A ride on the autonomous bus: No driver, no steering wheel, no brake pedal, no kidding

Beep Co-Founder Mark Reid (left) and Tavistock president James Zboril step off the Beep AUTONOM Shuttle vehicle after it was unveiled during a ceremony at Lake Nona Town Center, Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2019. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/TNS)

The tinted glass doors on the cozy electric shuttle slid open quietly. 

"Welcome aboard," said Aaron Foster, a solutions engineer for Navya, the French maker of the 15-passenger, battery-powered vehicle that attracted a curious crowd in Lake Nona eager for a quarter-mile ride on the ballyhooed bus expected to be running this spring in south-east Orlando.