Gainesville shuts down driverless buses

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Driverless buses rolling through downtown Gainesville is something that you won't be seeing on the city's streets. 

The federal government decided to halt a program due to an "unexplained braking incident" that injured a passenger in Columbus, Ohio.  Gainesville uses the same easy-bus driver-less vehicles as Columbus. Their program, along with driverless buses in Columbus and 14 other cities, has literally come to a stop.

"Out of an abundance of caution, the City of Gainesville has suspended the Gainesville autonomous transit shuttle pilot project until further notice," read a statement released by the city.  At the system's ribbon-cutting in Gainesville in early February, officials hailed the program.

"It's a benefit to the people of Gainesville. It's a benefit to everybody that works downtown and everybody that works on campus to be able to bridge that gap more easily and more regularly," said Harvey Ward, Gainesville City Commissioner.

System planners say all the buses would have an attendant with a manual override.  The Gainesville autonomous shuttle was intended to run between downtown and the University of Florida campus.