Disney's driverless plans not Mickey Mouse

Walt Disney World in Florida appears poised to launch the highest-profile commercial deployment of driverless passenger vehicles to date, testing a fleet of driverless shuttles that could cart passengers through car parks and around its theme parks. According to sources with direct knowledge of Disney's plans, Walt Disney is in late-stage negotiations with at least two manufacturers of autonomous shuttles. The sources, who asked not be identified to avoid offending Disney, said the company plans a pilot program this year to transport employees in the electric-drive robot vehicles. If that goes well, they said, the shuttles would begin transporting park visitors sometime next year. There are no plans for driverless shuttles at Disneyland in Anaheim, according to the sources.