Skip to main content

AVs for seniors from Via in New South Wales

Autonomous vehicle (AV) developers seem to targeting ‘closed’ communities such as retirement complexes or universities and Via is also joining this trend. The company has launched a free AV service called BusBot for a retirement community in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. In partnership with local bus operator Busways, Transport for NSW and EasyMile, BusBot is operating in the Marian Grove Retirement Village in Toormina, a suburb of Coffs Harbour. Via says its technology allows the vehicle
July 18, 2019 Read time: 2 mins

Autonomous vehicle (AV) developers seem to targeting ‘closed’ communities such as retirement complexes or universities and Via is also joining this trend.

The company has launched a free AV service called BusBot for a retirement community in New South Wales (NSW), Australia.

In partnership with local bus operator Busways, Transport for NSW and 8246 EasyMile, BusBot is operating in the Marian Grove Retirement Village in Toormina, a suburb of Coffs Harbour.

Via says its technology allows the vehicle to navigate to virtual bus stops, allowing passengers to share trips without lengthy detours.

Daniel Ramot, co-founder of Via, says AVs need to be shared by multiple people to reach their full potential.

“Via’s sophisticated systems are able to power, in real time, the movement of millions of connected autonomous shuttles and their passengers,” Ramot adds.

Each vehicle can carry up to 15 people and travel at around 10km/h. Users can access the service from the BusBot app.

Last month, Via launched an on-demand %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external shared transit system false https://www.itsinternational.com/categories/utc/news/via-offers-on-demand-shared-transit-for-massachusetts-seniors/ false false%> for people over the age of 60 in the City of Newton, Massachusetts.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • SP Group to implement 1,000 EV chargers in Singapore by 2020
    October 30, 2018
    Electricity and gas company SP Group says it will build a network of 1,000 electric vehicle (EV) chargers in Singapore by 2020 to meet public demand. Wong Kim Yin, SP group chief executive officer, says the initiative will enable greater adoption of EVs, help its customers go green and save energy and cost. The deployment will include 250 high-powered direct current (DC) chargers which are expected to offer power ratings up to 350kW to support EV models with bigger battery capacities and longer driv
  • Edeva to deliver two ActiBumps to Curtain University in Western Australia
    January 14, 2019
    Edeva is to deploy two active speed bumps at Curtain University in Perth, Western Australia, following an initial deployment in which speeding was reduced from 70% to 25%. Edeva’s Actibump detects the speed of oncoming vehicles and lowers its hatch by 60mm in the road surface if a driver is speeding – which sends a physical bump to the driver. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxpvwKiOpag Both Actibumps will be installed on Townsing Drive while a third is to replace a ‘dumb bump’, a moulded black plas
  • Volocopter and Fraport to develop ground infrastructure for air taxis
    February 15, 2019
    Volocopter has joined forces with Fraport to develop concepts for the ground infrastructure required to allow air taxis at Frankfurt Airport in Germany. Volocopter says its partnership with German airport manager Fraport will focus on integrating what it calls ‘Volocopter Ports’ into existing infrastructure. The company believes that these could be used in the future to serve as a link between existing urban transportation junctions and provide connections to and from the airport. The Volocopter
  • ChargePoint to provide EV chargers at Morrisons stores
    April 1, 2019
    ChargePoint Services is to install its GeniePoint Network electric vehicle (EV) chargers across all Morrisons supermarkets in the UK. ChargePoint says its 50-100kW rapid chargers will allow customers to refuel their EV in around 20 minutes. The firm’s managing director Alex Bamberg says: “By offering another useful local service, customers are provided with choice for grocery, café and comfort stops, and green vehicle refuelling.” The first chargers will be running by the end of this month and 100 are e