Peachtree Corners Georgia announced a partnership with May Mobility and T-Mobile to deploy its autonomous vehicle (AV) solution, marking May Mobility’s first-ever deployment in the state of Georga.

May Mobility will operate its autonomous Toyota Sienna Autono-MaaS to demonstrate the technology to visitors of Peachtree Corner’s Curiosity lab, with stops at eight pre-determined locations along Technology Parkway. 

The stops include popular hotels, restaurants, retail shops, and office spaces, as well as the Curiosity Lab Innovation Center and Peachtree Corner’s City Hall. 

The service is planned to open to the public starting the week of October 7.

"The unique part about this deployment at Peachtree Corners is this will be the first time May Mobility will operate a rider-only experience,” said Brandon Branham, Curiosity Lab executive director. “Today, their deployments include a safety steward inside the vehicle at all times. As our program progresses, we will begin with a safety steward in this vehicle, but the objective of this deployment is to remove that safety steward and have a rider-only experience.” 

The Peachtree Partnership

Peachtree Corners, May Mobility, and T-Mobile have joined forces to make this AV deployment possible. 

As a hub for AV testing, Peachtree Corners provides May Mobility with an environment ideal for advancing their AV technology.

“The partnership between Peachtree Corners, May Mobility, and T-Mobile emerged as part of Peachtree Corners' ongoing efforts to advance smart city technologies and provide innovative mobility solutions,” Manik Dhar, May Mobility’s CCO, told METRO. “As an industry leader in autonomous vehicle solutions, we believe that the city’s infrastructure, powered by T-Mobile’s 5G network, provides the perfect environment to further the development of May Mobility's autonomous driving technology. This collaboration allows us to showcase May Mobility's cutting-edge Multi-Policy Decision Making (MPDM) system in a real-world environment, with the potential to enhance transportation services for residents and visitors alike.”

With May Mobility’s involvement, an on-demand service within Peachtree Corners’ ecosystem will be available and the goal is to slowly expand the route to the town center.

“The next phase of this project involves expanding the service area to include more stops, such as Peachtree Corners’ Town Center, and eventually transitioning to a fully autonomous service by removing the autonomous vehicle operator,” said Dhar. “May Mobility will leverage T-Mobile’s 5G network to improve safety and enhance vehicle performance along with real-time monitoring of operations.” 

As the service evolves, there’s also potential for scaling the route further to meet the needs of the growing community, bringing reliable and efficient autonomous transportation to a wider population, added Dhar. 

With the ultimate goal being  to offer a robust, fully autonomous microtransit solution that supports the community’s connectivity and mobility needs.

May Mobility’s AV Tech

Each May Mobility AV is equipped with a Multi-Policy Decision Making (MPDM) system that is designed to make safe driving decisions including under uncertain conditions. 

MPDM is powered by in-situ AI and runs on-board simulations in real-time to analyze and learn from. This provides the system with thousands of possible scenarios every second, allowing it to choose the safest one when encountering any situation.

"Our autonomous driving technology has proven its ability to scale well across diverse environments, and we're excited to operate in Peachtree Corners' real-world smart city," said Dhar. "This deployment allows us to showcase how MPDM operates both inside and outside of Curiosity Lab's autonomous vehicle test lanes, while also benefiting from T-Mobile's 5G.” 

The vehicles will be connected to T-Mobile’s 5G network. 

The low latency, high speed connectivity and high bandwidth available for vehicle operations will provide riders a smoother in-cabin experience. 

May Mobility will also have enhanced real-time viewing of the vehicle’s platform to monitor safety and operations.

“With May Mobility’s transition to a rider-only experience, the importance of high-speed, low-latency connectivity only grows as you are now increasing the number of devices needing to be connected within the vehicle,” said Branham. “This will ensure the rider has a seamless experience throughout the journey of hailing the vehicle, through the vehicle operations, alerting when they are in-cabin, to in-cabin Wi-Fi and more. Each of these requires a higher use of connectivity.” 

Peachtree’s AV in Operation

May Mobility will be operating their vehicles Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

Each vehicle will be able to accommodate up to four passengers at a time and users will be able to book trips to any of the service’s stops through the May Mobility app. The app is powered by transit tech company Via and will guide users on booking a ride, accessing the vehicle, answering questions and more.

Peachtree Corners is just one of many cities across the U.S. that is implementing AV shuttle services. 

As the technology develops, AV services can offer a number of benefits for residents.

“Autonomous vehicle services like those deployed by May Mobility offer a range of quality-of-life benefits for cities and their residents, including enhanced transportation efficiency, safety, and accessibility,” said Dhar. “Most importantly, autonomous vehicles can bridge gaps in public transit, providing reliable on-demand services that are particularly valuable for underserved communities, including those with mobility challenges."