“We could see these technology improvements coming, and the changes in the industry… we felt that…our fastrak would be the perfect opportunity…to start implementing automated technologies.”

Dennis Solensky, Public Transit Administrator, Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT), joins Transit Unplugged to discuss the transit industry, his career, and an exciting autonomous bus project that will be launching at the end of 2020. Dennis has a strong passion for the public transit industry, with 30 years of experience and various leadership roles before his current tenure at the Connecticut Department of Transportation, where he oversees bus operations.

This episode provides an inside look at the Connecticut Department of Transportation (which operates 80% of fixed-route services in the State), specifically on an exciting project that they have underway – leading the first full-sized service autonomous vehicle in North America. Dennis discusses how their BRT Line, CTfastrak, provided an opportunity for full-sized autonomous buses. He shares a few key focus areas they will be studying while the autonomous vehicles are in operation, and the steps that they took to get to where they are today. The information they gather in this project will not only help improve transit services in the Connecticut region but also provide leading insights for the industry at large.

If you want to know more about the Connecticut Department of Transportation, check out their website. 

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