Mercedes-Benz Vans sets up on-demand shuttle service JV with US start-up Via

Mercedes-Benz Vans is investing US$50 million in new joint venture with US start-up Via to bring Via’s on-demand shuttle service, already launched in New York, Chicago and Washington DC, to Europe. The service will launch in London this year. The joint venture will also partner with public transit operators across Europe, licensing Via’s on-demand shuttle operating System to enable cities to significantly improve mobility while reducing congestion without incurring any additional infrastructure costs.
September 6, 2017 Read time: 2 mins

1685 Mercedes-Benz Vans is investing US$50 million in new joint venture with US start-up Via to bring Via’s on-demand shuttle service, already launched in New York, Chicago and Washington DC, to Europe.

The service will launch in London this year. The joint venture will also partner with public transit operators across Europe, licensing Via’s on-demand shuttle operating System to enable cities to significantly improve mobility while reducing congestion without incurring any additional infrastructure costs.

Via has focused on developing, from the ground up, a scalable and on-demand shared ride solution. The intelligent Via algorithm supports smart public transport, enabling a dynamic mass transit system that reduces traffic volume in urban areas. The fusion of Via’s technology with the engineering of Mercedes-Benz Vans provides the basis for efficient, affordable and sustainable ride-sharing.

The long term strategic cooperation aims to design and build vans optimised for on-demand shared rides, including integration of Via’s software with on-board vehicle sensors, electric drive and autonomous driving.

Parking & Access Control

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Connected vehicle trials get big backing from USDOT
    March 14, 2016
    Connected vehicle technology will emerge as a sustainable reality at three sites in the US over the next four years. Jon Masters reports. Advocates of connected vehicle (CV) technology have received a welcome boost from news that the US government has committed a further $4 billion towards automated vehicle research and CV technology. This comes hot on the heels of the US Department of Transportation’s $42 million CV pilot pledge in October last year.
    Read More
  • TRL pledges support for global initiative at UN Climate Summit
    October 2, 2014
    The UK’s Transport Research Laboratory (TRL)’s chief executive Rob Wallis, attending the United Nations Climate Summit in New York last week, was delighted to be able to pledge TRL’s support to the UEMI initiative, by UN-Habitat. “The UEMI initiative, aimed at substantially increasing the adoption of electric vehicles within urban environments, aligns strongly with TRL’s own strategy and current activities,” Wallis explained. “TRL is actively engaged in leading innovative research programmes to understan
    Read More
  • USDoE and USDoT fund transit projects
    October 30, 2020
    CARTA wants to improve transportation accessibility from 41% to 73%
    Read More
  • Counting the environmental costs of ITS deployment
    October 29, 2015
    David Crawford looks at the latest thinking about calculating the benefits associated with the environmental side of ITS schemes. The penny is dropping that some environmental costs “are being shifted outside the traditional bounds of evaluation methods” for ITS-based road transport projects, according to researchers at the UK University of Leeds’ Institute for Transport Studies.
    Read More

Highlighted Content