US Army starts testing self-driving passenger shuttles at Fort Benning

Five self-driving vehicles arrived at Fort Benning, Georgia, on 4 November to start a US Army trial of commercial autonomous passenger shuttles, the Army said. The trial is part of ROADS, the Robotic Operations for Autonomous Delivery and Sustainment prize challenge, run by the Army together with the DIU. Fort Benning is one of two host installations.

Six vehicles in all will run at the base, four of them electric and two hybrid, supplied by Applied Intuition, Forterra together with May Mobility, and Perrone Robotics. The Army did not name models or costs.

Nobody rides without a driver yet. For the first two to three weeks, human drivers will drive the vans while teams collect lidar, video and GPS data to map routes, which stay on paved roads and explicitly exclude sensitive facilities such as Lawson Army Airfield and ammunition supply points. Phased test runs follow through the end of 2026.

"Every day, thousands of initial-entry trainees, permanent-party cadre, and tenant unit Soldiers move across Fort Benning's expansive ranges, cantonment areas, and support facilities," said Charles Auer, who leads the pilot. Putting the shuttles on routine administrative routes would free soldiers from driver duty and give instructors teaching hours back.