Between Two Shovels Ep.30: Mariah Ray - On-Demand Autonomous Vehicles on Dedicated Guideway

Mariah Ray, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs at Glydways, breaks down Automated Transit Networks and how on-demand, autonomous public transit is getting built, regulated, and paid for.

The conversation covers the Glydcar and its dedicated guideway, the 50-year-old Morgantown PRT system it builds on, project procurement across the San José Airport Connector and a 28-mile East Contra Costa network, and per-mile construction costs that run a fraction of traditional heavy rail.

Timestamps: 

0:00 - Meet Mariah Ray and Glydways 

0:27 - What an Automated Transit Network Actually Is 

2:06 - Origin Story and the Morgantown PRT Roots 

3:29 - Inside the Glydcar: Purpose-Built, Battery Electric, Autonomous 

5:24 - Offline Stations and Hailing a Ride Point to Point 

6:32 - Test Tracks in Concord and Richmond 

7:58 - Who Buys This? How Transit Systems Get Procured 

8:36 - Three Projects and the Unit Economics Problem in Transit 

12:08 - VTA Roots and the Bay Area's Transit Gaps 

12:43 - Regulatory Navigation: GDOT, FTA Oversight, and the CPUC 

14:28 - Cost to the Rider and Cost to Build, Per Mile 

17:35 - Why Point to Point Beats Moving People in Big Batches 

19:02 - ADA Access, Level Boarding, and Riding With Dignity 

21:13 - A Tool in the Toolkit: Rethinking How Transit Gets Funded

Glydways is deploying its first public system in South Metro Atlanta, with California projects underway in San José and East Contra Costa County. The pitch is not to replace heavy rail but to fill the gap between bus and train, using smaller autonomous vehicles on narrow guideway at a cost per mile that puts stalled corridors back in play.

Hear from government and public sector leaders, transportation executives, funding decision makers, development managers, and more who are shaping our industry.

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Between Two Shovels is produced by the Capital SouthEast Connector Joint Powers Authority and explores transportation policy, engineering, and project delivery through conversations with industry leaders.

#PublicTransit #AutomatedTransitNetwork #Glydways #TransportationInfrastructure #TransitFunding #AutonomousVehicles