Perrone will deploy a variety of vehicles to service the 560+ acres of mixed-use land located at North Fork - just minutes north of Charlottesville. The shuttle will begin by running during fixed operating schedules, transporting employees of companies located in North Fork and visitors between its nine Class-A office and laboratory buildings, providing easy access to park amenities such as Foods of All Nations Café, Success Studio Fitness, and the North Fork Meeting Center. Throughout 2023, the service will expand to leverage the wide variety of autonomous vehicle (AV) platforms that Perrone’s TONY AV Kit supports for passenger and goods delivery transit, thus demonstrating alternative passenger transit models and a variety of autonomous goods delivery options throughout the area.

“The UVA Foundation has a history of fostering innovation and technology at its site and being open to new ideas,” said Nicholas Pilipowskyj, VP of Business Operations for Perrone. “By collaborating with us, the Foundation has given us a wonderful opportunity to show a wider group of people the great things our autonomous system is capable of. It also allows us to test and gather feedback on new features and vehicle platforms we will be rolling out to the public over the next 12 months.”

Supporting and strengthening academic and economic growth in the Central Virginia region and the Commonwealth of Virginia broadly is at the heart of North Fork’s mission.

“We repeatedly seek new and unconventional ways to catalyze research and business collaboration between industry and the University,” said Deborah van Eersel, Chief Administrative Officer and Director of Marketing at the UVA Foundation. “We are delighted to partner with Perrone Robotics by providing room for them to grow and innovate while also meeting the needs of our larger community through a new amenity offering. We support efforts to enhance transit and accessibility for our tenants and visitors alike. As North Fork continues to grow, this partnership can help to create a more open and connected community.”

“Having an operation situated at North Fork opens the doors for our company to bring a wide range of automated passenger and goods delivery services to the community. Shuttle buses, micro-transit, goods delivery, vehicle valet, and a menagerie of fully automated vehicles will be fielded and operable here across a wide range of vehicle platforms driven by our TONY AV Kit,” said Paul Perrone, CEO of Perrone Robotics. “We’re excited to make available a diverse fleet of AVs that meet a wide range of needs of any community, campus, or work site here first at North Fork.”