A self-driving shuttle made its debut in Boca Raton on Friday afternoon, soon to offer free rides to people around Mizner Park.
The MiCa shuttle runs on autonomous vehicle software made by Guident, a Boca Raton-based company with the mission of making autonomous vehicles safer. This is the only MiCA shuttle in Florida, though one was operated in West Palm Beach earlier this year for a six-month stretch.
Dozens of residents went to Mizner Park on Friday to take test rides on the bright pink, blue and purple shuttle. The shuttle will be open for operation in the coming weeks.
Luisa and Michael Berman wanted to take a test ride because neither of them drives anymore, they said, and they live within walking distance of Mizner Park.
This kind of technology is good for “old people like us,” Michael Berman said.
At the Guident headquarters in the Boca Raton Innovation Campus, there is an arcade game-like setup that can remotely control the shuttle.
Inside the shuttle is a Guident employee who can manually override the shuttle during a trip, if needed, using a video game-style controller. For example, birds may fly by, a tree branch could be in the road or a driver could ignore a stop sign, which would cause the MiCa shuttle to abruptly halt.
Under state law, autonomous vehicles are allowed in Florida, with licensed operators able to operate them remotely.
“A fully autonomous vehicle may operate in this state regardless of whether a human operator is physically present in the vehicle,” the law states.
Embedded systems engineer Andy Alvarez talks about monitoring autonomous vehicles from Guident’s Boca Raton offices on the Boca Raton Innovation Campus on Tuesday, May 13, 2025. The company operates autonomous vehicle software that is used with some self-driving vehicles. The MiCa shuttle launched in Boca Raton on Friday afternoon. (Amy Beth Bennett / South Florida Sun Sentinel)
RossMary Morin, who rode MiCa on Friday, said she thinks the addition to Mizner Park will quell parking troubles as people won’t have to circle around, vying for a spot. Instead, they can park somewhere nearby and use the shuttle to get around.
Morin’s friend, Izabel Baldari, joined her for the experience. They both enjoyed the test ride, she said.
“I thought it would be scarier,” Baldari said.
Boca Raton City Council member Marc Wigder, who rode the shuttle during its launch on Friday, called the experience of being inside the autonomous shuttle “inspiring.”
As Wigder spoke, a car drove by and loudly honked its horn. He paused and gestured to the car: “That’s the old way,” he said.
Council member Andy Thomson rode the shuttle with two of his children on Friday. Thomson’s 6-year-old daughter, Charley Thomson, said there is something that could have enhanced the experience: an ice cream dispenser.
