In the second edition of "Conversations with AUVSI," Beep CEO Joe Moye took the time to answer some questions about the company’s background, its various pilot programs, and the work it has done during the COVID-19 pandemic. This interview was conducted in mid-August.

Can you start off by providing some background information about Beep and where the company’s interest in autonomous mobility solutions originated?

Beep was founded by a group of seasoned technology entrepreneurs and transportation leaders who have found considerable success entering markets in the early stages of technology innovation. With transportation trends moving away from car ownership and toward ride-sharing options, our leadership team collectively believes now is the time to test out and prove AVs in real-world mixed-traffic scenarios beyond proof of concept projects and demonstrations and more towards becoming a proven and reliable means of transportation within public and private communities. As such, we are squarely focused on the multi-passenger, electric autonomous shuttles serving routes on average of 3 miles in geo-fenced areas.

What is the Beep autonomous mobility platform, and what are some of the features that make this platform unique?

We are focused on the planning, deployment, and safe operation of multi-passenger autonomous vehicles in low-speed geo-fenced communities. Beep offers a turnkey mobility solution, typically acquired as a subscription service, with provisions to manage the entire lifecycle of an AV deployment from project inception to regulatory approvals and ongoing operations. Beep has multiple strategic partnerships with AV suppliers in order to satisfy the unique operational requirements and design for each customer use case.

In partnership with various entities and companies, you all have launched pilot projects in Florida and Arizona; how have they been received in these areas, and what role do you think these pilots play not just for your own efforts in the autonomous vehicle space, but for other players in this space as well?

Our deployments in Florida and Arizona have been well received by the public and other stakeholders because we have ensured that community engagement is integrated into every part of the process before, during, and after a deployment. Prior to every project, each route is safely and carefully planned to deliver the best rider experience and promote adoption. As one example, we engaged the Lake Nona community in Orlando, Florida prior to deployment of our new service so that everyone in the community was aware of our mobility solution. As a result, we have experienced high user satisfaction and adoption with over 15,000 riders in a few short months on the very first route.

You all have partnered with the likes of Navya and Local Motors; generally speaking, how have these relationships begun? Do you all reach out to companies, or vice versa, or is there a mutual meeting of the minds?

When we launched our business, we evaluated most of the suppliers in our target market. We work with multiple of them today. We believe that our Mobility-as-a-Service solution delvers the full set of capabilities required for successfully operating in more complex, mixed traffic environments which further advance the opportunity for these platforms to become broadly utilized. In selecting partners, safety and track record of performance are most critical. Additionally, it is important to understand their solution roadmap to align those features with the current and future needs of our clients. It is critical that we see a path to safely expanding the operating domain of each autonomous shuttle. 

For you all, what are the main benefits that autonomous mobility solutions have the potential to offer society?

Beep’s Autonomous mobility solutions offer communities a safer, eco-friendly, and more efficient means of getting around. We want to provide mobility services to those that may not have that available to them such as the elderly or disabled while also providing an option for those that prefer an alternative means of transportation to a personal vehicle. Human error accounts for more than 90% of serious crashes due to choices people make behind the wheel, according to NHTSA. Autonomous solutions can have a positive impact on eliminating human error, make the roads safer.

In partnership with the Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) and NAVYA, you all were part of the deployment of autonomous vehicles that were used to facilitate the safe transport of COVID-19 tests collected at a drive-thru testing location at Mayo Clinic in Florida, which was a first in the United States. What did the process look like to land this opportunity? And are these deliveries still taking place? If so, how are they going, and if not, how did they go?

Beep, the Jacksonville Transportation Authority, and NAYVA in partnership with Mayo Clinic in Florida were able to quickly mobilize the team from request to safe deployment in roughly a week’s time. We identified the immediate need to fast-track the creation, testing and deployment of the autonomous shuttle route based on the need to free up cycles for Mayo Clinic staff that would otherwise have to transport the samples and remove a level of human interaction with the tests and minimize exposure to the virus.

The autonomous delivery of test samples with no attendant onboard the shuttle started on March 30 and concluded July 31. During the deployment, more than 22,000 test samples were safely transported from the drive-thru testing site to another facility on campus for processing. Beep and JTA enabled a number of measures during the service to ensure safe operation of the vehicle including creating a mobile command center for constant monitoring and isolating the path from pedestrians, traffic and staff.  

What are Beep’s short-term and long-term goals?

Beep has a clear objective to be the leaders in deploying autonomous, multi-passenger, electric shuttles in the targeted geo-fenced use cases represented by controlled speed, first-mile/last-mile use cases. We intend to accomplish this by maintaining a perfect safety record and proven ability to deliver an impeccable rider experience. We plan to expand the use cases by improving the AV platforms in concert with our partners while being the first to deliver level 4 autonomous solutions for passenger services in our target market.