Tourist shuttles powered by autonomous vehicle technology will come to Yellowstone National Park for the summer tourist season in 2021.
An agreement between the National Park Service and mobility-as-a-service provider Beep will see two vehicles deployed in the destination's Canyon Village area from May 2021.
The pilot program will test multi-passenger and electric automated platforms in the park on tourists.
It is first use of autonomous vehicles for sightseeing and tourist transfers in a U.S. National Park as forms part of a wider program of projects being carried out in Yellowstone to "enhance the visitor experience."
"During the deployment, Beep will provide a full suite of services for the pilot including the autonomous vehicles, engineering, and mapping of the routes, complete operational, monitoring and management for regular oversight and to support ridership demand." the company says.
The use of autonomous vehicles for sightseeing and tourist services has been talked about in detail in recent years but large-scale pilot projects have yet to come to fruition, with test programs largely concentrated in urban mobility settings.
Beep CEO Joe Moye says: "This demonstration will help assess how emerging technologies can enhance the visitor experience while making the roads safer and less congested for everyone."