Sarasota-based Cruise Car has won a contract to provide a fleet of 23 eight-passenger vehicles to the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley campuses in Edinburg and Brownsville, Texas. UT was looking for eight-passenger vehicles to shuttle students around each campus. Eight passengers is the maximum allowed in this class of low-speed vehicle— which is U.S. Department of Transportation-certified to travel on roads with speed limits of less than 35 mph. The standard market configuration is six forward facing seats and two rear facing seas. But UT also wanted to maximize student safely, and people in the two rear-facing seats tend to be more vulnerable in rear-end collisions. Due to Cruise Car's modular vehicle design, the company was able to create a new model where all eight passenger seats are front-facing. This arrangement won Cruise Car the contract. The company is now going to add this configuration to its line of standard models.

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